12 Jul 22

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

19.0°C > 22.0°C: Mainly overcast at medium / high level. Spots of rain as I was arriving and again as I departed. Very light SSW winds. Humid. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 05:00 BST

* = a photo from today

Priorslee Lake: 04:40 – 05:45 // 06:40 – 08:50

(159th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- The cob Mute Swan left the geese that arrived alone unless they got too close.
- I was either wrong yesterday to think the Great Crested Grebe's nest platform was no more: or they have quickly rebuilt it.
- Strangely my first juvenile Black-headed Gull of the year flew over. All the others I saw were adults that visited the lake.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 76 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Collared Dove
- 1 Black-headed Gull: juvenile
- 2 Herring Gulls again
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Sparrowhawk
- 41 Jackdaws
- 7 Rooks

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 4 Swifts: all singles at very different times
- 4 Barn Swallows: together – family party?
- >3 House Martins: bird(s) heard high overhead at 04:50 but not located; three, briefly, at 06:50

Warblers noted (figures in brackets relate to singing birds):
- 7 (6) Chiffchaffs
- 1 (0) Sedge Warbler
- 7 (4) Reed Warblers
- 6 (4) Blackcaps

Counts from the lake area:
- 3 Canada Geese: flew in together
- 1 Greylag Goose: also flew in
- 2 + 4 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 17 (?♂) Mallard
- 3 Moorhens
- 51 adult and juvenile Coots
- 7 Great Crested Grebes again
- 1 Common Sandpiper
- 8 Black-headed Gulls: all adults again
- 8 Lesser Black-backed Gull: seven adults and one immature, all briefly
- 1 Kingfisher yet again

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

Moths:
- *1 Orange Crest (Helcystogramma rufescens)
- *1 Blue-bordered Carpet (Plemyria rubiginata)
- *10 Round-winged Muslin (Thumatha senex)

and:
- 1 Bridge Orb-web Spider (Larinioides sclopetarius)

Noted later:

Another shorter than usual visit

New for this year:

Butterflies:
- *possible Essex Skipper (Thymelicus lineola)

Flies:
- *Tephritid fly, almost certainly Urophora jaceana

Amphibians:
- *Common Toad (Bufo bufo)

Plants:
- *Imperforate St John's-wort (Hypericum maculatum)
- *Wild Radish (Raphanus raphanistrum)

Repeat sightings:

Butterflies:
- Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus)
- Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae)

Moths:
- Common Marble (Celypha lacunana)
- Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella): at least 50 grass moths; all those checked were this species
- *Shaded Broad-bar (Scotopteryx chenopodiata): at least 12

Bees, wasps etc.:
- Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
- Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum)

Hoverflies:
- *Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
- Chequered Hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare)

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

Other flies:
- greenbottle Lucilia sp.
- Black Snipefly (Chrysopilus cristatus)

Beetles:
- Rough-haired Lagria Beetle (Lagria hirta)
- Common Red Soldier Beetle (Rhagonycha fulva)
- *the usual unidentified pollen beetles

Bugs:
- 7 Spot Ladybird (Coccinella 7-punctata)

Flowers:
- *Scentless Mayweed (Matricaria perforata)

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

This is frustrating. It may be an Essex Skipper (Thymelicus lineola). This species is separated from the very similar Small Skipper (T. sylvestris) by having all-black tips to the antennae. It certainly looks good in this photo which was the only chance I had before the butterfly disappeared it to the far distance. I would have liked to have seen it 'head-on' to be sure of its identity.

Not a stunning photo of a micro moth at the top of the tallest lamp pole near the Teece Drive gate. It is my first Orange Crest (Helcystogramma rufescens) of 2022. You can at least see how it got that name.

A rather puzzling grass moth and the only one I saw today that was not obviously a Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella). This shows a faint chevron-shaped cross line in the middle of the wing as well as the one toward the wing tip (though this is only partially visible due to the damaged wing). These features are reminiscent of Barred Grass-veneer (Agriphila inquinatella) though that species is usually much more strongly marked with a noticeably darker area on the cross-line. One to pend.

Sitting at an awkward angle and positioned so that I was photographing it between vegetation this is a Blue-bordered Carpet moth (Plemyria rubiginata). I first recorded this species in 2020 and saw it again last year. It is not a common species though far from unusual.

A moth that 'got away' yesterday. Here is one of the dozen or so Shaded Broad-bar moths (Scotopteryx chenopodiata) I saw today. In flight these look much less interesting than they appear at rest.

And another specimen for good measure.

One of ten Round-winged Muslin moths (Thumatha senex) that were on the lamp poles along the West end footpath. Seven of them were on one lamp pole and two more on the adjacent pole. This was a new species for me in 2019 since when it has been annual and in some numbers.

A new species for me. This one of the Tephritid flies and almost certainly Urophora jaceana. The wing pattern in this group can be variable but this species lays its eggs in Knapweed – which is the flower involved here.

This fly caused me to pause. Does it really have long, thick and pink antennae? Actually no. It is drinking from one of the flowers in the umbel of a Common Hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium) and all the flowers have thick pink stamens (stigmata?). I don't know what species the fly is.

I think this is a small Common Toad (Bufo bufo). Most people seem to find it easy to separate frogs from toads: I have to say I don't, especially when they are small and not moving. I have no idea what is on the left of the photo. Did the toad just eat a beetle?

This is Imperforate St John's-wort (Hypericum maculatum).

It is easier to identify here where the leaves are more obvious. In Common (or Perforate) St. John's-wort (H. perforatum) the leaves are dotted pale ('perforated').

Tucking in to the nectar on offer is an unidentified pollen beetle and a Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus).

This is a better example of Scentless Mayweed (Matricaria perforata) than I photographed a few weeks ago. The way the petals fold back is distinctive of mayweeds. Pinching the leaves is the easiest way to separate this from other mayweed and allied species. I found this on the disturbed verge of Castle Farm Way.

My PlantNet app. tells me this is Wild Radish (Raphanus raphanistrum). I am sure I have seen this flower previously. I wonder what I identified it as? I also found this on the disturbed verge of Castle Farm Way.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 05:50 – 06:35

(155th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- Somebody seems to have silenced the Peacock. I haven't heard it for over a week.
- A sizeable group of Coots was jammed together on the edge of the island. In the relatively dull conditions it was impossible to count how many; still less separate adults and immatures. These apart a good number of juveniles were seen elsewhere.
- The Little Grebe was located again. It was diving beneath overhanging vegetation and I probably overlooked it yesterday.
- Now three Great Crested Grebes again.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
- 1 Jackdaw once more

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 4 Swifts in the far distance over St Georges

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

Noted on / around the water:
- 203 Canada Geese
- 1 Canada x Greylag Goose
- 74 Greylag Geese
- 5 + 4 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 7 (?♂) Mallard only: where were they hiding?
- 1 all-white duck (Aylesbury Duck)
- 22 (?♂) Tufted Duck
- 3 + 6 (? broods) Moorhens
- *? + >16 (? broods) Coots: see notes
- 1 Little Grebe
- 3 Great Crested Grebes
- 1 Grey Heron

Noted on / around the street lamp poles
- *1 red fly sp., possibly Tetanocera ferruginea
- *1 Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus harvestman

Not something I have noted previously. Two pairs of adult Coots were having a dispute (three only visible here) and six of the seven juveniles of one of the adult pairs seemed to want to join in. The photo is not very sharp I am afraid: the camera was on the wrong setting and I had to grab what I could.

The juveniles soon moved away and the adults carried on, mainly just posturing, before they backed off and went their separate ways.

It is not usual for flies to allow this close an approach.

This is what it looks like from a more normal perspective. It may be Tetanocera ferruginea. But then again with flies....

This is either a Dicranopalpus ramosus or a D. caudatus harvestman – only recently has it been discovered that there are two cryptic species involved. Separation requires genitalia examination (of the harvestman: not me). It is some ten days earlier than any previous record I have for these species.

(Ed Wilson)

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Between the lake and The Flash:

- Moorhen(s) heard only at the upper pool.
- One adult and one juvenile Moorhens at the lower pool.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

- *1 Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella).
- many midges of various sizes.

This Garden Grass-veneer moth (Chrysoteuchia culmella) was on the roof of the tunnel. I have inverted it for easier viewing. The single 'U-shaped' cross line toward the wing tip separates this species from all other grass moths.

(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

2011

Priorslee Lake

Ruddy Duck

Common Sandpiper

(John Isherwood)