3 Aug 22

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

18.0°C: Early broken cloud soon gave way to a period of drizzle and rain before clearing after 07:00. Moderate WSW breeze, fresh at times. Very good visibility except during drizzle when occasionally poor.

Sunrise: 05:33 BST

* = a photo from today

Priorslee Lake: 04:50 – 06:05 // 06:55 – 09:10

(164th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- Apart from the two pairs of Great Crested Grebe with young there are another two pairs each with one of them sitting on a visible nest. Two other single adults may or may not have partners on nests hidden in the reeds.
- There were no Black-headed Gulls on the football field at 06:00.
- A Kingfisher was heard calling here and then presumably the same bird shot over my head as I walked up Teece Drive towards The Flash.
- The low count of Jackdaws and Rooks today was likely because of poor visibility at the time they would normally have been passing.
- The calling Garden Warbler was unexpected. It was along the North side where I have not seen or heard this species this year.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 23 Canada Geese: 13 outbound in five small groups; 10 inbound together
- 2 Greylag Geese: inbound together
- 3 Stock Doves
- 71 Wood Pigeons
- *1 Common Buzzard
- 1 Herring Gull
- 13 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 4 Jackdaws
- 10 Rooks

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 3 Barn Swallows flew West to the North at 08:30
- 1 House Martin heard over at 05:20 with one seen at 09:00

Warblers noted (figures in brackets relate to singing birds):
- 1 (0) Cetti's Warbler
- 8 (0) Chiffchaffs
- 1 (0) Sedge Warbler
- 3 (0) Reed Warblers
- 4 (0) Blackcaps
- 1 (0) Garden Warbler

Counts from the lake area:
- 4 Canada Geese: a single arrived early; a trio arrived much later
- 2 + 4 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 19 (?♂) Mallard yet again
- 5 adult / juvenile Moorhens
- 67 adult / juvenile Coots
- Little Grebe heard
- 10 + 3 (two broods) Great Crested Grebes
- 32 Black-headed Gulls: at least three juveniles
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: adult, briefly
- 2 Grey Herons
- 1 Kingfisher

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

Moths:
- *1 Common Yellow Conch (Agapeta hamana): in spider web, perhaps dead.

and:
- 1 Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus harvestman
- 1 Leiobunum rotundum harvestman

Noted later:

New for this year in a general dearth of insects:

- Mother of Pearl moth (Pleuroptya ruralis): flew away before I could photograph it!
- *A Sarcophaga species of flesh fly
- *Common Green Capsid (Lygocoris pabulinus)
- Pipistrelle bat sp. Surprisingly my first bat here this year though the overnight fishermen report having seen many bats of at least three sizes.

Repeat sightings:

Butterflies:
- *Green-veined White (Pieris napi)
- Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria)
- *Gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus)

Moths:
- Satin Grass-veneer (Crambus perlella)
- Common Grass-veneer (Agriphila tristella)

Bees, wasps etc.:
- Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
- Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum)
- Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris)
- ichneumon sp. #1 (flew away)
- *ichneumon sp. #2

Hoverflies:
- Chequered Hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare)
- Migrant Field Syrph or Migrant Hoverfly (Eupeodes corollae)

Dragon/Damselflies
- Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum)

Other 'flies':
- Greenbottle Lucilia sp.

Bugs:
- *probable Common Flower Bug (Anthocoris nemorum)

Very early there was almost a hint of colour in the sky. Within minutes it started to drizzle quite heavily.

One of the local Common Buzzards flies through. This is not one of the birds nesting in the Ricoh copse. I think it comes from the small wooded area to the North-East of the Castle Farm Way interchange.

A Green-veined White butterfly (Pieris napi). The veins are obvious but it takes imagination to convince yourself they are green. When freshly emerged there are green scales around the veins. These scales wear off very quickly.

A rather ragged Gatekeeper butterfly (Pyronia tithonus). This is a male with the dark shading in the middle of the wings.

An unfortunate moth hanging in a spider's web. It is a Common Yellow Conch (Agapeta hamana). I see one of these moths most years. Although rather similar in shape to the Crambinae (grass moths) it belongs in a quite different and diverse family of moths, the Tortricidae (Tortrix moths).

Little and large. On the right is an unidentified (and probably unidentifiable) ichneumon. On the left is one of the Sarcophaga species of flesh flies. To identify it you need it to be a male fly, to have brought a microscope and to be toting a book with illustrations of the genitalia of the different species.

A trio (at least) of probable Common Flower Bugs (Anthocoris nemorum) feeding in a flower-head of a Common Knapweed (Centaurea nigra) plant.

Not a stunning photo of a Common Green Capsid bug (Lygocoris pabulinus). One of the many thousand known species of plant-eating Myrid bugs.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:10 – 06:50

(160th visit of the year)

I was here during the worst of the drizzle and none too enthusiastic about counting Coots lurking around the edges.

Bird notes:
- I did see a duck Mallard with ducklings in the distance. They went in to cover before I was close enough to (mis)count the ducklings.
- I have no idea where the additional Mallard have appeared from. Several were seen to wing-flap from which it appeared it is unlikely that they are able to fly at present.

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

Hirundines etc. noted:
None

Warblers noted:
None

Noted on / around the water:
- 24 Canada Geese
- 1 Canada x Greylag Goose
- no Greylag Geese
- 6 + 4 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 36 (?) + ? (1) Mallard
- 1 all-white duck (Aylesbury Duck)
- 29 (?♂) Tufted Duck
- 6 adult / juvenile Moorhens
- Coots not counted
- 2 + 4 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 11 Black-headed Gulls

Noted on / around the street lamp poles:
- *1 Swallow Prominent moth (Pheosia tremula)
- 1 Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus harvestman

Braving the rain was this Swallow Prominent moth (Pheosia tremula). This species is double-brooded and I saw several examples of the first brood here, back in May.

(Ed Wilson)

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Between the lake and The Flash:

- No Moorhen(s) heard today.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

- nothing of note

(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

2012
Priorslee Lake
Kingfisher
(Ed Wilson)

2011
Priorslee Lake
Immature Common Tern
(Ed Wilson)

Nedge Hill
1 (imm/fem) Common Redstart
(John Isherwood)

2010
Priorslee Lake
4 Shoveler (all females/immatures)
(John Isherwood)