3 Jun 22

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

12.0°C > 16.0°C: A cloudy start with breaks developing. Calm early with light E breeze later. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 04:51 BST

I again ran out of time identifying some puzzling insects: now done and included in the text. I have no time to write the captions for the photos today.

Priorslee Lake: 04:40 – 05:45 // 06:50 – 09:45

(129th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- No Canada Geese when I arrived. A single flew outbound calling continually at 05:10. What was perhaps the same bird, still calling loudly, flew in from the S at 05:20 to land on the dam top. Later it was joined by another. There was no sign of yesterday's sole remaining gosling. Much later a trio dropped in with the residents(?) chasing them away.
- After several days with a significant number of Swifts today was a poor showing. Two at 05:35 were followed by singles at 08:15 and 08:30 and finally a trio at 08:50.
- My first record of Great Spotted Woodpecker here for many weeks with a bird heard several times in the NE area. One has been regularly heard at The Flash for several weeks though not today. I did however hear one near the upper pool. A poor showing compared with previous years.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 17 Canada Geese: single outbound; a duo and group of 14 inbound
- 12 Greylag Geese: eight outbound together; four inbound together
- 1 Stock Dove
- 10 Wood Pigeons:
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: immatures, together
- 16 large gulls: together, mostly in heavy moult and impossible to ID at 05:35
- 4 Jackdaws
- 2 Rooks again

Hirundines etc. noted:
- >3 Swifts: see notes
- 1 House Martin

Warblers noted (figures in brackets relate to singing birds):
- 1 (1) Cetti's Warbler
- 15 (12) Chiffchaffs
- 1 (1) Sedge Warblers still
- 9 (9) Reed Warblers
- 16 (12) Blackcaps
- 3 (3) Garden Warblers again
- 1 (1) Common Whitethroat again

Counts from the lake area:
- 5 Canada Geese: see notes
- 2 + 6 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 7 (5♂) Mallard
- 3 Moorhens
- 28 + 10 (5 broods) Coots
- no Little Grebe heard
- 6 Great Crested Grebes again
- 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: all adults together briefly

Noted on / around the street lamp poles pre-dawn:
- 1 Poplar Grey moth (Subacronicta megacephala): **new for the year and moth species #34 here in 

2022

Noted later:

Butterflies:
- Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria)

Moths:
- Common Nettle-tap (Anthophila fabriciana)
- Common Marble (Celypha lacunana): **new for the year and moth species #35 here in 2022
- Plum Tortrix (Hedya pruniana)
- Silver-ground Carpet (Xanthorhoe montanata)
- Burnet Companion (Euclidia glyphica): **new for the year and moth species #36 here in 2022
I was flushing many presumed grass moths c.05:30 but none would settle where I could attempt an ID.
Also
- unidentified caterpillar

Bees, wasps, etc.
- Mining bee species perhaps Large Meadow Mining Bee (Andrena labialis)
- Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
- Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)
- Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum)
- Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
- Broad-striped Rhogogaster sawfly (Rhogogaster scalaris)

Damselflies:

Many 100s again mostly not closely examined
- Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum)
- Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans)
- Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella)

Hoverflies:
- Tapered Dronefly (Eristalis pertinax)
- Large Narcissus Fly (Merodon equestris): new for the year
Rather few as I was looking for insects in different vegetation this morning

Other flies:
- Black Snipefly (Chrysopilus cristatus)
- Lucilia sp. greenbottle
- 'Tiger cranefly sp.' Nephrotoma quadrifaria

Beetles etc.:
- Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni)
- Swollen-thighed (Flower) Beetle (Oedemera nobilis)
- Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis): both spectabilis and succinea variants

Bugs:
None

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

Spiders:
- Tetragnatha sp. stretch spider

New flowers for the year noted:
- Elder (Sambucus nigra)

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 05:50 – 06:46

(125th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- The latest brood of five small Canada Goose goslings now down to four. I am confused about the previously noted gathering as it looked to comprise broods of two larger and six medium-sized goslings rather than one and six as previously. Where could the other large one have come from?
- Any second Great Crested Grebe was not seen.
- A Mistle Thrush was singing again, today persistently from the area around the small football field at the top end.

Birds noted flying over here:

None

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 1 Swift

Warblers noted (figures in brackets relate to singing birds):
- 2 (2) Chiffchaff only
- 6 (6) Blackcaps

Noted on / around the water:
- 105 + 12 (3 broods) Canada Geese: of these a group of 15 departed
- 7 Greylag Geese
- 3 Mute Swans
- 22 (18♂) Mallard: no ducklings seen
- 1 (1♂) all-white duck (Aylesbury Duck)
- 6 (4♂) Tufted Duck
- 6 + 5 (2 broods) Moorhens
- 19 + 5 (3 broods) Coots
- 1 Great Crested Grebe only

Noted on / around the street lamp poles:
- 1 Common Marbled Carpet moth (Chloroclysta truncata)
- 1 Grouse Wing caddis fly (Mystacides longicornis)

Elsewhere:

Nothing of note

(Ed Wilson)

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Between the lake and The Flash:

- Moorhen(s) heard at the upper pool only.
- 1 Chiffchaff again singing alongside the lower pool.
- 2 singing Blackcaps: one from scrub between the two pools; the other between the upper pool and the Priorslee Academy

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

- The Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) chrysalis again.
- 1 Common Swift (Korscheltellus lupulina [was Hepialus lupulinus]) back on the roof [the scientific name has been changed recently]
- 1 Small Phoenix moth (Ecliptopera silaceata) on the side wall.
- 1 caddis fly sp., perhaps Micropterna lateralis or similar
- >10 midges of at least three species

(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

2009

Priorslee Lake

Oystercatcher

(Ed Wilson)

2006

Priorslee Lake

Possible Marsh Harrier

11 Reed Warblers

(Ed Wilson)