11 Feb 23

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

8.0°C > 9.0°C: Mostly cloudy. Light WSW wind. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 07:35 GMT

* = a photo from today.

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 06:30 – 09:10

(36th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- At least 600 Black-headed Gulls arrived more or less together c.07:15. I was at the wrong end of the lake to provide a more accurate count.
- A Cetti's Warbler was heard giving just two single-note calls.
- At least 14 and probably 15 Song Thrushes singing away. No Blackbird song though; neither was a Mistle Thrush heard singing.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 2 Stock Doves: together
- 6 Wood Pigeons only
- 3 Collared Doves: singles
- 7 Herring Gulls
- 24 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 19 Jackdaws
- 20 Rooks

Counts from the lake area:
- 12 Canada Geese: of these three departed
- 3 Greylag Geese: of these two departed
- 2 + 4 Mute Swans
- 2 (1♂) Gadwall only
- 6 (4♂) Mallard
- *2 (1♂) Pochard
- 16 (8♂) Tufted Duck
- 8 Moorhens
- 95 Coots
- 5 Great Crested Grebes
- >600 Black-headed Gulls
- *13 Herring Gulls
- 18 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Cormorant: arrived and departed

Noted on / around the street lamp poles pre-dawn
- 1 Common Flat-body moth (Agonopterix heracliana)
- *1 Early Moth (Theria primaria)
- 1 'brown-eyed' fly
- *several 'winter midges'
- *several 'globular springtails'
- *1 other springtail-type or perhaps a thrip
- *2 different small beetles
- *1 stretch spider Tetragnatha sp.

Later:

Nothing of note

A duck Pochard.

Again. She was with a drake but he evaded the camera.

Two Herring Gulls. On the left a first-year and on the right an adult. The adult looks taller which is likely to be posture. The first year looks more bulky, again perhaps posture though males tend larger than females.

A Common Buzzard flew out of the Ricoh area.

Silhouetted against the grey sky it took some photo-editing to show the plumage detail. This species has been rather scarce so far this year, I have yet to see one at The Flash for instance.

A male Greenfinch giving its rasping call-note.

They do look rather fierce.

Two for the price of one, though if you look closely there are three. An Early Moth (Theria primaria) and a 'winter midge' with a tiny 'globular springtail' at 5 o'clock to the midge.

Not all of the 'winter midges' were the same (unknown) species. These are different in size and build. A 'globular springtail' lurks behind the uppermost.

Upon reflection I am not sure this is, as I first thought, a springtail. I can find no pictures of species with tapered abdomen. It may be a thrip though the eyes look proportionally too large for that group.

The first of two small beetles on a street lamp pole. Also there are another two, perhaps three, differently-size 'globular springtails'.

Here is the other small beetle. I cannot hazard an identity for either beetle.

A stretch spider Tetragnatha sp.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:15– 10:20

(33rd visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- A pair of Common Teal put in a brief appearance. They have likely been here all the while though I have not seen them for several days.
- Similarly the drake Pochard was back where I saw it Wednesday and Thursday and was likely hiding yesterday.
- Today's two Great Crested Grebes were both adults with head plumes. One of the two seen yesterday was a first year bird still growing its head plumes. There are likely still three present.
- Five Song Thrushes heard in song here.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 1 Sparrowhawk

Noted on / around the water
- 41 Canada Geese
- 1 Greylag Geese
- 2 + 1 Mute Swans
- 39 (25♂) Mallard
- 2 (1♂) Common Teal
- 1 all-white duck (Peking(?) Duck)
- 1 (1♂) Pochard
- 51 (25♂) Tufted Duck
- 1 (0♂) Goosander
- 20 Moorhens
- 47 Coots
- 2 Great Crested Grebes again
- 58 Black-headed Gulls
- 3 Herring Gulls: one adult and two immatures
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: adult
- 1 Cormorant: arrived
- 2 Grey Herons again

On / around the street lamp poles:
Nothing noted

Of note elsewhere:
- 2 Grey Squirrels
- 1 Brown Rat
- *Snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis)

I could not entirely avoid all the twigs in front of this male Bullfinch. I suspected this rather shy species would have flown had I moved to get a clearer shot.

Probably garden escapes but these Snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis) brightened the day anyway.

(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

2014

Priorslee Lake

1 Velvet Scoter

3 Greater Scaup

7 Pochard

47 Tufted Duck

(Gary Crowder)

2013

St Georges

5 Waxwings

(Observer Unknown)

2012

Priorslee Lake

1 Iceland Gull

3 Yellow-legged Gull

1 Caspian Gull

(Tom Lowe) 

2009

Priorslee Lake

Glaucous Gull

(Observer Unknown

2007

Priorslee Lake

1 Little Grebe

12 Pochard

1 Goldeneye

15+ Redwing

33 Fieldfare

1 Willow Tit

4 Reed Buntings

(Martin Adlam)

2006

Priorslee Lake

1 Little Grebe

11 Great Crested Grebes

12 Cormorants

24 Pochard

102 Tufted Ducks

131 Coots

2 Water Rails

1 Kingfisher

c.1500 Black-headed Gulls

88 Lesser Black-backed Gulls

56 Herring Gulls.

598 Wood Pigeons

210 Starling roost

16 Robins

1 Willow Tit

13 Greenfinches

19 Siskin

6 Reed Buntings

(Ed Wilson)