15 Sep 22

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

13.0°C > 15.0°C: Mostly cloudy. Moderate WNW breeze later. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 06:43 BST

* = a photo from today

Priorslee Lake: 05:30 – 09:00

(198th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- Another Mistle Thrush record on an unusual date. One was heard calling in the south-east copse before flying off East.

Birds noted flying over here:
- no geese
- 4 Feral Pigeons: single and trio
- 18 Racing Pigeons: together
- 1 Stock Dove again
- 81 Wood Pigeons
- 4 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Herring Gull
- 5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 2 Common Buzzards
- 1 Jay: too high to be a local bird
- no Jackdaws
- 18 Rooks

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 2 House Martins: flew North 08:10

Warblers noted:
- 1 Cetti's Warbler in song in NW area at dawn and along N side later
- 8 Chiffchaffs: two in song
- 1 Blackcap: no song

Counts from the lake area:
- 5 Canada Geese: arrived
- 2 + 4 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- no Gadwall
- 12 (7♂) Mallard
- 3 (2♂) Tufted Duck
- 13 Moorhens
- 136 Coots
- 2 Little Grebes
- 10 + 10 (5 broods) Great Crested Grebes
- c.65 Black-headed Gulls: 47 of these were on the football field at 06:45
- 1 Herring Gull
- 5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 2 Cormorants: arrived and soon departed, together. My first here for some while
- 2 Grey Herons: one arrived; both departed separately
- 1 Kingfisher

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

I don't know why I keep checking: there seem to be no moths at the moment

- *1 owl midge Psychodidae sp.
- *2 plumed midges
- *1 male mosquito
- 1 small red fly
- *1 Pogonognathellus springtail
- *1 small brown beetle
- *1 Garden Spider (Araneus diadematus)
- 1 Clubiona sp. spider
- 1 Walnut Orb Weaver (Nuctenea umbratica)
- 1 stretch spider Tetragnatha sp.

Noted later in breezy and cloudy conditions:
- Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni)
- Grey Squirrel

and

A new flower for the year:
- *Gypsywort (Lycopus europaeus)

This looks a bit strange. The wing shape is reminiscent of an owl midges Psychodidae sp. but the wings are unusually unmarked. It is hard to see the body shape to check. It also shows unusually long and banded antennae.

This looks a bit like a Chironomus plumosus plumed midge but the abdomen looks rather narrow and the front legs look too long.

This is a male mosquito. The antennae look rather different from the suspected Aedes punctor I photographed yesterday. Perhaps they are damp from the dew? Or perhaps they get easily battered.

This looks to be a Pogonognathellus springtail. The antennae are too short for P. longicornis and it does not seem to have the single pale central abdomen band of P. flavescens. So I am not sure.

I think I have seen this small beetle before. It is smaller than the Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni); it is brown rather than blue/black; it seems to have a swollen high femur; and proportionately longer antennae.

The cross marking at the top of the abdomen identifies this as a Garden Spider (Araneus diadematus).

I found this plant growing by the side of the lake along the North side. The leaves looked rather like a nettle but what caught my eye was that the rows of flowers that are arranged differently and are larger. So out with PlantNet...

Gypsywort (Lycopus europaeus). I last recorded this plant here in 2018.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:05 – 10:00

(194th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- No Gadwall noted.
- So what has happened to the all-white duck (Aylesbury Duck)? My third day without seeing it.

Birds noted flying over here:

None

Warblers noted:
- 1 Chiffchaff: no song

Noted on / around the water
- 26 Canada Geese: two of these arrived together
- 3 Greylag Geese
- 3 + 4 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- no Gadwall
- 29 (18♂) Mallard
- no all-white duck (Aylesbury Duck) seen again
- 8 (?♂) Tufted Duck
- 10 Moorhens
- 28 Coots
- 2 + 4 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 24 Black-headed Gulls: seven of these first winter birds
- 4 Cormorants
- 1 Grey Heron

On / around the street lamp poles:
Nothing noted

Noted later:
- *Horse-chestnut Leaf-miner moth (Cameraria ohridella)
- Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
- *Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum)
- Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris)
- Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni)
- Brown Rat (Rattus norvegicus)

also
- *Redshank leaves (Persicaria maculosa)
- possible Portuguese Laurel leaves (Prunus lusitanica)

You cannot have too many photos of Horse-chestnut Leaf-miner moths (Cameraria ohridella).

The only two I saw today were very active. Note the banded antennae. They were running around on the leaves which PlantNet tells me are...

Portuguese Laurel (Prunus lusitanica). A species not in my Flora. If correct it is likely a planted shrub.

The only insect at the Honeysuckle today was this Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum).

I noted these interestingly-marked leaves alongside the water. I put PlantNet app. to work.

This was the result: Amphibious Bistort (Persicaria amphibia). But reference to my Flora (where this group is indexed under its previous genus name Polygonum) suggests this is Redshank (Persicaria maculosa). In fairness to PlantNet it was only a 49% result.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

- 2 craneflies Tipula lateralis
- *8 owl midges Psychodidae sp.
- *20 other midges of various sizes again
- 4 White-legged Snake Millipede (Tachypodoiulus niger)

 One of the eight 'normal' owl midges Psychodidae sp. I found here.

And here is another.

I still don't have much idea about the midge with the very long front legs. It could be a female of the plumed midge at the lake. If so the abdomen is wider and not apparently banded and the legs look proportionately longer.

(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

Green Sandpiper

9 Ravens

(Ed Wilson)

2010

Priorslee Lake

Mallard x Pintail

Raven

2 Sand Martin

(Ed Wilson)

2008

Priorslee Lake

100+ hirundines

31 Pied Wagtails

Redwing

14 Chiffchaffs

7 Siskins

(Ed Wilson)