10.0°C > 12.0°C: Areas of cloud to South and East; clearer to the West. Light and variable winds. Very good visibility.
Sunrise: 06:54 BST
No photos from today
Priorslee Lake: 05:38 – 08:55
(203rd visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- The drake Eurasian Wigeon apparently gone.
- At least 62 large gulls were seen pre-dawn when it was too dark to positively identify them. Of these 34 were noted dropping in for a bathe and drink before quickly moving on.
- A Tawny Owl was calling from the Ricoh copse at 05:40.
- At dawn a Cetti's Warbler was singing at the West end. Later I head calls from the north-east area. I do wonder whether there is more than one bird here. Indeed I would not be surprised if they had nested here. There were certainly two birds present in early Spring though I never noted more than a single bird thereafter.
Birds noted flying over here:
- 2 Canada Geese: outbound together
- 8 Feral Pigeons: duo and sextet
- 2 Stock Doves: together
- 51 Wood Pigeons
- 8 Black-headed Gulls
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 28 unidentified large gulls
- 3 Jackdaws
- 44 Rooks
- 2 Meadow Pipits
Hirundines etc. noted:
- 12 House Martins: together
Warblers noted:
- 1 Cetti's Warbler: in song at the West end early only
- 5 Chiffchaffs: two in song
- no Blackcaps
Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 4 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 3 (1♂) Gadwall again
- 18 (10♂) Mallard
- 1 (0♂) Tufted Duck
- 9 Moorhens
- 156 Coots again
- 1 Little Grebe
- 18 adults and juvenile Great Crested Grebes
- c.120 Black-headed Gulls: 49 of these were on the football field c.06:55
- 6 Herring Gulls again
- 2 Yellow-legged Gulls: first year birds
- 50 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: one of these was on the football field c.06:55
- 34 unidentified large gulls: pre-dawn
- no Grey Heron
Noted on / around the street lamp poles pre-dawn:
- 2 Square-spot Rustic (Xestia xanthographa)
- 2 different species of plumed midge
- 1 small orange fly with shaded wing-tips
- 1 Clubiona sp. spider
- 1 Nursery Web Spider (Pisaura mirabilis)
- 1 female Leiobunum blackwalli harvestman
Noted later with no sun:
- Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni)
- Noctule-type bat
- Grey Squirrel
Sunrise: 06:54 BST
No photos from today
Priorslee Lake: 05:38 – 08:55
(203rd visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- The drake Eurasian Wigeon apparently gone.
- At least 62 large gulls were seen pre-dawn when it was too dark to positively identify them. Of these 34 were noted dropping in for a bathe and drink before quickly moving on.
- A Tawny Owl was calling from the Ricoh copse at 05:40.
- At dawn a Cetti's Warbler was singing at the West end. Later I head calls from the north-east area. I do wonder whether there is more than one bird here. Indeed I would not be surprised if they had nested here. There were certainly two birds present in early Spring though I never noted more than a single bird thereafter.
Birds noted flying over here:
- 2 Canada Geese: outbound together
- 8 Feral Pigeons: duo and sextet
- 2 Stock Doves: together
- 51 Wood Pigeons
- 8 Black-headed Gulls
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 28 unidentified large gulls
- 3 Jackdaws
- 44 Rooks
- 2 Meadow Pipits
Hirundines etc. noted:
- 12 House Martins: together
Warblers noted:
- 1 Cetti's Warbler: in song at the West end early only
- 5 Chiffchaffs: two in song
- no Blackcaps
Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 4 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 3 (1♂) Gadwall again
- 18 (10♂) Mallard
- 1 (0♂) Tufted Duck
- 9 Moorhens
- 156 Coots again
- 1 Little Grebe
- 18 adults and juvenile Great Crested Grebes
- c.120 Black-headed Gulls: 49 of these were on the football field c.06:55
- 6 Herring Gulls again
- 2 Yellow-legged Gulls: first year birds
- 50 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: one of these was on the football field c.06:55
- 34 unidentified large gulls: pre-dawn
- no Grey Heron
Noted on / around the street lamp poles pre-dawn:
- 2 Square-spot Rustic (Xestia xanthographa)
- 2 different species of plumed midge
- 1 small orange fly with shaded wing-tips
- 1 Clubiona sp. spider
- 1 Nursery Web Spider (Pisaura mirabilis)
- 1 female Leiobunum blackwalli harvestman
Noted later with no sun:
- Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni)
- Noctule-type bat
- Grey Squirrel
And here is the other one, rather too high up the lamp pole for a decent image.
This is the female non-plumed form of the plumed midge Chironomus plumosus.
A nice study of a Nursery Web Spider (Pisaura mirabilis).
Female harvestmen in the Leiobunum rotundum/blackwalli group are much easier to separate than the males. They have differently shaped dark patches on their saddles. This is a female L. blackwalli on which the black saddle widens posteriorly and terminates abruptly. It is none too clear in this shot but both sexes have white rims around the inside of the eyes which makes them look as if they have white-wall tyres.
(Ed Wilson)
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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:
- 4 owl midges Psychodidae sp.
- 8 other midges of various sizes
- 6 White-legged Snake Millipedes (Tachypodoiulus niger)
(Ed Wilson)
- 8 other midges of various sizes
- 6 White-legged Snake Millipedes (Tachypodoiulus niger)
(Ed Wilson)
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On this day can be found via the yearly links in the right-hand column.
2011
Priorslee Lake
Kingfisher
Common Sandpiper
(Ed Wilson)
2008
Priorslee Lake
Wigeon
Water Rail
(Ed Wilson)
2007
Priorslee Lake
Kingfisher
(Ed Wilson)