1 Jul 22

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

11.0°C > 15.0°C: Mainly medium level overcast with showers in the vicinity. A brief sunny spell c.09:00. Almost calm. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 04:50 BST

* = a photo today

There will be no report for the next couple of days while I am busy doing other things.

Priorslee Lake: 04:40 – 05:40 // 06:55 – 09:25

(152nd visit of the year)

Some numbers affected as birds recover from last evening's deluge.

Bird notes:
- A Great Crested Grebe was noted standing on and then lying on the SW grass. I am not sure I have ever seen a grebe do this.
- House Martins were heard high over the estate at 05:30 but I could not find them. At 08:30 there were eight over the lake and North side trees – a high number by recent standards. There should be first-brood juveniles on the wing by now, boosting numbers.
- The long-term singing Garden Warbler was in full voice at 05:00 in its usual location near the Sailing Club HQ. At c.08:30 what seemed to be the other long-term songster was where it usually sang from the SW copse. I could not hear or see any bird near the HQ at this time. So were there one or two today?
- At least 15 Pied Wagtails were on what I shall continue to call the football field at 05:30. It was back in 2019 that I last noted large dawn gatherings here. Then there were up to 80 birds, though it was somewhat later in the year before the largest numbers were counted.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 3 Stock Doves: a single and a duo
- 28 Wood Pigeons
- 2 Collared Doves: together
- 1 Herring Gull
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
- 1 Cormorant
- 5 Jackdaws
- 4 Rooks again

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 7 Swifts
- 8 House Martin

Warblers noted (figures in brackets relate to singing birds):
- 11 (11) Chiffchaffs
- *3 (1) Sedge Warblers
- 10 (9) Reed Warblers
- 7 (6) Blackcaps
- 1? (1?) Garden Warbler: see notes

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 4 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 12 (?♂) Mallard
- 3 Moorhens
- 45 + 26 juvenile Coots
- 7 Great Crested Grebes
- 2 Black-headed Gulls: one adult and one first-year
- 1 Herring Gull: adult, briefly
- 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: all adult, briefly
- 1 Kingfisher: heard only

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

Moths:
- *1 Little Grey moth (Eudonia lacustrata)
- 1 Opilio canestrinii harvestman

Noted later: 

Stayed mostly cloud and cool:

New for this year:

Bees, wasps etc.:
- *unidentified saw fly sp.

Flies:
- *Scathophagidae or Dung fly sp.

Bugs:
- *an unidentified leafhopper from the Cicadellidae group

Plants:
- *Scentless Mayweed (Matricaria perforata) [was Tripleurospermum inodorum]

Repeat sightings:

Butterflies:
None

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

Bees, wasps etc.:
- *Garden Bumblebee (Bombus hortorum)
- *Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)
- Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum)
- Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris)

Hoverflies:
- Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
- *Tapered Dronefly (Eristalis pertinax)
- Migrant Field Syrph [Migrant Hoverfly] (Eupeodes corollae)

Dragon/Damselflies
- *Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum)

Other flies:
- *Empis livida (a dagger fly)
- Lucilia sp. greenbottle
- Grouse Wing caddis fly (Mystacides longicornis)
- Semaphore fly Poecilobothrus nobilitatus

Beetles:
- presumed Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni)
- pollen beetles as usual.

Bugs:
- *Common Froghopper (Philaenus spumarius)

Snails / Slugs etc.
- White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis)

Plants:
- *Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus minor)

As good as it got at sunrise (or any other time).

A most unusual sight is this Great Crested Grebe standing on the grass among a group of Coots. The legs of grebes are positioned so far back on their bodies to aid swimming that they struggle to walk on land. Later this bird sat down on the grass for a while. They do of course sit on their nests so this behaviour is not quite so unusual.

This would have been an even better shot of a Sedge Warbler had not an errant blade of grass blown in front of the lens as I took the shot.

I had to use the flash to get this juvenile Robin that was lurking in a dark part of the wooded area. That is the cause of the highlight in the eye. I did try and edit the highlight out but my edit program edits the whole eye out.

These 'grey' moths are a difficult group. There is a good web site from which I am reasonably confident this is a Little Grey (Eudonia lacustrata).

A rather unkempt Garden Bumblebee (Bombus hortorum). But aren't they always? Probably drying out after the thunderstorm yesterday evening.

It is not easy to see what this is. Clinging to the thickening below the flower of a Common Knapweed (Centaurea nigra) is a very soggy-looking Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius). The yellow collar and red tail are just about recognisable in the photo. I could not see what it was at the time. (There are two unidentified plant bug freeloaders in the Knapweed flower).

Another view of this poor bee that must also have been caught in yesterday's thunderstorm. Will it survive having been chilled? Here we see the yellow on the face as well as the yellow collar. Otherwise it looks all black from this angle.

 I cannot see any wasp waist on this small insect so I assume it is a species of sawfly.

This dronefly (Eristalis sp.) with the pale on its legs it has to be a Tapered Dronefly (E. pertinax). I hope the tiny pollen beetle does not mind being stood on.

This small 'syrphus-like' hoverfly is a Migrant Field Syrph (Eupeodes corollae).

I found this lying inert and upside down on the edge of the 'boxing ring' on the dam. When I turned it over I was surprised to see it staggering off. It is a damselfly nymph struggling to emerge in to an adult.

Alongside it was this emerged but still colourless 'teneral' damselfly, though the wings look to have fully dried: they are cloudy on first emergence. The pattern of stripes on the thorax (the anti-humeral stripes) indicates this is a Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum) and the pattern on the abdomen segments indicates it is a female. I did not see any flying damselflies today.

By far the most common of the dagger flies is this Empis livida. They feed on nectar as well as the juices of other insects.

Today's 'exciting' fly. This looks like one of the Scathophagidae or Dung flies. I would not like to be drawn further.

I am presuming this is an Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni) as I have seen them sitting like this, partially exposing a yellow abdomen. I hesitate slightly because this looked somewhat larger than I recall and it is not on an Alder leaf​.

A Common Froghopper (Philaenus spumarius). These are the insects that cover plants with cuckoo-spit to protect their eggs.

One of the tiny (a tenth of an inch or 3mm) Cicadellidae group of Leafhoppers. Many of the species are very similar and "identification from photographs is virtually impossible" [eakringbirds.com web site].

The PlantNet app. said this was Scentless Mayweed (Matricaria perforata). Certainly there was no smell when I pinched the leaves.

This is rather confusing. The PlantNet app. suggested this is Greater Yellow Rattle but gave the scientific name Rhinanthus angustifolius that my Flora ascribes to Narrow-leaved Rattle. My Flora indicates it cannot be Greater Yellow Rattle because the undersides of the leaves of that species do not show dark lines. Short of getting callipers out to measure the leaves I cannot be certain but my vote is for the 'regular' Yellow Rattle (R. minor). The app. is not a panacea.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 05:45 – 06:50

(148th visit of the year)

As a postscript to yesterday's arrival of three Common Sandpipers here I read that at the nearby Belvide Reservoir there were 15 (though a few birds had been present the previous day).

Bird notes:
- The two growing Mallard ducklings were again seen with their mother. Another brood of two smaller ducklings also noted. And the 'fully-grown' group was five-strong today. Are there perhaps two 'fully-grown' groups?
- The most recent brood of Coots was not counted as they were being sheltered in the nest by a parent.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 1 Jackdaw

Hirundines etc. noted:
None

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

Noted on / around the water:
- 211 Canada Geese
- 1 Canada x Greylag Goose
- 79 Greylag Geese again
- 7 + 4 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- *27 (20♂) + 4 (2 broods) Mallard
- 1 all-white duck (Aylesbury Duck)
- 11 (10♂) Tufted Duck
- 7 + 3 (2 broods) Moorhens
- 18 + 8 (4 broods) Coots
- 2 Great Crested Grebes

Noted on / around the street lamp poles or elsewhere
- 1 Garden Grass-veneer moth (Chrysoteuchia culmella)
- 1 caddis fly sp.

I hope you are good at counting! Luckily I had done my count before the person arrived with food. Such a melee would have been impossible to count.

 A record shot of the latest brood of two Mallard ducklings.

 Here are the two fast-growing ducklings and their mother that I have seen most mornings recently.

And all these five seem to be full-grown juveniles which I am now including in the 'adult' figures.

(Ed Wilson)

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Between the lake and The Flash:

- One adult seen and juvenile Moorhen(s) heard at the upper pool
- Two adult and three juvenile Moorhens seen at the lower pool.
- No warblers seen or heard.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

- The usual few midges of various sizes.
- 1 Opilio canestrinii harvestman

(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

2013
Priorslee Lake
Common Sandpiper
(Ed Wilson)

2012
Priorslee Lake
Common Sandpiper
(Ed Wilson)

2010
Priorslee Lake
Kingfisher
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
Drake Ruddy Duck
(Ed Wilson)