11.0°C > 14.0°C: A clear start soon replaced by low cloud spreading from the S. Light SE breeze. Good visibility.
Sunrise: 05:10 BST
* = a photo today
Other things to do today so an abbreviated visit, especially to the lake.
Priorslee Lake: 04:40 – 05:50 // 06:50 – 08:05
(113th visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- Poor light probably affected count of both adult and juvenile Coots.
- A seventh adult Great Crested Grebe located. Some serious interaction between two of the birds.
- Another two rather late Common Sandpipers. In 2021 my final Spring passage bird was noted on 11 May.
- 10 large gulls flew W at 04:55 – too dark to ID; another at 05:00 – still too dark.
Birds noted flying over here: not much in poor conditions.
- 2 Greylag Geese: singles inbound
- 1 Stock Dove
- 24 Wood Pigeons
- 11 unidentified large gulls: at 04:55 and 05:00!
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: (near) adult
- 1 Sparrowhawk
- 1 Common Buzzard
- 15 Jackdaws
- 3 Starlings: together. Sounded like adult and juvenile(s)
Hirundines etc. noted:
- >5 Swifts; 3 at 05:05; 5 at 07:35 possibly different birds
- 2 Barn Swallows again
Warblers noted (figures in brackets relate to singing birds):
** numbers likely somewhat affected by a shorter visit
- 1 (1) Cetti's Warbler
- 13 (13) Chiffchaffs
- 2 (2) Sedge Warblers
- 5 (5) Reed Warblers
- 14 (14) Blackcaps
- 4 (4) Garden Warblers
- 1 (1) Common Whitethroat
Counts from the lake area:
- 4 + 2 (1 brood) Canada Geese: goslings still surviving: of these a pair flew in and were chased off
- 2 + ? (1 brood) Mute Swans: either too far away to count or resting back on nest
- 7 (5♂) Mallard again
- 3 Moorhens again
- 15 + 2 (1 brood) Coots only
- 7 Great Crested Grebes
- 2 Common Sandpipers
- 1 Grey Heron: departed
Noted on / around the street lamp poles pre-dawn:
- *1 mayfly sp., possibly Lake Olive (Cloeon simile)
- *1 presumed springtail sp.
Noted later in a restricted visit in cloudy conditions:
Butterflies:
None
Moths
- *Common Roller (Ancylis badiana)
- *Common Roller (Ancylis badiana)
Bees / wasps etc.; hoverflies or dragon- / damsel- flies:
None
Flies:
- Scorpion Fly (Panorpa sp.)
- Scorpion Fly (Panorpa sp.)
Bugs etc.:
- Red-and-Black Froghopper (Cercopis vulnerata)
- *Raspberry Beetle (Byturus tomentosus)
- White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis)
- Red-and-Black Froghopper (Cercopis vulnerata)
- *Raspberry Beetle (Byturus tomentosus)
- White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis)
Spiders
- Tetragnatha sp. stretch spider
- Tetragnatha sp. stretch spider
New flowers:
- *Common Bird's-foot-trefoil (Lotus corniculatus)
- *Dog-rose (Rosa canina agg.)
- Broom (perhaps Cytisus scoparius though there are many cultivars)
A postscript to yesterday's insect puzzle that I thought might be a grasshopper nymph. I was way off. Martin Adlam pointed me to the Mirid (plant bugs) section of the NatureSpot web site and that is a far better place to start. It might be Megaloceroea recticornis but guess what? "There are similar species it could be confused with".
- *Common Bird's-foot-trefoil (Lotus corniculatus)
- *Dog-rose (Rosa canina agg.)
- Broom (perhaps Cytisus scoparius though there are many cultivars)
A postscript to yesterday's insect puzzle that I thought might be a grasshopper nymph. I was way off. Martin Adlam pointed me to the Mirid (plant bugs) section of the NatureSpot web site and that is a far better place to start. It might be Megaloceroea recticornis but guess what? "There are similar species it could be confused with".
A clear start to the day. I was too late to see the setting super blood moon.
A little colour for a while.
As the BBC would say "another chance to see" a Common Roller moth (Ancylis badiana)
A search for "beetles in buttercups" on Google (other search-engines...) came up with the suggestion that these are probably Raspberry Beetles (Byturus tomentosus).
A Dog-rose (Rosa canina agg.) showing just why I am a rose philistine. Each bloom looks passable for about a day and then starts to fall apart. Too much trouble for too little reward. Many of these found growing wild are hybrids hence the suffix agg. (for aggregate) to the scientific name.
(Ed Wilson)
The Flash: 05:55 – 06:45
(Ed Wilson)
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The Flash: 05:55 – 06:45
(110th visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- One of yesterday's brood of eight Canada Goose goslings was missing.
- There did seem to be just the one Mallard duckling.
- *A Grey Heron thought it would come in but the local Carrion Crows thought otherwise and chased it away
Birds noted flying over here:
- 1 Cormorant
- 1 Grey Heron
Hirundines etc. noted:
- 5 Swifts
Warblers noted (figures in brackets relate to singing birds):
- 4 (4) Chiffchaffs
- 5 (4) Blackcaps again
Noted on / around the water:
- 38 + 8 (2 broods) Canada Geese: of these a trio departed and a pair arrived
- 2 Greylag Geese: arrived as a pair
- 3 Mute Swans
- 19 (15♂) + 1 (1 brood) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) all-white duck (Aylesbury Duck)
- 2 (1♂) Tufted Duck
- 5 Moorhens only
- 19 + 6 (2 broods) Coots
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
Noted on / around the street lamp poles
- *1 Common Pug moth (Eupithecia vulgata)
Elsewhere:
Bird notes:
- One of yesterday's brood of eight Canada Goose goslings was missing.
- There did seem to be just the one Mallard duckling.
- *A Grey Heron thought it would come in but the local Carrion Crows thought otherwise and chased it away
Birds noted flying over here:
- 1 Cormorant
- 1 Grey Heron
Hirundines etc. noted:
- 5 Swifts
Warblers noted (figures in brackets relate to singing birds):
- 4 (4) Chiffchaffs
- 5 (4) Blackcaps again
Noted on / around the water:
- 38 + 8 (2 broods) Canada Geese: of these a trio departed and a pair arrived
- 2 Greylag Geese: arrived as a pair
- 3 Mute Swans
- 19 (15♂) + 1 (1 brood) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) all-white duck (Aylesbury Duck)
- 2 (1♂) Tufted Duck
- 5 Moorhens only
- 19 + 6 (2 broods) Coots
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
Noted on / around the street lamp poles
- *1 Common Pug moth (Eupithecia vulgata)
Elsewhere:
Nothing noted
The Carrion Crow managed to drive off the Grey Heron that thought it would land here.
This is a pug moth. A group of small moths not easy to identify at the best of times. When they are more than 15 feet up a lamp pole it is never going to be the best of times. I think a Common Pug (Eupithecia vulgata).
(Ed Wilson)
Between the lake and The Flash:
- single Moorhen at the lower pool.
- 1 Chiffchaff singing beside the lower pool for a change
- 2 Blackcaps singing: one by the upper pool; another between the upper pool and the academy
(Ed Wilson)
In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:
- 1 Common Marbled Carpet moth (Chloroclysta truncata) again
- the usual midges
(Ed Wilson)
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Between the lake and The Flash:
- single Moorhen at the lower pool.
- 1 Chiffchaff singing beside the lower pool for a change
- 2 Blackcaps singing: one by the upper pool; another between the upper pool and the academy
(Ed Wilson)
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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:
- 1 Common Marbled Carpet moth (Chloroclysta truncata) again
- the usual midges
(Ed Wilson)
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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
2012
Priorslee Lake
Yellow Wagtail
Grasshopper Warbler
(Ed Wilson)
2007
Priorslee Lake
Wheatear
1 Ruddy Duck
(Malcolm Thompson/Ed Wilson)
2006
Priorslee Lake
Cuckoo
2 Ruddy Ducks
(Ed Wilson)