22 Sep 22

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

8.0°C > 14.0°C: Colourful sunrise against areas of high cloud. Mist and low cloud rolled in c.07:30 clearing after 08:30. Very light S breeze to start, increasing moderate. Very good visibility but moderate and occasionally poor during misty period.

Sunrise: 06:55 BST

Sunrise at 06:55 and sunset at 19:09. It is supposed to be the Equinox yet it clearly isn't. I was interested to know why. If you are too you can find out why and a whole lot of other things about 'Autumn' Here:

* = a photo from today

Priorslee Lake: 05:35 – 09:15

(204th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- Seven small ducks were seen briefly circling low to the North, strangely over the new-build houses. I could not decide whether they might be Common Teal or Tufted Ducks. Perhaps it was just coincidence: there were seven of the Tufted Ducks at the Flash in a group.
- The Cetti's Warbler(s?) were the other way around today. One was singing in the NE area c.07:15: and one was singing at the W end at 08:40.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 3 Canada Geese: trio outbound
- *7 unidentified small ducks: see notes
- 9 Feral Pigeons: four singles / groups
- 63 Wood Pigeons
- 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 61 unidentified large gulls
- 1 Sparrowhawk
- no Jackdaws
- 55 Rooks
- 2 Meadow Pipits

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 1 House Martin

Warblers noted:
- 1 Cetti's Warbler: in song both in the NE and W areas
- 4 Chiffchaffs: no song

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 4 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- no Gadwall
- 11 (7♂) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) Tufted Duck: flew off
- 10 Moorhens
- *164 Coots
- 2 Little Grebes
- 18 adults and juvenile Great Crested Grebes
- *c.125 Black-headed Gulls: 56 of these were on the football field c.06:50
- *5 Herring Gulls
- 1 Yellow-legged Gull
- *72 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: the vast majority adults
- 59 unidentified large gulls
- *1 Grey Heron

Noted on / around very wet street lamp poles pre-dawn (a heavy dew):
- *1 ichneumon sp.
- 1 small orange fly with shaded wing-tips
- *1 possible Dark Bush-cricket (Pholidoptera griseoaptera)
- *1 Bridge Orb-web Spider (Larinioides sclopetarius)

Noted later:
- Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris)
- Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni)
- *Leafhopper sp., possibly Ribautiana tenerrima

The hirundines are very wise to have left as there are very few insects around.

The first signs of the sunrise. In this case the red sky did presage rain later.

Colouring up nicely.

Lying on the ground allowed maximum reflection in the water. Let's be clear: it was the camera that was lying on the ground, not me!

I never did identify these seven small ducks, the camera 'losing' them before they turned to give more clues as to their identity.

The Black-headed Gull formation team fly by. They all appear to be adult winter-plumaged bird. The bottom right bird shows an orange-toned bill more reminiscent of a first-winter bird. Perhaps a second winter though I have never read anything to suggest second winter birds can be identified unless there are, unusually, retained dark-tipped central tail-feathers.

A lone first winter Black-headed Gull for comparison.

A study in black and white. Coots and Black-headed Gulls.

From this angle this gull looks pale-enough to be a first winter Herring Gull. But as it flaps and...

... the upper wing is visible there is no contrast to the inner primaries so it is a first winter Lesser Black-backed Gull. Note the all black bill at this age.

A different similarly-aged bird. The paleness of the inner primaries is an illusion created by the exposure of the inner webs of those feathers as the bird powers away. The paler inner webs are obvious on the secondary feathers as well.

 Another example in more normal flight with the pale inner webs to the wing feathers barely visible.

A really scruffy-looking adult Lesser Black-backed Gull with moulting primary feathers in disarray. Note the dark winter streaking on the head.

A less scruffy bird but note the inner secondary feathers are not yet fully replaced. There will be a broad white trailing edge to all the secondaries once the moult is completed.

And here is an adult showing that complete broad white trailing edge. Its outermost primary is still regrowing. From all the plumage feature, especially the lack of any hint of dark in the tail, this looks to be an adult bird. Oddly the bill is mostly dark with only the outer third pale whereas adults normally have yellow bills with at most some dark smudging.

Even when there are empty buoys there are always squabbles over who is going to sit on them. A first winter Herring Gull is resisting the approaching adult Lesser Black-backed Gull...

...which falls in the water.

The Grey Heron moving across the water.

Today's small ichneumon. The small black marks in the wing do not aid its identification (by me at least).

Not many insects around now. I did find this leafhopper which is possibly Ribautiana tenerrima. Many leafhoppers are green and those species are not easy to separate.

I am not sure about this. The long antennae suggest that this is a cricket and I assume it is a Dark Bush-cricket (Pholidoptera griseoaptera). I needed another pair of hands to persuade it out of its hiding place and give me a better view.

A Bridge Orb-web Spider (Larinioides sclopetarius) posing, sadly with some detritus on the street lamp pole behind it.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:20 – 10:15

(199th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- Only the adult Great Crested Grebe seen. I assume all the juveniles departed?

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

Warblers noted:
- 2 Chiffchaffs: one in song

Noted on / around the water
- *16 Canada Geese: thirteen of these arrived in two groups
- 3 + 4 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 32 (19♂) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) all-white duck (Aylesbury Duck)
- 13 (4?♂) Tufted Duck
- 17 Moorhens again
- 33 Coots
- 1 Great Crested Grebe
- 13 Black-headed Gulls: five first winters
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: adult, briefly
- *5 Cormorants: two of these arrived separately
- 1 Grey Heron
- 1 Kingfishers

Noted on / around the street lamp poles:
- 1 Dark-triangle Button moth sp. (Acleris laterana/comariana)

Noted later:
- Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum)
- Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris)

A Canada Goose pair on touch down.

As I have noted before: "how do they do that?". An apparently ungainly species like a Cormorant can manage to perch on slender branches...

... and thin trunks. Of course they nest in trees so they must have become used to not falling out of the nest when they are fledglings.

The fifth Cormorant on approach. As usual it circled and had a good look around before...

...deciding where to splash down. It does not look exactly elegant here.

As usual 'tail-first'.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

- 3 owl midges Psychodidae sp.
- 21 other midges of various sizes
- 11 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.

Sightings from previous years without links are below

2008
Priorslee Lake
Water Rail
Common Redstart
(Ed Wilson)

The Flash
The drake Mallard x Pintail has returned for the 5th year at least
(Ed Wilson)

2007
Priorslee Lake
Gadwall
Redwing
(Ed Wilson)