7.0°C > 9.0°C: Mainly clear: a few patches of cloud later. Calm start: light westerly breeze later. Very good visibility.
Sunrise: 07:00 BST
No photos from today for the moment.
Priorslee Lake: 05:45 – 09:05
(207th visit of the year)
Two highlights again this morning:
- a duck Shoveler dropped in.
- a first winter Mediterranean Gull was found sitting on a buoy. I did not see it again. This is my first record from here since 02 August 2017 although nationally it is an increasing common species. My 97th birds species here this year. I may just scrape 100 if I am lucky (112 last year).
Other bird notes:
- The / a drake Eurasian Wigeon still here.
- Two duck Tufted Duck were new in.
- I made three separate sweep counts for Great Crested Grebes and came up with 16 each time. Where have the others gone?
- A Tawny Owl was again calling from the Ricoh copse at 05:50.
Birds noted flying over here:
- 72 Wood Pigeons
- 3 Collared Doves: single and duo
- 10 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 28 unidentified large gulls
- 2 Cormorants
- 5 Jackdaws
- 119 Rooks
- 1 Meadow Pipit
- 1 Pied Wagtail
Warblers noted:
- 1 Cetti's Warbler: in song along the North side
- 9 Chiffchaffs: one of these in song
- 2 Blackcaps: both males
Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 4 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 1 (0♂) Shoveler: arrived
- 4 (2♂) Gadwall
- 1 (1♂) Eurasian Wigeon
- 14 (8♂) Mallard
- 2 (0) Tufted Duck
- 9 Moorhens
- 172 Coots
- no Little Grebe
- 16 Great Crested Grebes
- c.175 Black-headed Gulls: 29 of these were on the football field c.07:05
- 1 Herring Gull
- 5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 71 unidentified large gulls
- 1 Cormorant: very briefly – too much weed?
- 1 Grey Heron yet again
- 1 Kingfisher again
Very little noted on / around the street lamp poles pre-dawn:
- three different species of fly
- 1 midge sp.
Noted later:
- Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris)
- Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni)
- Grey Squirrel
(Ed Wilson)
In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:
- 1 Tipula confusa cranefly
- 6 owl midges Psychodidae sp. again
- 21 other midges of various sizes
- 2 White-legged Snake Millipedes (Tachypodoiulus niger): yet again
Sunrise: 07:00 BST
No photos from today for the moment.
Priorslee Lake: 05:45 – 09:05
(207th visit of the year)
Two highlights again this morning:
- a duck Shoveler dropped in.
- a first winter Mediterranean Gull was found sitting on a buoy. I did not see it again. This is my first record from here since 02 August 2017 although nationally it is an increasing common species. My 97th birds species here this year. I may just scrape 100 if I am lucky (112 last year).
Other bird notes:
- The / a drake Eurasian Wigeon still here.
- Two duck Tufted Duck were new in.
- I made three separate sweep counts for Great Crested Grebes and came up with 16 each time. Where have the others gone?
- A Tawny Owl was again calling from the Ricoh copse at 05:50.
Birds noted flying over here:
- 72 Wood Pigeons
- 3 Collared Doves: single and duo
- 10 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 28 unidentified large gulls
- 2 Cormorants
- 5 Jackdaws
- 119 Rooks
- 1 Meadow Pipit
- 1 Pied Wagtail
Warblers noted:
- 1 Cetti's Warbler: in song along the North side
- 9 Chiffchaffs: one of these in song
- 2 Blackcaps: both males
Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 4 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 1 (0♂) Shoveler: arrived
- 4 (2♂) Gadwall
- 1 (1♂) Eurasian Wigeon
- 14 (8♂) Mallard
- 2 (0) Tufted Duck
- 9 Moorhens
- 172 Coots
- no Little Grebe
- 16 Great Crested Grebes
- c.175 Black-headed Gulls: 29 of these were on the football field c.07:05
- 1 Herring Gull
- 5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 71 unidentified large gulls
- 1 Cormorant: very briefly – too much weed?
- 1 Grey Heron yet again
- 1 Kingfisher again
Very little noted on / around the street lamp poles pre-dawn:
- three different species of fly
- 1 midge sp.
Noted later:
- Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris)
- Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni)
- Grey Squirrel
(Ed Wilson)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:
- 1 Tipula confusa cranefly
- 6 owl midges Psychodidae sp. again
- 21 other midges of various sizes
- 2 White-legged Snake Millipedes (Tachypodoiulus niger): yet again
(Ed Wilson)
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On this day can be found via the yearly links in the right-hand column.