11 Mar 22

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

9.0°C: Early clear spells gave way to high cloud from the S by 08:15 and lower cloud by 09:00. Moderate S wind. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 06:35 GMT

* = a photo today

Priorslee Lake:  05:35 – 06:45 // 07:40 – 09:15

(58th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- The pair of Canada Geese were certainly present by 05:55 and throughout thereafter.
- The recent lower Coot numbers may be explained partly by birds beginning to sit on their nests hidden in the reeds. Nevertheless numbers remain below historic norms.
- Just two Great Crested Grebes located, sometimes loosely together and sometimes not. They were ranging all around the lake.
- At least 25 Black-headed Gulls arrived at 06:00. Many left to the S soon after 06:15. Exactly what the provenance of the 26 birds on the football field at 06:35 were is unclear.
- An immature Cormorant flew off SW at 06:05: my second such early departure. Judging by the guano on one of the fishing platforms it seems probable it has been roosting here.
- Rather fewer Jackdaws were noted passing on their roost dispersal flight. With the brisk wind they were skimming the fields to the E and some were likely obscured by trees from my vantage point.
- The Cetti's Warbler's was not noted: I was in the wrong part of the lake to hear its dawn song.
- Up to seven singing Chiffchaffs noted.
- About a dozen Redwings were calling / sub-singing from with the copse alongside Teece Drive at 06:30. None was seen or heard later.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 6 Canada Geese: pair and trio outbound; single inbound
- 25 Wood Pigeons
- 2 Collared Doves: together
- 2 Black-headed Gull
- 15 Herring Gulls
- 10 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 88 Jackdaws
- 3 Rooks
- 6 Starlings: duo and quartet

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 Canada Geese: throughout
- 2 Mute Swans
- 2 (2♂) Mallard only
- 34 (20♂) Tufted Duck
- 4 Moorhens
- 29 Coots
- 2 Great Crested Grebes: see notes
- >25 Black-headed Gulls: see also notes
- *4 Herring Gulls
- *4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Grey Heron, briefly
- 1 Cormorant: departed 06:05: see notes

On / around the street lamp poles pre-dawn:
- 1 springtail sp.
Another meagre haul on a mild morning: probably wind-affected

Noted later:
- *1 bug-eyed midge sp.
- *flowers of probable Grey Willow (Salix cinerea)

Red sky in the morning presages winds and rain. They were not wrong.

A first year Herring Gull. It is not the same bird that I saw at The Flash (see below) as it has a paler bill.

Whereas this one has an all dark bill.

 A bit of aggro between two here.

In danger of dipping a wing and turning cartwheels is this second year Lesser Black-backed Gull. At least one of the feathers in the tail has regrown without a black tip. Normally even third winter birds have the ends of their tail feathers smudged black. It may be that the feather has regrown following damage rather than as part of the normal moult cycle. Note the mostly submerged immature Herring Gull taking a bath.

I found this midge / gnat / whatever on the leeward side of the fence alongside Teece Drive. It looks to be the same 'bug-eyed' species that I photographed in the Priorslee Avenue tunnel on Wednesday. I couldn't identify it then either.

Two stages in the flowers of willow scrub. The one at the top right has opened to expose the pollen and nectar. Not sure species of willow is involved – there are many. The closest I can find on the NatureSpot web site is Grey Willow (Salix cinerea).

A close-up of the open flower. I wish I had noticed the fly at the time (top left). I could have taken its photo (and probably failed to identify it).

Today's aircraft. This helicopter is a Eurocopter EC135 T2 and is one of the two North West Air Ambulances that fly out of Barton (Manchester City) Airport. It is operated by the grandly named Babcock Mission Critical Services Onshore Ltd., (formerly Bond Air Services). Here it is en-route to Gloucestershire Airport at Staverton where Babcock has a maintenance facility.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:50 – 07:35 again

(55th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- Two pairs of Teal were by the island
- Five Chiffchaffs noted: four singing and calling only.
- Male Chaffinches seen in two locations: I have yet to hear song from this species here this year.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 3 Greylag Geese
- 2 Stock Doves: together
- 1 Sparrowhawk
- 1 Jackdaw as seems to be usual at the moment

On /around the water:
- 49 Canada Geese: 19 of these flew off and seven arrived
- *3 Greylag Geese: two of these departed
- 3 + 2 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 24 (17♂) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) all-white duck (Aylesbury Duck)
- *4 (2♂) Teal
- *69 (36♂) Tufted Duck
- 14 Moorhens
- 24 Coots yet again
- 1 Great Crested Grebe yet again
- *7 Black-headed Gulls
- *1 Herring Gull: a first year arrived

On /around the street lamp poles or elsewhere around here:
Nothing

Not quite a sunrise but an attractive cloudscape anyway.

The neck of this Greylag Goose is bending under the strain as it lifts from the water.

A long-range special. I could not get both pairs of Teal in the same shot. Two drakes are clearly visible here and one of the ducks is just about visible lurking behind a tree root to the right of the drakes.

It cannot be much fun being a drake Tufted Duck: there is not much choice of a mate and a lot of competition. Eight drakes contemplate one available duck. Elsewhere on the water some birds were more obviously paired.

A first year Black-headed Gull. This individual is still in first winter plumage and shows no sign of acquiring any significant black on its head – a variable feature in first summer. Normally the tail band would be retained until the coming Autumn (the outermost feather on each side is never black-tipped). Perhaps as with the Lesser Black-backed Gull at the lake (see above) it is replacing damaged feathers.

Immature Herring Gulls seem to be a speciality here at the moment. This is the first year bird that arrived.

Not quite enough light to freeze the action. Nevertheless it illustrates the barring on the under tail.

(Ed Wilson)

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Between the lake and The Flash:

- A Moorhens in the stream above the upper pool.
- Eight Starlings together in trees.
- A Chiffchaff singing at the lower pool.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel.

Nothing noted

(Ed Wilson)

NOTE

Ed Wilson visited Venus Pool on 10 Mar Here.

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On this day can be found via the yearly links in the right-hand column.

Sightings from previous years without links are below

2014

Leighton

1 Common Sandpiper

Green Sandpiper

(BirdGuides)

2013

Wellington

Woodcock

(J Reeves)

2011

Priorslee Lake

10 Pochard

25 Tufted Duck

1 Chiffchaff singing

(Ed Wilson)

Priorslee Village

Blackcap

2 Redwing

Frog spawn

(Martin Adlam)

The Flash

5 Great Crested Grebe 5

2 Pochard

31 Tufted Duck

10 Goosander

1 Sparrowhawk

2 Buzzard

(Ed Wilson)

2010

Priorslee Lake

Lapwing

Sparrowhawk

8 Linnets

15 Reed Buntings

(Ed Wilson)

2007

Priorslee Lake

6 Cormorant

17 Tufted Duck

29 Wren

35 Robin

25 Blackbird

14 Redwing

2 Chiffchaff singing

47 Magpie

9 Greenfinch

(Ed Wilson)

2006

Priorslee Lake

6 Great Crested Grebes

1 Shelduck

6 Pochard

40 Tufted Ducks

1 Goldeneye

1 Goosander

1 Ruddy Duck

114 Coots

1 Water Rail

221 Lesser-black Backed Gulls

c.500 Black-headed Gulls

5 Herring Gull

4 Yellow-legged Gulls

1 Common Gull

159 Jackdaws

c.80 Fieldfares

12 Redwings

10 Greenfinches

3 Siskins

3 Redpoll

4 Reed Buntings

(Ed Wilson, Martin Adlam)