22 May 23

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

9.0°C > 16.0°C:  After a clear start a few patches of medium-level cloud took the edge off the sun. Calm early with a light to moderate northerly breeze springing up. Good visibility and rather hazy early.

Sunrise:  05:04 BST

* = a photo of this species today

Priorslee Balancing Lake:  05:05 – 06:20 // 07:25 – 09:35

(106th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- One Mute Swan cygnet was noted riding on the pen's back early on. They were all on he nest later. I assume the other cygnet was present though I did not see it.
- Two Common Sandpipers were a surprise and my latest ever 'last in Spring' birds, though my records of such dates only go back six years.
- *Perhaps the same Jackdaw was around the fenced-off football field.
- I did not hear the Garden Warbler singing on either pass of its usual habitat. As I was about to depart it, or another, started singing from trees around the sailing club HQ. When I went to investigate...
-...I heard and saw a Common Whitethroat calling from the bramble thicket behind the sailing club shelter. This is often a breeding site though I have not seen bird(s) here for over two weeks. Today the usual incessant songster along the South side was not heard or seen.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 4 Canada Geese: a quartet outbound
- 8 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Cormorant
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
- 3 Jackdaws

Warblers noted (the number singing in brackets):
- 1 (1) Cetti's Warbler
- 2 (2) Willow Warblers
- 9 (8) Chiffchaffs
- 1 (1) Sedge Warbler
- 11 (10) Reed Warblers
- 12 (8) Blackcaps
- 1 (1) Garden Warbler
- 1 (0) Common Whitethroat

Hirundines etc., noted:
- 2 Swifts
- 2 Barn Swallows

Counts from the lake area:
- 5 Canada Geese: a pair when I arrived soon departed; another trio briefly
- 2 + ? (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 3 (2♂) Mallard
- 1 (0♂) Tufted Duck
- 2 Common Sandpipers
- 3 Moorhens
- 25 + 15 (6 broods) Coots
- 6 Great Crested Grebes

Noted on the street lamp poles around dawn:
- 2 spiders

Noted later: the north-easterly breeze was keeping the sunny areas cool:
+ = my first sighting of this species this year
Butterflies:
-        *Green-veined White (Pieris napi)
-        Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria)
Bees / wasps etc.:
-        *+possible Flavous Nomad Bee (Nomada flava)
-        *Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)
-        *ichneumon sp.
Dragon-/damsel-flies:
-        Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella)
-        Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum)
-        Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans)
Hoverflies:
-        Cheilosia albitarsus agg. (C. ranunculi (Early Buttercup Cheilosia) or C. albitarsis (Late Buttercup Cheilosia))
-        Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
-        *Tapered Dronefly (Eristalis pertinax)
-        *Common Spotted Field Syrph (Eupeodes luniger)
-        Tiger Hoverfly (Helophilus pendulus)
-        +*Blotch-winged Hoverfly (Leucozona lucorum)
-        Chequered Hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare)
-        *Dead-head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea) [Batman Hoverfly]
-       *Platycheirus sp. possibly P. occultus or Dusky Field Boxer
-        Syrphus sp. (S. ribesii / S. vitripennis)
Other insects:
-        *Scorpion Fly Panorpa sp.
-        Yellow Dung Fly (Scathophaga stercoraria)
-        Nettle Weevil (Phyllobius pomaceus)
-        Red-and-Black Froghopper (Cercopis vulnerata)
-        *another unknown species of beetle
Also
-       *White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis)
-        stretch spider Tetragnatha sp.

Thanks as ever to Martin Adlam for identifying the beetles I was unsure of yesterday: they were Lesser Thick-legged Flower Beetles (Ischnomera cyanea)

A Jackdaw was alongside the fenced off football field first thing. Here it flies off.

A Barn Swallow was sitting on a different sign on the South side today. The length of the tail-feathers suggests this is a female.

Yes you, Mrs. Grumpy!

I tried again to persuade a Reed Warbler to show. Another failure. A male Reed Bunting came to see what was causing the squeaking noise.

As did an inquisitive Blue Tit.

Then the female Reed Bunting also came to have a look. No Reed Warbler though.

Peering at me here is a rather disheveled juvenile Long-tailed Tit.

A very fresh Green-veined White butterfly (Pieris napi). The veins are black but in contrast with the yellow wash of a fresh specimen you could be forgiven.

The possible Flavous Nomad Bee (Nomada flava). In this view the yellow bands look complete and the only brown is around the waist. Per my Bees Field Guide this is the most common and likely species with these characteristics.

However... this shot of what I was sure at the time was the same insect appears to show some brown on the abdomen markings. My only thought is that these are in fact markings from the folded wing which were not apparent in the side-view.

The only bumblebee I managed to see perched today was this Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius).

An unknown small species of ichneumon. For scale it is on the edge of a Beech (Fagus sylvatica) leaf.

A male Tapered Dronefly (Eristalis pertinax).

I'll get the identification right today (I hope): a Common Spotted Field Syrph (Eupeodes luniger).

And one in flight!

My first Blotch-winged Hoverfly (Leucozona lucorum) of the year. A striking-looking hoverfly.

A Dead-head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea) also known as a Batman Hoverfly.

I think this hoverfly is one of the confusing Platycheirus sp. It might be P. occultus or Dusky Field Boxer. Whatever it is a female with the pointed abdomen. More research again.

A great-looking fly. At the time I thought it was another Yellow Dung Fly (Scathophaga stercoraria) but it isn't. From this angle I cannot guess what it might be.

A male Scorpion Fly Panorpa sp. in all its glory showing the 'sting' - the male genitalia.

My best photo yet of beetles in a buttercup. These look different from the brown and more-squat beetles that I thought might be Raspberry Beetles (Byturus tomentosus). So what are these? I don't think they have yellow specks on their bodies – it is likely pollen.

Despite the very lip being dark I am sure this is in fact a White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis).

Planes of the day (plural). Boeing 747 Jumbos are not as frequently seen as they were in pre-pandemic days. Many are freighters and here is one. It is operated by Air Atlanta Icelandic on long-term lease to London-based Magma Aviation who organise the cargo.

Here is the FlightRadar24 data. The aircraft's sub-type '412F' indicates it is a Boeing 747-400 series. The '12' was the now-disused Being customer code allocated when the aircraft was built and denotes Singapore Airlines. They used it as a passenger aircraft. It was later converted with freight doors and a strengthened floor – hence the suffix 'F'.

Coincidentally right behind was one of the few passenger Jumbos still operational. You have to fly with Lufthansa (as here) or Korean Airlines to experience the Queen of the Skies.

And the FlightRadar24 data for this flight. '830' Means that it is the latest (and last) version of Boeing 747's – the 800 series. The customer code '30' means Lufthansa.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:25 – 07:20

(97th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- All eight Mute Swan cygnets were present and correct.
- Two Mallard duckling seen.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 1 Starling

Warblers noted (the number singing in brackets):
- 5 (5) Chiffchaffs
- 5 (5) Blackcaps

Hirundines etc., noted:
- 6 Swifts
- 2 House Martins

Noted on / around the water
- 14 Canada Geese
- 1 Greylag Goose
- *3 + 8 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- *18 (14♂) + 2 (1 brood) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) all-white duck (Peking(?) Duck)
- 9 (6♂) Tufted Duck
- 4 Moorhens
- 21+ 3 (1 brood) Coots
- 3 Great Crested Grebes

On / around the street lamp poles:
Nothing noted

Noted elsewhere:
- *Common Spotted Field Syrph (Eupeodes luniger) hoverfly
- Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni)

The pen Mute Swan with all eight cygnets.

A duck Mallard with two small ducklings. I am rarely seem to see the same brood twice. The attrition rate of ducklings is very high.

Yesterday I was unsure about what I provisionally identified as a Pine Fleckwing (Dasysyrphus pinastri) hoverfly at the lake. I found what is the same species here today and which I now realise is a Common Spotted Field Syrph (Eupeodes luniger). Doh!

(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
Priorslee Lake
2 Little Ringed Plover
Garden Warbler
Reed Warbler
Stock Dove
2 Lapwing
(John Isherwood)

2006
Priorslee Lake
2 Ruddy Duck
(Ed Wilson)