1 Jun 22

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

9.0°C > 11.0°C: The advent of the meteorological summer did little to cheer the weather. Intermittent mostly light rain again until c.06:30. Thereafter mostly cloudy. Still chilly. Light W wind. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 04:52 BST

* = a photo today

Priorslee Lake: 04:40 – 05:40 // 06:35 – 08:55

(127th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- Just three Swifts at 05:00, numbers soon increasing to c.30 birds. By 08:00 at least 50 present.
- One of the Great Crested Grebes was seen taking a large fish in to the reeds suggesting a partner could be on eggs – the fish would have been too large for any juvenile to deal with. At long last they appear to be settling down to breed, once again seemingly too late in the year to be able to raise a second brood.
- Yesterday's very noisy and persistent Sedge Warbler was again singing its heart out. The bird that has been along the S side was neither seen nor heard.
- Unusual at this date were two Sky Larks seen flying high W at 08:45. One had, as usual, been heard earlier, singing over the fields to the E. This was almost certainly a different bird.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 1 Greylag Goose: outbound
- 2 Feral Pigeons: together
- 1 Stock Dove
- 2 Wood Pigeons only
- 1 Herring Gull: immature
- 1 Common Buzzard again
- 1 Jackdaw again
- 2 Skylarks

Hirundines etc. noted:
- >50 Swifts
- 2 Sand Martins again
- 3 Barn Swallows
- 2 House Martins

Warblers noted (figures in brackets relate to singing birds):
- 1 (1) Cetti's Warbler
- 13 (10) Chiffchaffs
- 1 (1) Sedge Warblers
- 7 (6) Reed Warblers
- 16 (15) Blackcaps
- 3 (2) Garden Warblers
- 1 (0) Common Whitethroat

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 1 (1 brood) Canada Geese
- 2 + 6 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 8 (6♂) Mallard
- 3 Moorhens
- 26 + 12 (5 broods) Coots
- 1 Little Grebe: heard only
- 4 Great Crested Grebes
- 1 Grey Heron: departed once again

On / around the street lamp poles pre-dawn:
Nothing noted

Noted later:

Wet vegetation combined with dull and cool conditions meant few insects about.

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

Bees, wasps, etc.
- *Early Bumblebee (Bombus pratorum)

Hoverflies:
- Chequered Hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare)

Other flies:
- *Yellow Dung Fly (Scathophaga stercoraria)

Beetles etc.:
- Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis)

Bugs:
- Red-and-Black Froghopper (Cercopis vulnerata)

Slugs / snails:
- White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis)
- Garden Snail (Cornu aspersum aka Helix aspersa)

Spiders:
- Tetragnatha sp. stretch spider

Mammals:
- 1 Grey Squirrel

New flowers for the year noted:

None

 It might have been already raining at the lake by 05:00 but it was still clear to the far E.

A small part of a not very 'red sky in the morning'.

The newly arrived Sedge Warbler.

Here singing vigorously!

Sitting at an unhelpful angle is one of four Silver-ground Carpet moths (Xanthorhoe montanata) I noted this morning.

It seemed quite content for me to move the plant on which it was resting. This species can vary considerably in the width and colour of the central bar but differs from all other carpet-type moths in the very white (silver?) background.

This specimen has much darker 'shoulders' (the front leading-edge to the wing). Also the central bar is almost broken in the middle of each wing. Still the same white background though.

I looked at many hundred buttercups without finding any insects apart from this Early Bumblebee (Bombus pratorum).

A predatory fly with its midge prey. My initial though was that the fly was a species of dagger fly and that here it was cleaning the dagger-like mouth-parts with its front legs. But...

..this view shows no real 'dagger' just perhaps a short tongue. It seems to be a rather small specimen of Yellow Dung Fly (Scathophaga stercoraria).

A striking-looking large cranefly. Sitting with wings closed it is not possible to confirm its identity using the abdomen markings. However the combination of the thorax pattern and the dark shading in the wing point to it being Nephrotoma quadrifaria.

 (Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 05:45 – 06:30

(123rd visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- *A new brood of five small Canada Goose goslings along with the previously noted single and group of six goslings. Numbers building up as they do each June.
- Probably some Greylag Geese inside the island as sounds from there at times.
- *I think the brood of four Mallard ducklings was a new brood suggesting that all the previous ducklings have perished.
- The lone Great Crested Grebe several times visited a traditional nest site among overhanging willow vegetation. Perhaps a partner on eggs?
- A single Swift was present when I arrived, disappearing as soon as the rain started in earnest.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 1 Cormorant

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 1 Swift

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

Noted on / around the water:
- *170 + 12 (3 broods) Canada Geese: see notes; 15 of these left together
- 6 Greylag Geese
- 3 Mute Swans
- *23 (19♂) + 4 (1 brood) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) all-white duck (Aylesbury Duck)
- 12 (8♂) Tufted Duck
- 7 + 1 (1 brood) Moorhens
- *18 + 6 (2 broods) Coots
- 1 Great Crested Grebe once again

Noted on / around the street lamp poles:
- 1 Pale Tussock moth (Calliteara pudibunda): same position for its tenth day.
This moth has ignored an earthquake and thunderstorms during its stay.

Elsewhere:

Nothing of note

The latest brood of Canada Goose goslings with their parents.

Seen only at some distance was this latest brood of just four Mallard ducklings with mum. It is usual for drake Mallard to have nothing to do with protecting and raising the ducklings.

It is not only the geese that are losing feathers as they begin their post-breeding moult. This Coot is looking rather dishevelled. At least it means the Coots have more or less given up fighting. What was the guy who designed those feet taking? 

 (Ed Wilson)

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Between the lake and The Flash:

- 1 adult Moorhen on the grass by the upper pool
- 1 adult with four juvenile Moorhens seen on the lower pool
- 1 Chiffchaff still singing alongside the lower pool.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

- The Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) chrysalis still present.
- 1 Tetragnatha sp. stretch spider

 (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

2007
Priorslee Lake
Common Tern
(Martin Adlam)

2006
Priorslee Lake
2 Ruddy Ducks
Peregrine
(Ed Wilson)