24 Oct 22

The Flash only

11.0°C > 12.0°C: Variable mainly thin cloud after early rain. Moderate West wind. Good visibility.

[Sunrise: 07:51 BST]

* = a photo from today.

Rain prevented my usual early visit to the lake.

The Flash: 09:14 – 10:15

(223rd visit of the year)

Highlight was my first Eurasian Wigeon of the year here. A duck bird becomes my bird species #73 here this year.

Other bird notes:
- A bumper number of Goosanders with one very obvious drake

Birds noted flying over here:
- 1 Stock Dove
- 8 Jackdaws
- 1 Pied Wagtail

Noted on / around the water
- 16 Canada Geese
- *c.75 Greylag Geese: these all arrived in one large group with many quickly disappearing inside the island
- 2 + 2 (1 brood) Mute Swans: other cygnets presumed inside the island
- 37 (23♂) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) all-white duck (Peking(?) Duck)
- *1 (0♂) Eurasian Wigeon
- *11 (4♂) Tufted Duck
- 27 (1♂) Goosander
- 12 Moorhens again
- 22 Coots
- 2 Great Crested Grebes only: ages not determined
- 3 Black-headed Gulls
- *8 Cormorants
- 1 Grey Heron

Noted on / around the street lamp poles:
- 2 November Moths agg. (Epirrita dilutata agg.)

Noted later

All around the Ivy bank:

- Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris)
- Grey Squirrel

A very smart-looking duck Eurasian Wigeon. The orange tone rules out all other species (other than the rare American Wigeon). I did pause as it was calling when I first saw it and that call was very reminiscent of Tufted Duck noises. I am not sure I have consciously heard duck Wigeon call, just the very characteristic 'whee-oooh' call of the drakes. I had to check with the calls available through the xeno-canto web site.

Two of the many brownhead Goosanders present. The difference in the 'brown' tones is more to do with the different angle of light than real colour difference.

If you look closely there are 19 brownhead Goosanders with the duck Eurasian Wigeon near the four at the left of the view. There are three duck and two drake Tufted Ducks in front of them and in shade on the island some of the many Greylag Geese that flew in.

A short video panning across all 27 Goosanders with the very white-flanked drake appearing towards the start of the video.

Another shot that requires careful examination. There are five Cormorants in the trees here. Three are more, or less, silhouetted against the sky top right. One is hard to see bottom centre. And the fifth has its wings open towards the top left.

Two other Cormorants were fishing and for once I managed to capture both on the surface. Here is one.

And here is other captured moments before it sprang forward and dived. An eighth bird was alongside the island.

(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

2010

Priorslee Lake

733 Wood Pigeons

11 Skylarks

151 Fieldfare

20 Redwings

2 Brambling

2 Linnets

2 Redpolls

(Ed Wilson)

2009

Priorslee Lake

5 Wigeon

1 Little Grebe

(John Isherwood)

The Flash

1 Shoveler

1 Teal (female)

1 Common Gull

(John Isherwood)