4 Oct 22

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

13.0°C > 14.0°C: Cloudy at medium / low level with occasional light drizzle. Light SW wind. Mostly very good visibility.

Sunrise: 07:15 BST

* = a photo from today.

Priorslee Lake: 05:45 – 09:20

(214th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- Two Eurasian Wigeon were noted: it was too dull to tell which sex they were.
- What sounded like the juvenile Common Buzzard was begging loudly and persistently from the Ricoh copse apparently to no avail.
- Another, or perhaps the same, first winter Common Gull was noted.
- Two Barn Swallows flew SW at 08:20.
- Two Chiffchaffs were heard today. Perhaps they were just quiet yesterday. Perhaps new birds moving through?
- Two Song Thrushes were in quiet sub-song at dawn, probably triggered by the mild conditions. Neither of these was the bird heard singing recently along the North side.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 4 Feral Pigeons: together
- 45 Wood Pigeons
- 2 Collared Doves: together
- 1 Herring Gull
- 20 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 18 unidentified large gulls: pre-dawn
- 5 Cormorants: together
- 2 Sparrowhawks
- 1 Common Buzzard
- 8 Jackdaws
- 174 Rooks
- 5 Pied Wagtails

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 2 Barn Swallows

Warblers noted:
- 1 Cetti's Warbler: in song at the West end
- 2 Chiffchaffs: no song

Counts from the lake area:
- *9 Canada Geese: two pairs flew out; a group of five flew in
- *2 + 4 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 3 (1♂) Gadwall
- 2 (?♂) Eurasian Wigeon
- 10 (7♂) Mallard
- 9 (3♂?) Tufted Duck
- 9 Moorhens again
- 189 Coots
- no Little Grebe
- 13 Great Crested Grebes only
- c.250 Black-headed Gulls: of these 182 were on the football field c.07:20
- *11 Herring Gulls
- *1 Common Gull
- 1 Yellow-legged Gull
- *86 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 14 unidentified large gulls: pre-dawn
- 1 Kingfisher again

Noted on / around the street lamp poles pre-dawn:
- *3 different species of fly
- 1 caddis fly
- *1 ex cranefly
- 1 owl midge Psychodidae sp.
- *1 black ant species
- 1 stretch spider Tetragnatha sp.
- *2 Bridge Orb-web Spider (Larinioides sclopetarius)

Noted later:
- bumblebee in flight only
- *Walnut Orb Weaver (Nuctenea umbratica)
- Grey Squirrel

Three from the group of five Canada Geese that arrived. You would expect at least one to be making at noise.

The five Canada Geese seem to be getting on OK with the resident Mute Swans. The cob must be getting benign in his old age. A few years ago the geese would have been chased away.

A juvenile Great Crested Grebe. This has now developed such that the area in front of the eye is no longer the strange pink colour it is for its first few weeks.

Here it is swallowing its breakfast.

The fish was large-enough to swell its cheeks as it goes down.

Coming in from the right is a first winter Herring Gull with obviously pale inner primaries. Eight adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls and one Black-headed Gull are on the water.

Two adult Herring Gulls at the front of this group, the one on the left looking rather bored. The bathing bird in the middle is an immature Herring Gull. The others two are adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls.

An adult Herring Gull comes in to bathe or drink. It looks rather scruffy largely because as it slows the feathers 'stall' and are not flattened by the passage of the air.

Between the two adult Herring Gulls is a first winter Common Gull. It is smaller with a more-rounded head, a dark eye and a thinner bill.

A full adult Lesser Black-backed Gull still moulting its outer secondaries. A full adult because the bill lacks any black marks.

One of the three species of flies I found on the street lamp poles.

All a bit of a mess. I assume this was a cranefly before, probably, a spider had a meal.

A black ant on one of the street lamp poles.

Under the dead head of an umbellifer is an unusual place to find a Bridge Orb-web Spider (Larinioides sclopetarius). Normally I find these right at the top of the street lamp poles.

 Here is another. This must be a male with the 'boxing gloves' palps.

Me and my shadow. The white marks on the underside of this dark spider identify it as a Walnut Orb Weaver (Nuctenea umbratica). It seems to have something in its jaws. I found this in the sailing club shelter.

Plane of the day - well: helicopter of the day. This is an Aérospatiale AS 350B3 Squirrel built by the successor company, Eurocopter. It is owned by a company called Squirrel Hire LLP. of London W1. It is operated by Kingmoor Aviation Ltd. which has a registered address at Liverpool's John Lennon Airport.


(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:25– 10:20

(207th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- The low number of Tufted Ducks is probably for the same reason that many of the Coots have left: lack of under water vegetation. The Cormorants don't care as they eat fish.
- A Song Thrush was in quiet song in squirrel alley.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 19 Jackdaws: four singles and a group of 15

Warblers noted:

None

Noted on / around the water
- 14 Canada Geese
- *1 Greylag Goose: departed
- 2 + 4 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- *27 (17♂) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) all-white duck (Aylesbury Duck)
- 4 (2♂) Tufted Duck only
- 18 Moorhens
- 27 Coots
- 2 Great Crested Grebes: as yesterday
- 4 Black-headed Gulls: two first winter birds
- *5 Cormorants
- *3 Grey Herons again

On / around the street lamp poles:

Nothing noted

Noted later:
- Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris)
- Grey Squirrel

An unlikely pairing. The Greylag Goose was departing and the Cormorant was just happening by and...

 ...returned.

This drake Mallard is not quite in full plumage with only part of the head green and no white ring around the neck.

Whereas this one has a completely green head and a white neck ring.

A pair of Mallard about to touch down

Here the duck is showing better.

Grey Herons are large.

Peering out at me was one of a party of Long-tailed Tits.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

- 5 owl midges Psychodidae sp.
- *10 other midges of various sizes
- 1 White-legged Snake Millipede (Tachypodoiulus niger)

An unfamiliar-looking midge or gnat with long antennae and banded abdomen.

(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

Candles Landfill Site

1st-winter Yellow-legged Gull

(Tom Lowe)

2008

Trench Lock Pool

1st- winter Mediterranean Gull

c.150 Black-headed Gulls

15 Lesser Black-backed Gulls

1 Great Black-backed Gull

Shoveler

(Ed Wilson)