11 Jun 23

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

15.0°C > 19.0°C:  Broken medium level cloud. A few sunny intervals. Light easterly wind. Good visibility. Muggy and rather hazy.

Sunrise:  04:47 BST again

* = a photo of this species today

Priorslee Balancing Lake:  05:00 – 06:20 // 07:20 – 09:40

(123rd visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- Much reduced number of Coot family groups today. Recovering from yesterday evening's deluge?
- The warblers were all over the place today:
        - the only Willow Warbler was in the north-west area: I have heard none there since the April passage.
        - the only Sedge Warbler was singing lustily from a new location on the south-east area first thing only.
        - a Garden Warbler was singing from across Castle Farm Way. I had not previously heard any there this year.
- In addition to three Starlings flying over I counted 23 on the football field at 06:10, both adults and juveniles. As far as I recall it is unusual for the birds to hang around once the juveniles have fledged and it is later in the Summer before they reappear around the estate in any number.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 6 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Herring Gull
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 9 Jackdaws
- 3 Starlings

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

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

Counts from the lake area: it remains very quiet
- 2 + 2 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- no Mallard
- 2 Moorhens
- 31 + 10 (4 broods) Coots
- 8 + 4 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- *1 Herring Gull: near-adult on football field 06:10

+ = my first sighting of this species this year.
++ =  new species for me at this site.

Noted on and around the street lamp poles around dawn:
- *1 Common Plume (Emmelina monodactyla)

Noted later:

Butterflies:
-        none

Moths:
-        Timothy Tortrix (Zelotherses paleana)
-        *Common Marble (Celypha lacunana)
-        Plum Tortrix (Hedya pruniana)
-        +*Hook-streak Grass-veneer (Crambus lathoniellus)
-        *Blood-vein (Timandra comae)
-        +*Straw Dot (Rivula sericealis)

Bees / wasps etc.:
-        Garden Bumblebee (Bombus hortorum)
-.      *Tree Bumblebee (Bombus hypnorum)
-        *Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum)
-        *Early Bumblebee (Bombus pratorum)
-        Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris)

Dragon-/damsel-flies:
-        Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum)
-        Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans)

Hoverflies:
-        +*Buttercup Blacklet (Cheilosia albitarsus)
-        Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
-        Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax)
-        *Common Spotted Field Syrph (Eupeodes luniger)
-        Chequered Hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare)
-        Large Narcissus Fly (Merodon equestris)

Other flies:
-        Black Snipefly (Chrysopilus cristatus)
-        *Scorpion Fly Panorpa sp.
-        *an array of other unidentified flies.

Beetles:
-        *Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni)
-        *soldier beetle, probably Cantharis nigricans
-        *Lesser Thick-legged Flower Beetle (Ischnomera cyanea)
-        *Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis)
-        Nettle Weevil (Phyllobius pomaceus)

Bugs:
-        Dock Bug (Coreus marginatus)

Also
-       White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis)
-        *Nursery Web Spider (Pisaura mirabilis)
-        +*Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea)

Sunrise?

When it rains heavily the Wesley Brook is boosted by several sluices turning the water brown. When it is very heavy rain the water tops the Wesley Brook bridge as evidenced by the flattened vegetation.

A near-adult Herring Gull flying off from the football field. The dark marks at the front of the wing near the bend indicate it is not a full adult. Probably a third summer.

Another sweetie. A juvenile Chiffchaff. Like many it may have black legs but the feet are often orange.

Really close-up!

I will probably get another opportunity to get a better shot of this Common Marble (Celypha lacunana), a very common moth that can be disturbed by day.

My first grass moth of the year and not a species I expected to see. It is a Hook-streak Grass-veneer (Crambus lathoniellus) which I last recorded in 2018. However grass moths are often abundant and I cannot begin to check each one!

On a street lamp pole at dawn but staying around for a daylight view of a Common Plume moth (Emmelina monodactyla).

My second Blood-vein moth (Timandra comae) of the year. I typically only record a singleton.

A straw-coloured moth with a dot in the wing: a Straw Dot (Rivula sericealis)!

This one I have no idea about. Is it just a wing?

A Tree Bumblebee (Bombus hypnorum) with ginger thorax and white tail.

The white on the tail is not always a solid area and can be banded, as here.

This is a Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum) also with a ginger thorax but gingery banding on the abdomen

An Early Bumblebee (Bombus pratorum). It also has a ginger thorax but has a fluffy yellow collar and a solid orange tail.

With some pale segments in the front two pairs of legs this looks to be a Buttercup Blacklet hoverfly (Cheilosia albitarsus), also known as Late Buttercup Cheilosia. My first confirmed sighting of this species this year, one of two buttercup specialist Blacklets.

Two for the price of one: at the top a Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus). The other looks to be a female of the Lesser Thick-legged Flower Beetle (Ischnomera cyanea).

A smart Common Spotted Field Syrph (Eupeodes luniger).

I thought when I took this "well that's Scorpion Fly Panorpa sp. done from all angles. No more photos needed".

Wrong: I have not previously seen, let alone photographed, two mating. I wonder if the difference in 'beak' colour is significant?

Unidentified fly species #1. Very smart.

Unidentified fly species #2. Rather ugly.

Unidentified fly species #3. Unusual.

This is one of the soldier beetles, probably Cantharis nigricans. There are several similar species.

A male Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis).

What look to be a pair of insects mating. But what are they? My best guess would be caddis flies though the wing shape seems wrong. They were jammed against a vertical strengthener on the sailing club HQ.

This may or may not be an Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni) - there were plenty of those on the Alders. This one was on the handrail of the 'boxing ring'.

Hard to see what is going on here but a spider is running away in to the vegetation with all her eggs in a ball clutched to her stomach. Perhaps a Nursery Web Spider (Pisaura mirabilis): hard to tell.

My first Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) of the year.

(Ed Wilson)

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

The Flash:  06:25 – 07:15

(114th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- I again failed to see last year's Mute Swan cygnet.
- A trio of small Mallard ducklings seen in the distance on the island.
- None of the Great Crested Grebes was sitting on the nests

Birds noted flying over here:
- 1 Jackdaw

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

Hirundines etc., noted:
None

Noted on / around the water
- 115 Canada Geese
- 10 Greylag Geese
- 2 + 4 Mute Swans
- 26 (21♂) + 3 (1 brood) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) all-white duck (Peking(?) Duck)
- 9 (5♂) Tufted Duck
- 7 Moorhens
- 24+ 11 (6 broods) Coots
- 3 Great Crested Grebes
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls

Noted on / around the street lamp poles around the water:
- *1 weevil sp.

Elsewhere:
-        Common Spotted Field Syrph (Eupeodes luniger)

At the time I thought this was likely an aphid. A bit of work with the photo editor shows it to be a weevil. A scan through the 100+ species illustrated on the eakringbirds web site fails to provide a match so I am none the wiser.

(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

2013
Candles Landfill Site
4 Yellow-legged Gulls
c500 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
6 Herring Gulls
(Tom Lowe)

2007
Priorslee Lake
Common Tern
(Martin Adlam)

2006
Priorslee Lake
2 Ruddy Duck
(Ed Wilson)