30 Jun 22

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

12.0°C > 16.0°C: Early broken cloud with scattered outbreaks of light rain gave way to alternate dark clouds and hot sun. Light SSW wind. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 04:49 again

* = a photo today

Priorslee Lake: 04:40 – 05:40 // 06:45 – 09:35

(151st visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- A very noisy Greylag Goose flew East at 04:50.
- A skein of large gulls (is that the right word for gulls?) flew South at 05:00 when it was too dark to specifically identify them.
- A Sedge Warbler was singing continually from cover at the West end until another called once after which they both were silent. A third bird was seen moving around in the South side reeds. Then what seemed a fourth was doing dancing display-flights further along the South side. Could there be three pairs here?
- Reed Warblers were popping up singing in several 'non reed' locations. A family group was in the NW area.
- The long-term singing Garden Warbler was back in full voice, the only one heard or seen today.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 1 Greylag Goose
- 4 Stock Doves: two singles and a duo
- 37 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Black-headed Gull: adult
- 10 unidentified large gulls
- 1 Common Buzzard again
- 7 Jackdaws
- 4 Rooks

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 5 Swifts
- 3 Barn Swallows
- 1 House Martin

All these flew straight through singly.

Warblers noted (figures in brackets relate to singing birds):
- 12 (11) Chiffchaffs
- 4 (2) Sedge Warblers
- 16 (13) Reed Warblers
- 10 (6) Blackcaps
- 1 (1) Garden Warblers

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 4 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 12 (9♂) Mallard
- 4 + 2 (1 brood) Moorhens
- 49 + 30 juvenile Coots
- 6 Great Crested Grebes again
- 3 Black-headed Gulls: all adults
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: adult, briefly
- 1 Grey Heron
- *1 Kingfisher: early only

Noted on / around the street lamp poles post-dawn:

Moths:
- *1 Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella)
- *1 Barred Marble (Celypha striana)
- *1 Blood-vein (Timandra comae): male

also
- *1 lacehopper Tachycixius pilosus

Noted later:

New for this year:

Moths:
- *Leaf mines only of the Horse-chestnut Leaf-miner (Cameraria ohridella)

Hoverflies:
- *Furry Dronefly (Eristalis intricarius)
- *Stripe-faced Dronefly (Eristalis nemorum)

Plants:
- *Hairy Bittercress (Cardamine hirsuta)
- *Snowberry (Symphoricarpos sp. probably S. albus)
- *Hairy Tare (Vicia hirsuta)

Repeat sightings:

Butterflies:
- Large White (Pieris brassicae)
- Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria)
- Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus)
- Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina)
- *Comma (Polygonia c-album)

Moths:
- Common Marble (Celypha lacunana)
- Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella)

Bees, wasps etc.:
- *Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
- Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
- Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris)

Hoverflies:
- *Bumblebee Cheilosia (Cheilosia illustrata)
- *Two-banded Wasp Hoverfly (Chrysotoxum bicinctum) [Two-banded Spearhorn]
- *Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
- Tapered Dronefly (Eristalis pertinax)
- *Dead-head Hoverfly [or Batman Hoverfly] (Myathropa florea)
- Syrphus sp. (S. ribesii / S. vitripennis)
- Pellucid Fly (Volucella pellucens) [Pied Plumehorn]

Dragon/Damselflies
- Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum)
- Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans)

I am sure there were Azure Damselflies around: I just could not be bothered to look through the 100s of 'blues' to find one.

Other flies:
- Black Snipefly (Chrysopilus cristatus)
- Lucilia sp. greenbottle
- Grouse Wing caddis fly (Mystacides longicornis)
- Semaphore fly Poecilobothrus nobilitatus

Beetles:
- pollen beetles as usual.

Plants:
- *Spear Thistle (Cirsium vulgare)
- *Cut-leaved Crane's-bill (Geranium dissectum)

No prizes will be won. A distant Kingfisher at 05:00. The basic shape and colour are unmistakeable.

 I am always happy to see a Comma butterfly (Polygonia c-album) and take its photo.

The marks on these leaves are made by the larvae of the tiny Horse-chestnut Leaf-miner moth (Cameraria ohridella). There are obvious exit holes where adults have emerged though I have yet to see one this year. The moth was first described from Macedonia in 1986 and arrived in the UK by 2002. Since then it has spread throughout the UK. The moths and their larvae seem not to have any impact the host tree.

On a lamp pole pre-dawn this typically surprised-looking Garden Grass-veneer moth (Chrysoteuchia culmella) has lost most of its markings. The angled cross-line towards the wing-tip is enough to separate this from other grass moth species.

Also on the same lamp pole was this Barred Marble moth (Celypha striana). Moth species #51 here for me this year.

Another pre-dawn lamp pole inhabitant was this Blood-vein moth (Timandra comae). A male with the feathered antennae to detect any female's pheromones. Apologies for the blue cast as I had to illuminate this with an LED torch – I was too close to use camera flash. The ground colour should be pale yellow and the cross line a deep shade of red - like congealed blood.

This bee seemed too large for any of the many mining bee species yet rather too hairy for a Honey Bee (Apis mellifera). Checking against images on Steven Falk's web site confirms this is indeed a worker Honey Bee.

A Bumblebee Cheilosia hoverfly (Cheilosia illustrata). I am not entirely sure why it is in the Cheilosia genus as the other members are mostly all-black and not at all furry.

Another insect always worth a photo is this Two-banded Wasp Hoverfly (Chrysotoxum bicinctum). Steven Falk's name for this is Two-banded Spearhorn and you can see why with antennae like this.

A Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus) deep inside a favourite food source – the style of a Field Bindweed flower (Convolvulus arvensis).

A striking insect. The apparent lack of antennae indicates it is not a bee. It is a Furry Dronefly (Eristalis intricarius), a species that was new for me last year.

This is almost certainly a Stripe-faced Dronefly (Eristalis nemorum) though to be absolutely sure I would have needed to see the stripe on its face. It is by far the most common dronefly with the tergites (segments) of the abdomen cleanly bordered white.

The markings on the thorax are supposed to give this hoverfly the vernacular names of either Dead-head Hoverfly or Batman Hoverfly (Myathropa florea). I don't see it myself. Perhaps I did not read enough comics in my youth.

One from the lamp poles that I put in the 'pending' tray. I thought at the time it was perhaps one of the 'flat body' group of micro moths but now the image is on my PC I see that the head shape and the position of the eye is all wrong for any group of moths. Thanks to Keith Fowler, the Shropshire bug man, I can tell you it is a lacehopper and specifically Tachycixius pilosus.

Two for the price of one here. The upper flower is Lady's Smock, also known as Cuckooplant (Cardamine pratensis). The lower plant with small white flowers on more rigid stems is, I think, Hairy Bittercress (C. hirsuta). The PlantNet app. was none too sure with its top suggestion (at 21%) being the rather unlikely Sand Bittercress which does not appear in my Flora. I knew this plant as 'touch-me-not'. The seed heads, when ripe, rapidly unfurl when touched hurling the seeds some distance.

The first flower I have seen this year of Spear Thistle (Cirsium vulgare).

The previous example of Cut-leaved Crane's-bill (Geranium dissectum) that I photographed was a rather trampled specimen. This one is better. The vernacular name of this group of plants derives from the shape of the seed head. To the left of the flower are several unopened flowers illustrating that basic shape.

Coming to the end of its season with just a few flowers remaining at the top of the spike is this Self-heal (Prunella vulgaris).

The tiny flowers of Snowberry (Symphoricarpos sp. probably S. albus). There are many cultivars of this popular shrub even though the fruits are poisonous.

Among the 'vetches' growing here (the blue / mauve Tufted Vetch (Vicia cracca) and yellow Meadow Vetchling (Lathyrus pratensis)) I find this very pale lilac, almost white, plant with narrow leaves. I have previously recorded it as Hairy Tare (Vicia hirsuta) and this indeed is what the PlantNet app. suggested it was. I felt quite chuffed. I am sort of ignoring the fact that it does not look 'hairy'! But neither does the illustration in my Flora.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 05:45 – 06:40

(147th visit of the year)

*Surprise today was a group of three Common Sandpipers on the island. Perhaps a family group, though rather too far away to be certain.

Other bird notes:
- Oddly the number of Greylag Geese continues to increase. I suppose they must be flying in still?
- *The two growing Mallard ducklings seen again with their mother.
- An increase in the number of Tufted Ducks, all drakes with some of yesterday's ducks not seen.
- The most recent brood of Coots was out on the water and noted as being six strong. I noted one other brood of three recent juveniles. Just one well grown, independent juvenile noted. Where do they go?

Birds noted flying over here:
- 2 Stock Doves: together
- 2 Jackdaws: together

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 1 Swift
- 1 House Martin

Both of these few straight through.

Warblers noted (figures in brackets relate to singing birds):
- 6 (6) Chiffchaffs
- 1 (1) Blackcap only

Noted on / around the water:
- 210 Canada Geese
- 1 Canada x Greylag Goose
- 79 Greylag Geese
- 7 + 4 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- *32 (25♂) + 2 (1 brood) Mallard
- 1 all-white duck (Aylesbury Duck)
- 14 (13♂) Tufted Duck
- 8 + 7 (4 broods) Moorhens
- 19 + 10 (3 broods) Coots
- 3 Great Crested Grebes
- *3 Common Sandpiper

Noted on / around the street lamp poles or elsewhere
- 1 Garden Grass-veneer moth (Chrysoteuchia culmella)
- *1 Light Emerald moth (Campaea margaritaria)
- 1 plant bug perhaps Anthocoris nemorum

Mum Mallard with her two fast-growing off-spring. The right-hand bird is showing signs of moulting in to adult feathers at the top of the back.

Yes well. It is an awfully long way to the island and get a decent photograph of birds that are smaller than Blackbirds. Three Common Sandpipers. This is the third year running that groups have appeared here on post-breeding dispersal. On Spring migration they usually appear singly.

A Light Emerald moth (Campaea margaritaria) resting head-down on a lamp pole. When fresh this species is pale green but the colour soon fades to give it a rather a washed-out appearance. The pale cross-line remains distinct.

(Ed Wilson)

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Between the lake and The Flash:

- 1 adult Moorhens at the lower pool.
- A singing Blackcap distantly from around the estate somewhere.

and
- *1 Common Grey moth (Scoparia ambigualis)

I am fairly confident that this is a Common Grey moth (Scoparia ambigualis). The 'greys' are a difficult group to get to grips with. This individual shows no white cross-line at the one-third point in the wing which supports my determination.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

- *1 Small Dusty Wave moth (Idaea seriata)
- the usual few midges of various sizes.

My first Small Dusty Wave moth (Idaea seriata) of the year. Moth species #19 here for me this year.

(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

2010

Priorslee Lake

Common Sandpiper

(Ed Wilson)

2006

Priorslee Lake

1 drake Ruddy Duck

(Ed Wilson)