5 Feb 23

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

2.0°C > 5.0°C: Clear and frosty with just some thin high cloud. Light NNW wind. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 07:46 GMT

* = a photo from today.

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 06:35 – 09:15

(31st visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- The resident pair of Mute Swans seem to be investigating the north-west area as a potential nest site this year.
- All-change for the gulls again. c.45 Black-headed Gulls arrived from the West at 07:00, closely followed by c.25 large gulls. These latter seemed to be mainly adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls though they departed before it was light-enough to positively identify them. Another c.40 Black-headed Gulls followed. There were no further arrivals apart from a lone immature Herring Gull much later.
- Four Great Crested Grebes: the pair in the north-west area started displaying well before dawn. Two fully plumaged adults seemed to be threat-posturing off the dam.
- 10 Redwings were on the football field as I was leaving.
- The Cetti's Warbler was heard again.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 2 Canada Geese: outbound together
- 2 (?♂) Goosander: insufficient light at the time to determine the sexes.
- 1 Feral Pigeon
- 22 Wood Pigeons
- 2 Herring Gulls
- 24 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 5 Cormorants: a quartet and a single
- 14 Jackdaws
- 55 Rooks

Counts from the lake area:
- 5 Canada Geese: of these two arrived and one departed
- 2 + 4 Mute Swans: normality returns
- 6 (3♂) Gadwall
- 9 (6♂) Mallard
- 8 (4♂) Tufted Duck
- 12 Moorhens
- 101 Coots
- 4 Great Crested Grebes
- c.85 Black-headed Gulls: see notes
- 1 Herring Gull
- c.25 unidentified large gulls pre-dawn
- 1 Cormorant: arrived but did not stay long
- 1 Grey Heron
- 1 Kingfisher

On / around the frost-covered street lamp poles pre-dawn and nothing of note later:
Nothing noted

Some thin high cloud and some atmospheric 'wobble' has taken the edge off this photo of the Snow Moon taken just about 11 hours ahead of it being full (at 18:29 GMT this evening).

After a few grey days it was pleasing to see a clear dawn.

The high cloud produced a colourful sunrise.

Again: from a slightly different perspective.

Last year's reeds against a fiery reflection in the water.

One for cloud enthusiasts. Now where is my "Observers Book of the Weather" to identify the formation? A foray on the web suggests they might be 'billow clouds', officially Kelvin-Helmholtz clouds though I am none too sure. That formation is associated with the meeting of two air currents of different velocities. There was not much air movement at ground level.

I more or less managed to avoid the 'branch in the way' but instead this view of a male Siskin is marred by a shadow of a branch across his face. I can't win.

I think I have done this as "aircraft of the day" some while ago. It is an Air France Boeing 777 300 series some nine hours out of San Francisco en route to Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport. I associate France with a flair for design but to my eyes the Air France livery is one of the most boring and dated of current airline liveries. There is not much sign of paint from this angle.

The usual flight data as shown by FlightRadar24

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:20 – 10:35

(29th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- Common Teal located again. There is only one spot on the East side where I could see these birds amongst roots and boulders at the edge of the island. It seems very probable I overlooked them yesterday. Only the pair seen though other(s) possibly hidden.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 1 (1♂) Goosander: very high and clearly nothing to do with this water
- 2 Jackdaws

Noted on / around the water
- 60 Canada Geese: of these 25 arrived with...
- 1 Greylag Goose
- 2 + 1 Mute Swans
- 44 (29♂) Mallard
- 1 all-white duck (Peking(?) Duck)
- 2 (1♂) Common Teal
- 61 (32♂) Tufted Duck
- 5 (2♂) Goosander
- 21 Moorhens
- 47 Coots
- 1 Great Crested Grebe
- 87 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Herring Gull: immature
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: adults
- 1 Cormorant: arrived
- 1 Grey Heron

On / around the street lamp poles or of note elsewhere:
Nothing noted

The two adult Mute Swans are beginning to get 'friendly' even though they are often well apart. It is surprising that it is the cob on the left who is looking coy. Still he is the younger bird of the pair and she is, I am fairly certain, his mother.

Say 'aah'"

(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

Velvet Scoter

3 Scaup

(Observer Unknown)

2013

Priorslee Lake

10 Gadwall

29 Wigeon

Caspian Gull

2 Yellow-legged Gull

7 Great Black-backed Gulls

(John Isherwood, Kris Webb)

The Flash

2 Goosander

(John Isherwood)

Holmer Lake

13 Goosander

(John Isherwood)

2012

Priorslee Lake

4 Great Crested Grebes

11 Pochard

65 Tufted Duck

c.50 Lapwings

Dunlin

c.300 Black-headed Gulls

c.400 Lesser Black-backed Gulls

c.50 Herring Gulls

1 Glaucous Gull

1 Common Gull

(Ed Wilson / Jim Almond)

2011

Priorslee Lake

9 Pochard

>1000 Black-headed Gulls 

82 Herring Gulls

1 Glaucous Gull

2 Yellow-legged Gulls

>500 Wood Pigeons

248 Jackdaws

211 Rooks logged 

1 Redpoll

(JW Reeves, Ed Wilson)

2008

Priorslee Lake

102 Lesser Black-backed Gulls

1 Yellow-legged Gull

9 Herring Gulls

(Martin Adlam)

2007

Priorslee Lake

1 Little Grebe

12 Pochard

57 Tufted Ducks

2 Water Rails

32 Robins

26 Blackbirds

13 Song Thrushes

4 Redwings

2 Willow Tits

11 Greenfinches

3 Reed Buntings

(Ed Wilson)

2006

Priorslee Lake

c.850 Black-headed Gulls

8 Great Crested Grebes

2 Gadwall

20 Pochard

85 Tufted Ducks

163 Coots

20 Robins

22 Blackbirds

10 Song Thrushes

1 Willow Tit

13 Greenfinches

10 Reed Buntings

(Ed Wilson)