Friends of Priorslee Lake Wildlife Site: 28 Aug 22

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

12.0°C > 14.0°C: Clear though with extensive high cloud, especially to the E. Almost calm. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 06:11 BST

* = a photo from today

In order to make sure I saw the hot air balloons lift from the Telford Show ground I stayed at the East end of the lake until I drove to The Flash later. So the timings are different which will have affected some of the numbers.

Priorslee Lake: 04:50 – 08:10

(184th visit of the year)

Two highlights:
- As I parked up in the Castle Farm lay-by at 04:50 a Tawny Owl was calling from the East, most likely from the small copse in the field there.
- At 05:10 while I was checking the street lamp poles at the West end for moths etc., a large wader was circling the lake and calling. It was too dark to see and it was an unfamiliar call. Playing likely candidate species on the xeno-canto web site has failed to provide me with a satisfactory identity. Bother!

Other bird notes:
- What I assume was the 'spare pair' of Great Crested Grebes (i.e. without offspring) was noted displaying.
- Several of the small groups of Barn Swallows did not appear to fly straight through but flew around in the local area for a few minutes before departing. It is quite possible there were more birds involved than I recorded.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 25 Canada Geese: two groups outbound
- 3 Feral Pigeons: together
- 2 Stock Doves: together
- 121 Wood Pigeons: they really did not like the hot air balloons!
- 3 Black-headed Gulls
- 6 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 4 Jackdaws
- 51 Rooks

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 23 Barn Swallows at least in six groups

Warblers noted (no song recorded unless specifically noted):
- 3 Chiffchaffs
- 5 Blackcaps again

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 4 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 10 (?♂) Mallard
- 11 Moorhens
- 89 Coots
- *2 Little Grebes
- *14 + 11 (6 broods) Great Crested Grebes
- *54 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Yellow-legged Gull
- 7 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Grey Heron

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

Very little after overnight rain

Moths:
- *5 Common Grass-veneer (Agriphila tristella)
- *1 other micro moth to be identified
- *1 Square-spot Rustic (Xestia xanthographa)

and:
- *3 Yellow Swarming Flies (Thaumatomyia notata)
- *1 Clubiona species of foliage spider
- *1 probable stretch spider Tetragnatha sp.

Noted later:

I left here before any insects were flying

Mammals:
- pipistrelle-type bat
- larger Noctule-type bat

The extensive high cloud gave a colourful sunrise.

A long way away so just a record shot of the two Little Grebes.

A heavy load of three juveniles for this adult Great Crested Grebe.

This way around I can only see two of them. Just whose leg is it on the head of the juvenile looking leftwards?

From underneath only the black tail-band enables this Black-headed Gull to be identified as a juvenile / first winter.

There have been very many of these Common Grass-veneer moths (Agriphila tristella) recently. This was in a particular good spot to get a good photo.

Not a very good photo of a small moth at the top of a street lamp pole. I will need the help of the Shropshire Recorder to identify this.

I can identify this moth. It is a Square-spot Rustic (Xestia xanthographa). The 'square spot' is the dark mark between the oval and kidney marks on the outer edge of the forewing.

Yet another Yellow Swarming Fly (Thaumatomyia notata). I included this because I have never noted before that the abdomen is striped.

Trying to hide is this Clubiona species of foliage spider. This group can be recognised by the shape of the tip of the abdomen.

This looks like a stretch spider Tetragnatha sp. though the palps look rather large even for a male of that group.

One thing I wanted to see this morning was the launch of the hot air balloons. Here are a few images

Some are advertising platforms

Some are patterned

Some show a sense of humour

There were not too many special shapes noted. This was both the largest balloon and an obvious advert.

Three here. On the right is the Bristol University balloon

Nineteen balloons launched in total over a 30 minute period. Seven remain in view here.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 08:15 – 09:05

(180th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- Several very large groups of Canada Geese arrived at 'the other end' but I doubt I could have made an accurate count had I been closer. I searched several times and failed to find any Greylag Geese amongst them, neither did I hear their calls. I did find a hybrid.
- It was the turn of the two duck Gadwall to put in an appearance.
- One juvenile Great Crested Grebe was again not specifically noted.
- After they had flown in the geese started to haul out on the island, displacing many of the Coots for a probably more accurate count. They also disturbed the Black-headed Gulls before I had logged them and there had likely been more earlier.

Birds noted flying over here:

None

- 1 Grey Heron: may possibly have been flushed but I did not see it until it was in the distance

Warblers noted (no song recorded unless specifically noted):
- 3 Chiffchaff
- 1 Blackcap

Noted on / around the water:
- *>150 Canada Geese
- *1 Canada x Greylag Goose
- 6 + 4 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 2 (0♂) Gadwall
- 27 (?♂) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) all-white duck (Aylesbury Duck)
- 29 (?♂) Tufted Duck
- 11 Moorhens
- 71 Coots
- 2 + 3 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes again
- 4 Black-headed Gulls: five juvenile
- *5 Cormorant: two arrived singly and then three together

On / around the street lamp poles:

Nothing noted

Also noted:
- Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)

Try counting that lot – and it was only part of one of several large groups of geese that arrived. Only when I looked at the photo did I notice just left of centre a pair of orange feet. It is just about possible to make out that this belongs to a Canada x Greylag Goose.

The fishermen are none too pleased with the number of Cormorants taking all the small fry. Here an immature with white on the belly circles in.