4 Aug 22

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

13.0°C > 16.0°C: Variable amounts of cloud at multiple levels. Moderate WNW breeze. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 05:34 BST

* = a photo from today

Priorslee Lake: 04:50 – 06:00 // 07:00 – 08:50

(165th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- The juvenile Common Buzzard was calling from a different location within the Ricoh copse and therefore must have fledged
- There were 20 Black-headed Gulls on the football field at 06:00.
- The Cetti's Warbler was calling very persistently at the West end. I did not see it!
- Since Monday, my first visit after returning from the US. I have neither heard nor seen any Reed Buntings.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 2 Canada Geese: duo outbound
- 1 Greylag Goose: inbound
- 2 Feral Pigeons
- 53 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Collared Dove
- 13 Lesser Black-backed Gulls again: four of these juveniles
- 87 Jackdaws
- 9 Rooks

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 4 Barn Swallows flew East at 08:35
- 3 House Martins

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

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 4 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 19 (?♂) Mallard remain
- 2 adult / juvenile Moorhens only
- 72 adult / juvenile Coots
- 10 + 3 (two broods) Great Crested Grebes again
- c.55 Black-headed Gulls: at least five juveniles
- *7 Lesser Black-backed Gull: five adults, one second year and one juvenile; all briefly
- 1 Cormorant: briefly
- 1 Kingfisher again

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

Moths:
- *1 Small Goldenrod Plume (Hellinsia osteadactylus)
- *1 Blue-bordered Carpet (Plemyria rubiginata)

and:
- *1 sawfly sp.
- *1 fly sp.
- *1 midge sp.?
- 1 Bridge Orb-web Spider (Larinioides sclopetarius)
- *1 unknown spider #1
- 2 Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus harvestmen

Noted later.

Very little.  By the time I got to an area sheltered from the wind the sun had gone behind dark clouds:

New for this year

Nothing

Repeat sightings:

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

Bees, wasps etc.:
- Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum)
- ichneumon sp.

Other 'flies':
- Greenbottle Lucilia sp.

Mammals:
- Grey Squirrel

Two Lesser Black-backed Gulls come in for a wash and a drink. The front bird, an adult, shows missing inner primaries and a very ragged right wing with missing and regrowing outer primaries. The rear bird, which I thought was an adult at the time, has a dark tail band and looks to be a second year bird. The white area in the centre of the left wing is because the inner, dark secondary coverts have been shed as part of the annual moult and the white bases of the secondaries are exposed as a result. The outer secondary coverts are regrowing and only a small amount of white is visible.

I am not 100% sure of this identification but I think it is a Small Goldenrod Plume moth (Hellinsia osteadactylus). The camera flash I needed pre-dawn 'blew out' most of the markings. I have used a photo editor to try and restore as much detail as possible. The timing is right for this species to be on the wing. It likes Common Ragwort (Jacobaea vulgaris) as much as goldenrod: there is plenty of ragwort in the area.

My second Blue-bordered Carpet moth (Plemyria rubiginata) of the year. The dark blue tone along the wing tips is only evident on freshly-emerged moths and it usually looks dark, as here.

Not an ichneumon as I initially assumed. It is a female sawfly – a female because it has an ovipositor on the tip of the abdomen. I do not know what species it might be.

Two unknowns together. On the left is possibly a species Muscid fly. On the right what seems to be a gnat or midge. In between many dew drops!

I hope Nigel can help me with this spider. It may just be a Common Candy-striped Spider (Enoplognatha ovata) - a male with large palps. None of the pictures I can find on the internet show any with the rufous metathorax seen here.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:05 – 06:55

(161st visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- This year's Canada Geese goslings are still just about identifiable by their slightly smaller size. They were taken for a short flight around the water today.
- The Mute Swan cygnets seem happy to be away from their mother some of the time especially when she is chasing the other adults away. They are also sometimes not all together.
- The duck Mallard has just six of the ten ducklings remaining.
- After yesterday's Mallard bonanza back to a more normal number. So where did they come from and go to?

Birds noted flying over here:
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull again: immature
- 13 Jackdaws: together

Hirundines etc. noted:

None

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

Noted on / around the water:
- 25 Canada Geese
- 6 + 4 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- *21 (?) + 6 (1 brood) Mallard
- 1 all-white duck (Aylesbury Duck)
- 28 (?♂) Tufted Duck
- 9 adult / juvenile Moorhens
- 34 adult / juvenile Coots
- 2 + 4 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 15 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: adult, briefly

Noted on / around the street lamp poles:
- *2 Swallow Prominent moths (Pheosia tremula)
- 2 Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus harvestmen

Also noted:
- 1 possible White Plume moth (Pterophorus pentadactyla) seen in flight only.
- *Rough Chervil (Chaerophyllum temulum) in flower.

Mum Mallard with her six remaining offspring – one partially hidden by her head and bill.

There were two Swallow Prominent moths (Pheosia tremula) on the same lamp pole today. This one allowed a side-on view showing the 'prominent' - the point at the rear where the wings meet at rest.

I noted this umbellifer lurking in a dark corner. It reminded me a bit of Cow Parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris) but that species finished flowering many weeks ago. None too sharp in the breezy conditions: good-enough for the PlantNet app. to help me identify it as Rough Chervil (Chaerophyllum temulum) in flower. My first record of this shade-loving species in Shropshire.

An equally poor shot of the leaves. These are useful in identification of this sometimes confusing group of species.

(Ed Wilson)

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Between the lake and The Flash:

- Moorhen(s) heard at the upper pool only.

Also on a street lamp pole:
- 1 Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus harvestman

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

- *2 Single-dotted Wave moths (Idaea dimidiata)
- 1 Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris), apparently dead
- 1 owl midge Psychodidae sp
- *2 White-legged Snake Millipedes (Tachypodoiulus niger)
- 1 spider sp.

One of the two Single-dotted Wave moths (Idaea dimidiata) that were lurking here. I don't know how this species got its vernacular name – it seems to have many spots.

It is some while since I last noted a White-legged Snake Millipede (Tachypodoiulus niger) here. Here is one of the two seen today.

(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

Trench Lock Pool

4 Common Terns

(Dave Tromans)

2012

Priorslee Lake

Green Sandpiper

(Ed Wilson)

2011

Priorslee Lake

3 Common Terns

(Ed Wilson)

2008

Priorslee Lake

Black-tailed Godwit

Little Grebe

(Ed Wilson)

2008

Priorslee Lake

Black-tailed Godwit

Little Grebe

(Ed Wilson)