18 Sep 22

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

10.0°C > 12.0°C: Patchy cloud mainly to North and East. Moderate W breeze. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 06:48 BST

* = a photo from today

Priorslee Lake: 05:30 – 09:05

(200th visit of the year)

Nothing to celebrate by 200th visit with. Quiet even by recent standards.

Bird notes:
- The single oldest juvenile Great Crested Grebe was not found, Two juveniles from another brood were seen in rather hesitant flight after an adult with food.
- First significant early roost dispersal of large gull with 62 noted, 41 of which dropped in to the lake for a wash and a drink before quickly moving on. Too dark to specifically identify these birds.
- One Cormorant came and had a look at the lake but turned around and flew back the way it had come.
- One Barn Swallow circled the copse in the south-west area once. The local breeding birds often do this on feeding forays,

Birds noted flying over here:
- no geese
- 1 Feral Pigeon
- 2 Stock Doves: singles
- 26 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Collared Dove
- 11 Black-headed Gulls
- 7 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 21 unidentified large gulls
- 1 Cormorant
- 3 Jackdaws
- 46 Rooks
- 2 Starlings
- 1 Pied Wagtail again

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 1 Barn Swallow

Warblers noted:
- no Cetti's Warbler heard
- *7 Chiffchaffs: three in song

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 4 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 4 (1♂) Gadwall
- 9 (5♂) Mallard
- 10 Moorhens
- 161 Coots
- no Little Grebes
- 10 + 9 (4 broods) Great Crested Grebes
- >250 Black-headed Gulls: none again on the football field
- 1 Herring Gull
- 26 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 41 unidentified large gulls
- 1 Grey Herons: seen once

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

Moths

Still none (but at least there was one in the tunnel).

but
- 1 Common Green Lacewing (Chrysoperia carnea)
- *1 female mosquito sp.
- *several small midges / flies
- 1 Bridge Orb-web Spider (Larinioides sclopetarius)
- *1 Nursery Web Spider (Pisaura mirabilis)
- *two more spiders of other species
- 3 Paroligolophus agrestis harvestmen

Noted later in the cloudy conditions:
- *Horse-chestnut Leaf-miner moth (Cameraria ohridella)
- wasp sp.: seemed rather small but too fast to photo
- *Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax)
- *Common Green Shieldbug (Palomena prasina)
- Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni)
- Grey Squirrel

Perhaps it is me and not the Harvest Moon that is leaning.

Chiffchaffs have not been cooperative so far this Autumn. It will become easier as more leaves fall from the trees. A few Chiffchaffs will be around for another month yet. Having just completed their post-breeding (or post-fledging) moult they are distinctly yellower than when they return in Spring.

A Grey Wagtail. Remember that wagtails are named after the colour of the back so it is not a Yellow Wagtail. I have been after its photo for a while to see whether the ringed bird from 2019 is still around. Not this one.

Recent experience at The Flash suggested I should not look for Horse-chestnut Leaf-miner moths (Cameraria ohridella) on the damaged Horse-chestnut leaves but close-by. I did and spotted this one in flight when it promptly disappeared to land on the underside of a Hazel leaf. Surprisingly it allowed me to turn the leaf over and whilst it did not exactly pose for a photo it stayed reasonably still. Moth species #89 in the lake area for me this year.

A fine-looking male Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax).

An even closer view.

I have been after a photo of this fly for a while and hitherto been unable to get one focused properly. It is very small and narrow-bodied. Here the wings look shaded brown and the abdomen appears to have both green and reddish tones but I wonder to what extent these are light interference patterns from either my torch or the camera flash.

Showing a proboscis this is likely a female mosquito sp.

Another species I have had difficulty getting a decent photo of. These tiny brown-bodied insects with almost translucent wings look rather like phantom gnats apart from having longer antennae. I have no idea of the significance of the thread from which it seems to be hanging.

An adult Common Green Shieldbug (Palomena prasina). I found one of these at the lake and another later at The Flash. They will soon be starting to turn brown as they prepare to overwinter equally blending in to the background.

It is a long while since I last saw this very distinctive spider – a Nursery Web Spider (Pisaura mirabilis).

A most unusual small spider I would have thought. The markings on the abdomen do not appear to have any pattern, looking rather haphazard. I have not been able to trace anything that looks like this.

The leaf of interest is not easy to see: look for the green feathery leaf. One for PlantNet.

This is what it suggested: Noble Yarrow (Achillea nobilis) at 78% confidence. I think not. Reference to my Flora tells me Noble Yarrow plants have elliptical leaves and it is a casual in Britain. It must be just Yarrow (A. millefolium). There have been Yarrow plants and flowers around for several months and this leaf looked new and distinctly larger then usual. Which is why I investigated.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:10 – 10:05

(196th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- The pen Mute Swan was giving the 'spare' (sub) adult a hard time. The newly formed pair have been preventing this bird entering the water and forced it on to the grass at the top end. Today the pen came out of the water herself and charged at this bird on several occasions. I suspect it will end badly.
- So where have they been for the last flew days? The drake Gadwall, about 20 Mallard and the all-white Aylesbury-type all reappeared after I had failed to find them for several days. The all-white bird is hard to miss.
- Only one adult Great Crested Grebe located.
- Cormorants were flying in / out and around. At least three: could have been more.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 1 Herring Gull: first winter
- 1 Jackdaw

Warblers noted:
- 1 Chiffchaff: no song

Noted on / around the water
- 26 Canada Geese: four of these arrived as two pairs
- *3 + 4 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 1 (1♂) Gadwall
- 41 (23♂) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) all-white duck (Aylesbury Duck)
- 6 (2?♂) Tufted Duck
- 18 Moorhens
- 28 Coots yet again
- 1 + 4 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- *18 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Herring Gull: first winter; departed
- 3? Cormorants: departed
- 1 Grey Heron: departed

Noted on / around the street lamp poles:
- 1 Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus harvestman

Noted later:
- *Horse-chestnut Leaf-miner moth (Cameraria ohridella)
- *Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum)
- Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris)
- Common Green Shieldbug (Palomena prasina)
- Grey Squirrel

The pen Mute Swan steps out in pursuit of the third (sub) adult that she now thinks should not be on her territory. Her new mate only gives tacit support from the water. Note the green Darvic ring on her left leg which identifies her.

That is some threat pose.

From the other side. She seem oblivious to me and the dog-walkers.

"Are those really my feet? My parents' feet were bright red" A first-winter Black-headed Gull seems puzzled.

Still here as well as newly found at the lake: a Horse-chestnut Leaf-miner moth (Cameraria ohridella).

Just about recognisable: a Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum) feeding inside a White Dead-Nettle flower (Lamium album).

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

- *1 Square-spot Rustic moth (Xestia xanthographa)
- 1 owl midge Psychodidae sp.
- 11 other midges of various sizes again
- 6 White-legged Snake Millipedes (Tachypodoiulus niger)

My first moth in the tunnel for nine days turns out to be another Square-spot Rustic (Xestia xanthographa). A common species that I seem to have seen more of than usual this year.

(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

2007

Priorslee Lake

Common Gull

Kingfisher

(Ed Wilson)