25 May 22

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

10.0°C > 13.0°C: Another mixed bag: mostly cloudy at multiple levels with several short spells of very light rain. A few brighter moments later. Moderate SSW wind. Excellent visibility.

Sunrise: 05:00 BST

Priorslee Lake: 04:35 – 05:45 // 06:45 – 09:15

(121st visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- There were at least 20 Swifts already present at 04:50. Numbers slightly increased later.
- I believe there to be three Mistle Thrush territories this year. Usually only one. There is the expected territory alongside Teece Drive in the Ricoh copse. A bird is also singing from the Ricoh area near where the footpath at the W end turns alongside the M54 which I think is a different bird. There is also a pair in the wooded area on the NW side of the Castle Farm Interchange.
- We seem to have some 'Reed Sparrows'. Whether the House Sparrow are nesting in the reeds to just raiding them for food is unclear.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 2 Canada Goose: pair outbound
- 1 Stock Dove yet again
- 2 Wood Pigeons only
- 1 Common Buzzard again
- 3 Jackdaws

Hirundines etc. noted:
- c.30 Swifts
- 4 Barn Swallows again
- 12 House Martins

Warblers noted (figures in brackets relate to singing birds):
- 1 (1) Cetti's Warbler as ever
- 16 (13) Chiffchaffs
- 1 (1) Sedge Warbler again
- 8 (7) Reed Warblers
- 16 (14) Blackcaps again
- 4 (4) Garden Warblers
- 1 (1) Common Whitethroat again

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 1 (1 brood) Canada Geese
- 2 + 8 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 6 (4♂) Mallard
- 2 Moorhens
- 18 + 4 (2 broods) Coots: hiding from the breeze?
- 4 Great Crested Grebes
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: adult, briefly

Noted on / around the street lamp poles pre-dawn:
- 1 Pale Tussock moth (Calliteara pudibunda): same place as yesterday

Noted later:

Despite the mainly dull and rather breezy conditions a surprisingly large haul.

Moths:
- Common Nettle-tap (Anthophila fabriciana)
- *Thistle Bell (Epiblema scutulana)
- Silver-ground Carpet (Xanthorhoe montanata)
- *Common Carpet (Epirrhoe alternata)

Bees, wasps, etc.
- *Early Bumblebee (Bombus pratorum)
- Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
- *possible Black-horned Clover-sawfly (Tenthredo brevicornis)

Hoverflies:
- Tiger Hoverfly (Helophilus pendulus)
- Chequered Hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare)
- *Pellucid Fly (Volucella pellucens) [Pied Plumehorn]

Damselflies:

None

Other flies:
- Scorpion Fly (Panorpa sp.)
- *Small Fleck-winged Snipefly (Rhagio lineola)
- *Downlooker Snipefly (Rhagio scolopaceus)
- *unidentified fly, perhaps a cranefly

Beetles etc.:
- *Wasp Beetle (Clytus arietis)
- *soldier beetle Cantharis rustica
- Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis)
- *Willow Flea Beetle (Crepidodera aurata)
- Nettle Weevil (Phyllobius pomaceus)
- *one other species of beetle to be identified

Bugs:
- Red-and-Black Froghopper (Cercopis vulnerata)
- *plant bug: probably Calocoris alpestris
- *Nettle Aphid (Microlophium carnosum)

Other insects:
- Common European Earwig (Forficula dentata)

Slugs / snails:
- White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis)

Spiders:
- Tetragnatha sp. stretch spider

New flowers for the year:
- *Marsh Thistle (Cirsium palustre)
- *Early Marsh Orchid (Dactylorhiza incarnata)
- *White Clover (Trifolium repens)
- *Goat's-beard or Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon (Tragopogon sp. probably Tragopogon pratensis minor)

I was wrong yesterday in suggesting the foliage of the Giant Hogweed plants (Heracleum mantegazzianum) had been taken away. I located where is it had been wrapped and placed this morning.

This Blue Tit is carrying food in to the nest it has made inside the broken off top of a sign along the dam. It did the same last year and I wondered then what happened when it rained hard as there is no protection. Seems it managed well-enough to try again.

Another moth that disguises itself as a bird dropping. It is a Thistle Bell (Epiblema scutulana). A bit battered around the wing tip.

One other carpet moth that can be easily disturbed during the day is Common Carpet (Epirrhoe alternata).

Trying to camouflage itself in a buttercup while it rests is an Early Bumblebee (Bombus pratorum).

As yesterday a possible Black-horned Clover-sawfly (Tenthredo brevicornis) in a buttercup. Note how its head is covered in pollen. Many insects are involved in pollination and not just bees. In fact honey bees are not too good at it because they take the pollen away on their pollen sacs and transfer rather less between the flowers they visit. It is important that we protect all pollinators and not just bees.

This is just about the easiest hoverfly to identify at rest even when the wings are covering the abdomen. It is a Pellucid Fly (Volucella pellucens) also know as a Pied Plumehorn. Really close up (and beyond the capability of my camera) you can see the antennae are plumed and banded.

Yet another insect favouring a buttercup is this Small Fleck-winged Snipefly (Rhagio lineola).

For comparison a Downlooker Snipefly (Rhagio scolopaceus) doing what it is supposed to do – resting with its head down.

I am stuck trying to identify this fly. The small and well-separated head suggest this is a cranefly but the legs are too short.

For me the 'catch of the day' is this appropriately-named Wasp Beetle (Clytus arietis). What a splendid creature. Quite harmless because it feeds on flowers. It just wants to deter things from eating it.

I have found a handy guide to identifying soldier beetles on the web and that confirms this as Cantharis rustica.

I think this small critter is a Willow Flea Beetle (Crepidodera aurata). The light is shining through the leaf it is trying to hide under.

Sadly there is no such thing as a handy guide to mainly black and rotund beetles!

This plant bug is probably Calocoris alpestris with its rather elongated shape. There are of course the usual 'similar species' though this in known to like nettles which are abundant in the area.

This is almost certainly a Nettle Aphid (Microlophium carnosum). These can be rufous, pink or green. The best clue here is that the leaf is that of Common or Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica). Now you can see why nettles irritate you if you touch them.

A very spiky thistle with clusters of flowers suggests this is a Marsh Thistle (Cirsium palustre). My reference book has this a July-flowering so perhaps I have this wrongly identified. Global warming? I cannot come up with a better answer.

My first orchid of the year. Every year I get confused over the identification of this species which has no spots on the leaves. It always goes in my log as Early Marsh Orchid (Dactylorhiza incarnata).

Just beginning to open are the flowers of White Clover (Trifolium repens).

There is a plethora of yellow flowers at the moment and here comes another, thankfully one I can ID. The long bracts in a very distinctive shape presage the flowers of Goat's-beard or Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon (Tragopogon sp. probably Tragopogon pratensis minor). The flowers are only open in the morning, hence the name. After flowering it has a very distinctive globular 'clock' or seed head.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 05:50 – 06:40

(118th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- Just the one well-grown gosling and its parent together with six smaller goslings and their parents, all wandering along Wordsworth Drive.
- Only the two 2021 immature Mute Swans seen. The other on the island? It did mean the geese were not being hassled.
- No sign of yesterday's brood of eight Mallard ducklings. Perhaps mum is keeping them hidden.
- Again fewer juvenile Coots seen. Just one from the usual brood of four. A single juvenile by the island and two along the E side.

Birds noted flying over here:

None

Hirundines etc. noted:

None

Warblers noted (figures in brackets relate to singing birds):
- 3 (3) Chiffchaffs
- 8 (7) Blackcaps

Noted on / around the water:
- *54 + 7 (2 broods) Canada Geese
- 1 Greylag Goose
- 2 Mute Swans
- 24 (20♂) Mallard: no ducklings seen
- 1 (1♂) all-white duck (Aylesbury Duck)
- 4 (3♂) Tufted Duck again
- 5 Moorhens: no juveniles seen
- 20 + 4 (3 broods) Coots
- 2 Great Crested Grebes again
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: adult, briefly

Noted on / around the street lamp poles:
- *1 Figure of Eighty moth (Tethea ocularis)
- 1 Pale Tussock moth (Calliteara pudibunda): same position as the previous two days.

Elsewhere:
Nothing of note

The nearer of these two adult Canada Geese shows loose wing feathers as it begins to drop them in its post-breeding moult. Numbers of geese will probably increase here over the next few weeks. They seem to like The Flash as a safe place to undertake their moult during which they become flightless for several weeks.

A juvenile Wood Pigeon. These are warmer toned than the adults but the most obvious difference is their lack of the white neck patch. Note however the white on the bend of the folded wing which means when they clatter away the white band across the wing is present, just as it is with adults.

My second Figure of Eighty moth (Tethea ocularis) here this year. The other one, five days ago, was on a lamp pole at the other end of the water.

(Ed Wilson)

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Between the lake and The Flash:

- 4 (3♂) Mallard: three drakes on the lower pool; a very concerned-sounding duck emerged from the grass near the upper pool. Ducklings nearby?
- Moorhens heard calling at the lower pool only
- Both Chiffchaff and Blackcap decided to sing alongside the lower pool.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

- *The caterpillar of a Small Tortoiseshell butterfly (Aglais urticae).
- very few midges

The caterpillar of a Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) looking for somewhere to pupate. It has a strange colour cast as I had to use my LED torch to get this photo.

(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

Nedge Hill

2 Ravens mobbing Kestrel.

(John Isherwood)

2010

Priorslee Lake

Ringed Plover

(Ed Wilson)

2009

Priorslee Lake

Red Kite

(Ed Wilson)