27 Sep 22

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

10.0°C: Mainly light passing showers. Moderate / fresh NW wind. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 07:03 BST

No photos from today: a catch-up from the weekend are below.

Heavy showers suggested an early visit would be unpleasant.

There has been a small arrival of Tufted Ducks at both locations since my previous visits

Priorslee Lake: 10:15 – 11:15

(208th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- The Eurasian Wigeon was a surprise survivor of the sailing club's 'try sailing' taster day on Sunday and is still present.
- Meanwhile the Gadwall are now happy to accept any proffered food.
- Five Barn Swallows were seen heading West. A rather late date for this species here but not exceptional.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 21 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
- 3 Skylarks

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 5 Barn Swallows

Counts from the lake area:
- 30 Canada Geese
- 2 + 4 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 1 (1♂) Eurasian Wigeon
- 4 (1♂) Gadwall
- 11 (7♂) Mallard
- 7 (2?♂) Tufted Duck
- 7 Moorhens
- 178 Coots
- 2 Little Grebes
- 19 Great Crested Grebes
- 13 Black-headed Gulls only
- 1 Herring Gull
- 6 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 3 Cormorants: arrived together

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 11:25 – 12:05

(201st visit of the year)

Annoyingly one of the fishermen gave me an excellent description of a Great White Egret that had been present earlier. It had been chased away by Grey Herons.

Bird notes:
- The / a drake Gadwall has (re)appeared – assuming it ever went away.
- Also (re)appearing was one juvenile Great Crested Grebe.

Birds noted flying over here:
None

Warblers noted:
None

Noted on / around the water
- 38 Canada Geese
- 3 + 4 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 1 (1♂) Gadwall
- 24 (15♂) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) all-white duck (Aylesbury Duck)
- 30 (11?♂) Tufted Duck
- 10 Moorhens only
- 23 Coots only
- 1 + 1 juvenile Great Crested Grebe
- 7 Black-headed Gulls: two first winters
- 2 Cormorants
- 1 Grey Heron

On / around the street lamp poles:
Nothing noted

Noted later:
- Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
- Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris)
- Grey Squirrel


Note
Below are a few photos from Priorslee Lake from last Saturday (24th) and Sunday (25th)

 This was Saturday's sunrise.

It was more colourful on Sunday.

This duck Shoveler dropped in on Sunday. Not a good photo but the species' unusual bill is apparent.

The drake Eurasian Wigeon was here all weekend (and still is). I took this photo on Saturday.

One of the drake Gadwall is quite 'tame' and on Saturday it was quite happy to sit on the concrete ramp.

Sunday found it in the water.

These two Tufted Ducks were new arrivals on Saturday (there are more present now). Very harsh cross-lighting makes it difficult to sex these. The pale flanks might suggest they are drakes. However the white under-tail on the left-hand bird and the white around the base of the bill on the right-hand bird suggests caution is needed. They are probably first winter birds and hence difficult to sex until later in the year.

A juvenile Great Crested Grebe getting some food from its parent.

Zoomed in.

This is a first winter Mediterranean Gull. It is only slightly larger than a Black-headed Gull. The most obvious feature indicating this is something different is the dark smudge around the eye, very different from the black spot behind the eye of Black-headed Gulls. The bill is noticeably heavier. Less obvious features are the longer legs and the more extensive and unpatterned brown in the folded wing.

Another view. A slight mist over the lake has given a slightly fuzzy effect.

A well-marked first winter Herring Gull...

...in profile.

Two Grey Wagtails were on the boat launching platform on Sunday. Here is one.

And here is the other. Most males only have the dark bib in the breeding season so I am not sure about the sex of either of these two.

A Speckled Wood butterfly (Pararge aegeria).

This Migrant Field Syrph hoverfly (Eupeodes corollae) seemed to have roosted (if that is the right word) on a street lamp pole. It was only when I looked at the photo did I see the small spider lurking behind it.

A Tipula confusa cranefly. A species with very well-marked wings and one of the few Tipula species that rests with its wings folded over its back.

An owl midge Psychodidae sp. This specimen does not have the banded antennae that I have seen on some individuals and the wings are relatively unpatterned.

I did not note this until I examined my photos from Sunday. A species of weevil is as far as I can go. There are many small and dark grey weevils that look very similar.

One of the numerous different spiders I have found on the street lamp poles. I have no idea whether the marks on the pole are anything to do with the spider. Neither have I any idea what the marks are by spider's two left front legs. Might they be spiderlings? I would have expected a larger number if they were.

This spider does not ring any bells and may be a species I have not seen before. I cannot see what is in its jaws. Note the third leg on the spider's right side seems to be damaged.

A Paroligolophus agrestis harvestman recognisable by the noticeable change in the width of the legs near the mid-point.

Planes of the day on Sunday having a race. On the right...

...a United Airlines Boeing 777 200 series en route from Newark's Liberty International Airport in New Jersey to Rome's Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci Airport, the main international airport. It is powering ahead of....

...a Ryanair Boring 737 800NG (Next Gen(eration)) from Dublin to Rome's Ciampino G. B. Pastine International Airport. This is Rome's secondary airport. It is less expensive to use which in one reason Ryanair flies there. Giovan Battista Pastine was an Italian airship pilot who served in World War I [why do we not have a Douglas Bader International Airport in England?]. These two images courtesy of Flight Radar 24.

(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
1 Teal
3 Wigeon
1 Kingfisher
(John Isherwood)

2011
Priorslee Lake
13 Meadow Pipits
3 Redpoll
Siskin
Common Sandpiper
(Ed Wilson)

2010
Priorslee Lake
Juvenile Common Scoter
3 Little Grebes
Drake Pintail x Mallard
(Ed Wilson/Andy Latham)