25 Mar 23

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

8.0°C > 11.0°C: Early broken cloud dispersed somewhat for a while. One very light shower. Fresh WSW wind. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 06:02 GMT

* = a species photographed today.

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:10 – 08:50

(70th visit of the year)

New here was a singing Willow Warbler. As usual for my first of year here it was along the North side. It is my earliest record here by four days (29 March 2017 was my previous earliest). Bird species #79 this year here for me.

Other bird notes:
- A Pheasant was heard calling across Castle Farm Way.
- The six Black-headed Gulls arrived together from the West at 05:45; flew a half-circle low over the water and immediately left again.
- A Greenfinch was seen doing its bat-like display flight for the first time this year.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 1 Canada Goose: inbound
- 5 Greylag Geese: inbound together
- 1 Stock Dove
- 26 Wood Pigeons: of these nine flew very high North
- 1 Herring Gull: immature
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: adults
- 3 Jackdaws

Not much again

Warblers noted (the number of these singing in brackets):
- 1 (1) Cetti's Warbler
- *1 (1) Willow Warbler
- *14 (14) Chiffchaffs

Counts from the lake area:
Very windy on the dam-top with birds presumably sheltering
- 2 Canada Geese
- 2 + 4 Mute Swans
- 4 (4♂) Mallard
- 3 (2♂) Tufted Ducks again
- 8 Moorhens
- 38 Coots
- 4 Great Crested Grebes
- 6 Black-headed Gulls: see notes
- 3 Cormorants: arrived separately

Noted on the street lamp poles pre-dawn:
- 1 Lead-coloured Drab moth (Orthosia populeti) in the same place as when it was first noted on 20 March
- *a few springtails
- *2 White-legged Snake Millipedes (Tachypodoiulus niger)
- *3 species of spider

In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel pre-dawn
- *1 female midge sp.
- 1 White-legged Snake Millipede (Tachypodoiulus niger)

Of note elsewhere:
- first flowers here of:
- Cow Parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris)
- *Lesser Celandine (Ficaria verna)

After the early broken cloud moved away it was largely sunny for a while.

This was the best photo I got of the Willow Warbler buried in a tangle of twigs and branches. About the only thing to say is: note how long the primary wing feathers are. This trans-Saharan migrant has longer wings than Chiffchaff which is a short-distance migrant. Willow Warbler is unique in moulting its flight feathers twice a year so that each migration takes place using new feathers.

Here he is singing away with a branch obscuring what should be a much more defined and broader eye-stripe than a Chiffchaff.

And here is a Chiffchaff showing an indistinct eye-stripe.

Singing away. Now the books tell you this species has black legs. They usually do. This one doesn't.

 Still singing.

Trying to hide. There will soon be leaves to make hiding even easier.

At last: fully in the open.

And back to the top of the tree. These are all the same bird and note how the strength of the eye-stripe varies with the angle.

What I believe to be a female midge sp. lurking on the wall of the Priorslee Avenue tunnel.

One of the two White-legged Snake Millipedes (Tachypodoiulus niger) seen on street lamp poles.

Spider #1. Note also the two different springtails in the view.

Spider #2. This could be the same species – its general shape and pattern are similar, though not the colour.

Spider #3. This is one of the stretch spiders Tetragnatha sp. It seems to be eating breakfast. I cannot make out what it has caught.

A not very good photo of a Lesser Celandine (Ficaria verna) with the flower half in the shade and half in the sun. It is rather a ragged flower anyway. I'll try again when more flowers emerge.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 08:55 – 10:15

(65th visit of the year)

My first Blackcap of the year was heard singing and then seen behind the small play area on the East side. The same first date for this species here as logged in 2021 and one day later than in 2022 (This ignores reported over-wintering birds using garden feeders). Bird species #63 here this year.

Other bird notes:
- The pen Mute Swan was asleep on the nest against the wall of Derwent Drive throughout with the cob sitting alongside her.
- Neither the Shoveler nor the Common Teal was noted.
- Some of the Tufted Duck had climbed on to the island. Ducks are easy to overlook when they do this and may be under-recorded.
- A rather unlikely total of 11 singing Chiffchaffs. They were everywhere and moving about so ....?

Birds noted flying over here:
- 3 Jackdaws
- 2 Ravens

Warblers noted (the number of these singing in brackets):
- *13 (11) Chiffchaffs
- *1 (1) Blackcap

Noted on / around the water
- 22 Canada Geese
- 4 Greylag Geese
- 2 + 1 Mute Swans
- 23 (16♂) Mallard
- 1 all-white duck (Peking(?) Duck)
- *43 (26♂) Tufted Duck
- 9 Moorhens
- 24 Coots
- 4 Great Crested Grebes
- 2 Cormorants

On / around the street lamp poles
Nothing noted

Of interest elsewhere:
- an unidentified bumblebee sp. was noted around the Ivy bank.

"Water off a duck's back". Most people have responded to the bird flu notices and the request not to feed the birds. As a result most of the Tufted Ducks no longer come close. This drake was an exception.

Chiffchaffs everywhere today. Here is one amongst the Alder cones.

Another. Many individuals, like this one, show very obvious white half-moons above and below the eye. This one looks to have black legs though they could be very dark brown.

A third bird with less distinct markings around the eye.

Not my best but at least you can see it has a black cap. A male Blackcap: a female would not have been singing. It refused to come out of the tangle and became bored with me making squeaking noises to attract it. It went away in to even deeper cover.

(Ed Wilson)

Note:
On 22 & 23 Mar - Ed Wilson visited the Wirral:
Part one of his trip was Hoylake Here.
Part two of his trip Here.

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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 Little Grebe
7 Cormorants
2 Gadwall
18 Tufted Duck
1 Kittiwake
1 Sand Martin
7 Chiffchaffs
158 Jackdaws
(Ed Wilson)

The Flash
1 Kittiwake
(John Isherwood)

Trench Lock Pool
2 Little Grebes
4 Great Crested Grebes
15 Tufted Ducks
2 Chiffchaffs
(Ed Wilson)

Trench Middle Pool
2 Tufted Duck
2 Chiffchaffs
1 Willow Warbler
(Ed Wilson)

2013
Priorslee Lake
2 Little Grebes 
3 Great Crested Grebe 
7 Wigeon 
2 Gadwall 
34 Tufted Ducks 
c.450 Black-headed Gulls
c.350 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
c.50 Herring Gulls
1 Great Black-backed Gull.
(Ed Wilson)

The Flash
3 Great Crested Grebes 
7 Swans 
2 Pochard 
73 Tufted Duck 
(Ed Wilson)

2011
Nedge Hill
2 Wheatear
(John Isherwood)

2010
Priorslee Lake
1 Little Grebe 
4 Great Crested Grebe 
4 Gadwall
27 Tufted Duck
c.210 Jackdaws
(Ed Wilson)

The Flash
3 Great Crested Grebe 
36 Tufted Duck
2 Siskins
1 Reed Bunting
(Ed Wilson)

2007
Priorslee Lake
3 Cormorant
2 Shoveler
27 Tufted Duck
1 Green Woodpecker
29 Wren
22 Robin
21 Blackbird
5 Fieldfare
9 Redwing
6 Chiffchaff
36 Magpie
99 Jackdaw
8 Greenfinch
7 Reed Bunting
(Ed Wilson)

The Flash
4 Great Crested Grebe
1 Mallard x Pintail
2 Pochard
17 Tufted Duck
3 Chiffchaff
1 Reed Bunting
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
1 Barn Ow
1 Little Grebe
6 Great Crested Grebes
1 Shoveler
26 Tufted Ducks
2 Water Rail
532 Wood Pigeon
2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers
2 Sky Larks
15 Pied Wagtails
26 Wrens
34 Blackbirds
6 Redwings
1 Willow Warbler
1 Chiffchaff
17 Magpies
4 Jays
1 Brambling
13 Greenfinches
4 Siskins
1 Linnets
5 Reed Buntings
(Ed Wilson)
The Flash
6 Great Crested Grebe
2 Pochard
22 Tufted Duck
2 Chiffchaff 
1 Reed Bunting
(Ed Wilson)