An unspectacular sunrise. Note that the water is mainly unruffled and belies the forecast of brisk winds at this time.

Three of the four Mute Swans go for a fly.

Wonderful light this morning so how could I resist this drake Gadwall.

Indeed these two drake Gadwalls.

A portrait of an adult Great Crested Grebe.

I topped 200 Coots on my morning count and most of them are in peaceful groups. There are always exceptions as this trio face off.

The underside of a passing adult winter Black-headed Gull.

And the topside of a different bird.

An adult winter Herring Gull. Note the yellow bill with a red spot.

This is an immature Herring Gull. It appears to be still in moult as the inner secondaries appear to be still regrowing. Note the black, and no red, on the bill. I suspect this is moulting in to third winter plumage.

But this is the same bird and here it shows no sign of short secondaries.

A first winter Yellow-legged Gull with an adult Herring Gull. Note the pale head on the Yellow-legged Gull as well as the paler inner primaries.

One of the local Common Buzzards nicely lit to show the underwing pattern.

Passing by.

One of two Grey Wagtails that seem to enjoy the boat launching platform. They are probably feeding on the insects attracted to the piles of Canadian Pondweed raked out of the lake.

A female ichneumon. A female because of the long ovipositor. As I have previously noted it is hard to seen how the ovipositor is strong-enough to pierce its victim.

It is some weeks since I saw my previous Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus).

There is always a different collection of insects on the street lamp poles later in the morning. This is one of the more distinctive flies that can be seen later. I cannot tell you what species it is though.

An insect about which I cannot decide. It may be a wood gnat though the antennae look too long. It may be a winter cranefly though they tend to have plain wings. Pass.

A rather better photo of what I take to be an owl midge Psychodidae sp., though it is unusual in that the wings are clear and the unusually long antennae not only appear banded but are seemingly notched.

Another insect (it has six legs) that I have given up on. The long antennae are held over its abdomen.

Plane of the day; This is a Singapore Airlines Airbus A350-900 series. It is specially configured with only 160 seats for its use on very long-haul routes. This is flying....

...non-stop from New York's John F Kennedy International Airport to Changi Airport in Singapore. Seventeen and three-quarter hours in one go. Gulp! And no doubt the usual 45 minutes in the queue for take off at JFK. The data comes courtesy of Flight Radar 24. The EC35s sharing the screen are helicopters from I Flying Training School at RAF Shawbury where pilots for all three services are trained.

(Ed Wilson)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Flash: 09:30– 10:25

(209th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- My first Goosanders of the season with three ducks / immatures hauled out on the island. One of the regular dog-walkers told me she had seen several yesterday.

Birds noted flying over here:

None

Warblers noted:

None

Noted on / around the water
- 15 Canada Geese
- 2 + 4 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- *25 (17♂) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) all-white duck (Peking(?) Duck)
- 7 (2♂) Tufted Duck
- *3 (0♂) Goosander
- 13 Moorhens
- 23 Coots
- 2 Great Crested Grebes: adult and juvenile
- 13 Black-headed Gulls
- *8 Cormorants
- 3 Grey Herons

On / around the street lamp poles:
Nothing noted

Noted later:
- *Common Nettle-tap (Anthophila fabriciana)
- Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris)
- *Tapered Dronefly (Eristalis pertinax)
- Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax)

This drake Mallard has been present for some years. It is identifiable as it has a restricted mount of green on the head. Harking back to the Pomeranian Duck that was present yesterday it shows some white around and over the eye. It clearly has some feral genes somewhere in its past.

I noticed this brownhead (immature or duck) Goosander sitting on the island.

A shuffle about revealed there were three birds.

Drying its wings on top of a tree is this Cormorant. It seemed improbable that it could do this given the strength of the wind at the time. I guess it had found a spot where it was sheltered by taller trees.

I did not expect to find this Common Nettle-tap moth (Anthophila fabriciana) though it is a species that has multiple broods and can be seen in to Autumn.

This male Tapered Dronefly (Eristalis pertinax) has found an open Ivy flower.

Plane of the day #2 and a very different aircraft. It is a four-seat Cirrus Design Cirrus SR22 GTS based at Liverpool's John Lennon Airport. The Cirrus Design Corporation is a very successful company and a relative newcomer to the light aircraft marked (about 15 years). It pioneered the idea that the aircraft should have a parachute to deploy in any dire emergency. The company is based in Duluth in Minnesota, very close to the Canadian border.

(Ed Wilson)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

- 1 owl midge Psychodidae sp.
- 19 other midges / mosquitoes of various sizes
- *1 unidentified hairy...?
- no White-legged Snake Millipedes

I have no idea what this tiny creature is. Are those eyes at the bottom? Is that a leg sticking out along the left side? I have no idea!

(Ed Wilson)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On this day can be found via the yearly links in the right-hand column.

Sightings from previous years without links are below

2014

Priorslee Lake

1st-winter Caspian Gull.

(Observer Unknown)

2008

Priorslee Lake

3 Pochard

100 Tufted Duck

Water Rail heard

39 Lapwings

Kingfisher

3 Redwings

Redpoll

Siskin

(Ed Wilson)

2006

Priorslee Lake

49 Tufted Duck

1 Chiffchaff

Willow Tits

(Ed Wilson)

6 Oct 06 - Wesley Bridge under water (Ed Wilson)

Friends of Priorslee Lake Wildlife Site

Pages

6 Oct 22