26 Oct 22

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

12.0°C > 16.0°C: Very mild. Early cloud with sprinkles of rain gave way to clearer skies after 09:00. Moderate / fresh southerly breeze. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 07:55 BST

* = a photo from today.

Priorslee Lake: 06:25 – 09:15

(232nd visit of the year)

As happens at this time of year fireworks had been discharged from the dam-top area last evening and may help explain the slight drop in duck numbers.

Bird notes:
- A real bumper bundle of Black-headed Gulls with 12 large parties arriving fast and low from the West, the largest I estimated to contain 300 birds. There were small numbers later which I have assumed to be returning birds. Very few of the early arrivals stayed any length of time.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 12 Canada Geese; inbound together
- 20 Greylag Geese: inbound together
- 67 Wood Pigeons: of these 36 flew high South in two groups (migrants?)
- 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 18 unidentified large gulls: pre-dawn
- 2 Cormorants: singles
- c.250 Jackdaws
- 13 Rooks only
- 2 Redwings
- 8 Pied Wagtails
- 2 Siskins

Warblers noted:
- 1 Cetti's Warbler: singing in north-west area at dawn

Birds noted leaving roosts around the lake (also affected by poor visibility):
- 2 Redwings at least
- Reed Buntings heard only: dull and windy

Counts from the lake area:
- 102 Canada Geese: many of these departed later
- 2 + 4 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 2 (1♂) Gadwall
- 9 (6♂) Mallard
- 23 (10♂) Tufted Duck
- 11 Moorhens
- 229 Coots again
- 12 Great Crested Grebes
- c.800 Black-headed Gulls: see notes
- 7 Herring Gulls
- 14 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 108 unidentified large gulls: pre-dawn
- 2 Grey Herons: arrived separately a few minutes apart; departed together after c.15 minutes

Noted on / around the street lamp poles pre-dawn

Another miscellaneous collection.

- *1 small flies, possibly Meiosimyza decempunctata
- *1 Phaonia pallida (orange Muscid fly)
- *1 larger orange fly
- *1 male Tipula pagana cranefly
- *2 leafhoppers, perhaps Eupteryx florida and Ribautiana tenerrima
- *1 Dicyrtomidae globular springtail
- 1 Bridge Orb-web Spider (Larinioides sclopetarius)
- 1 Mitostoma chrysomelas harvestman
- 1 Paroligolophus agrestis harvestman

Three that got away:
- 1 small moths that refused to settle for more than a split second: probably a Tortrix species.
- 2 spiders on different lamps that dropped to the ground as soon as they were caught in the beam of my torch.

Noted later:

Nothing

Between the early showery outbreaks there were a few breaks giving some colour to the sunrise.

At the time I thought I had managed to photo one of the male Spotted-winged Drosophila (Drosophila suzukii) flies and confirm the stripes on the abdomen. However ... looking critically at the photo enlarged on the computer screen I think these marks are in the wings. Also the dark area at each wing tip seems to be two distinct almost touching marks rather than a single dark area. I think it may be Meiosimyza decempunctata (decempunctata = 10 spots, five on each wing).

A 'regular' orange fly on the lamp poles that I believe to be Phaonia pallida, a Muscid fly.

Here is the larger of the mainly orange flies I noted. I do not recognise this as a 'regular' on the lamp poles.

I have no real idea about this presumed fly other than to note that flies with small black eyes are not what I usually find.

This I believe to be a male Tipula pagana cranefly. Unlike the female I photographed yesterday he is full-winged even if this one has lost one of its legs.

A planthopper. I think it is Eupteryx florida though there are several similar species.

Another planthopper. I think this one is Ribautiana tenerrima, associated with brambles.

A very different springtail from the recent Pogonognathellus-types. This is less than half the size and likely to be one of the Dicyrtomidae globular springtails. I am unlikely to be able to get enough detail with my camera to be able to identify these to species-level.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:20 – 10:30

(225th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- I counted 30 Goosander (two ♂♂) at the top end. These all took off in two groups and at least some seemed to be leaving – I did not have a clear view between the trees. When I could next view most of the water there were 45 (two ♂♂) present. So did any of the earlier birds I saw in flight actually leave?

Birds noted flying over here:
- 2 Starlings
- 1 Redwing

Noted on / around the water
- 15 Canada Geese
- 34 Greylag Geese: these all flew in: probably more were already inside the island
- 2 + 4 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 41 (29♂) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) all-white duck (Peking(?) Duck)
- *16 (6♂) Tufted Duck
- *45 (2♂) Goosander: at least, see notes
- 13 Moorhens
- 23 Coots
- 3 Great Crested Grebes
- 9 Black-headed Gulls
- 5 Cormorants
- 2 Grey Herons

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

Noted later around the Ivy bank:
- Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris)
- Common Drone Fly (Eristalis tenax)

Nine Goosanders (and if you look carefully one distant Wood Pigeon) in flight showing the slender long-necked outline of this species. At the time I thought these birds were leaving, and they may have been. Later there were still plenty on the water.

There were two obvious drake Goosanders today. Two brownheads in the background.

A very shaggy hair-do on this brownhead swimming with its tail flat on the water making it look unusually elongated.

A quintet passing.

Two going 'the other way' with the wind causing a slight bad-hair day on the closer bird. Note on the more distant bird there is a white streak between the base of the bill and the eye. This suggests it is a first winter bird of, at this date, indeterminate sex.

Spot the interloper! An immature drake Tufted Duck in amongst the ten brownhead Goosanders.

Plane of the day. This is one of Aer Lingus' most recent acquisitions. It is and Airbus A320neo (neo = new engine option, now irrelevant as you cannot buy a new ceo = current engine option variant). This is one of two originally ordered by Russian airline Smartavia and not delivered due to sanctions following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Both were snapped up, no doubt at a discount, by Ireland's Aer Lingus.

Here is the data of the 54 minute hop from Dublin to Heathrow taken from the Flight Radar 24 app. shortly after I took the photo.

(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

2011

Priorslee Lake

17 Tufted Ducks

c.400 Lesser Black-backed Gull

(Mike Cooper)

2005

Priorslee Lake

16 Pochard

41 Tufted Duck

212 Coot

778 Fieldfare

199 Redwings

800 Wood Pigeons

Chiffchaff

Possible Firecrest

3 Siskin

18 Redpoll

275 Starlings

(Ed Wilson)