30 Jun 23

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

11.0°C > 13.0°C: Medium-level overcast soon supplemented by lower cloud with light but steady rain after 06:30. Light southerly breeze. Excellent visibility.

Sunrise: 04:50 BST

* = a species with a photo today

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

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:00 – 06:15 // 07:25 – 08:50

(142nd visit of the year)

Some coots and grebes were presumably sheltering from the rain, staying out of sight in the reeds.

Bird notes:
- I had to wait until I was about to walk out of the Teece Drive gate before I heard just a single song phrase from the Cetti's Warbler.
- Jays have been almost quiet for several weeks. Family parties were seen in both the south-west and north-east areas, the latter chasing a Common Buzzard out of the trees.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 2 Stock Doves: together
- 26 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
- 1 Cormorant
- 1 Sparrowhawk: carrying prey
- 1 Jackdaw
Still poor numbers

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

Hirundines etc., noted:
- 14 Swifts: early only
- 2 House Martins

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 2 Mute Swans
- 2 (?♂) Mallard
- 1 + 1 (1 brood) Moorhens
- 27 + 31 (? broods) Coots
- 8 + 2 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 2 Black-headed Gulls: adult and first year arrived separately
- 1 Herring Gull: moulting immature, briefly
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: adult briefly
- 1 Grey Heron: departed

Noted on and around the street lamp poles around dawn:

Moths:
- *1 'grey' moth (Scopariinae sp.)
- *1 Clouded Border (Lomaspilis marginata)
- *1 Common Footman (Eilema lurideola)

otherwise:
- nothing

Noted later: very little in the rain

Butterflies:
- none

Moths:
- unidentified grass moths

Bees / wasps etc.:
- Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
- Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris)

Hoverflies:
- Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
- *Migrant Field Syrph or Migrant Hoverfly (Eupeodes corollae)
*** also these two hoverfly species noted when I examined yesterday's photos and not in the blog:
- +*Broad-banded Epistrophe (Epistrophe grossulariae)
- *Dead-head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea) [Batman Hoverfly]

Dragon-/damsel-flies:
- none

Other flies:
- Black Snipefly (Chrysopilus cristatus)

Beetles:
- none

Bugs:
- none

Also
- White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis)

An annoying twig with a few dead leaves partially obscuring a Blackcap with a brown head. Females and juveniles of both sexes have brown heads. As I cannot see a 'gape line' and the cap is a bright rufous it must be an adult female. An 05:45 on a dull morning special!

There are at least three different species of these 'grey' moths (Scopariinae sp.) flying at the moment. This one is simply too worn to attempt any specific identification.

This Clouded Border (Lomaspilis marginata) is an attractively-marked moth. I usually find one of them each year. There are several bits of midges in an adjacent spider's web.

A Common Footman moth (Eilema lurideola) that was right at the very top of a street lamp pole and not as well-focussed as I would have liked. I see this moth most years. I still have some cross-checking to do but I believe this is moth species #50 for me here this year.

The only hoverfly I noted this morning other than the ubiquitous Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus) was this. I believe it to be a Migrant Field Syrph (Eupeodes corollae) based on the two complete yellow bands on the abdomen. In Meadow Field Syrph (E. latifasciatus) each band is usually divided by a black line of variable width. It does look rather 'washed-out', probably an effect of the poor light.

I failed to put this Broad-banded Epistrophe (Epistrophe grossulariae) in yesterday's log. I only noticed it when I looked at my photos later. It has wide almost parallel-sided yellow bands that wrap around the edge of the abdomen. My first record of this species this year.

I also failed to put this Dead-head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea) in yesterday's log though I have noted it several times earlier this year.

A very distinctive-looking fly seen yesterday. I believe it to be the Muscid fly Phaonia pallida.

(Ed Wilson)

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

The Flash: 06:20 – 07:20

(131st visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- The third 'white' Mute Swan not seen.
- When I checked my photos yesterday's Mallard duckling count should have been six (not five). The same number seen again today. - The all-white drake Feral Duck reappeared today. I last noted it on 21 June. It was chased off by a Coot and clearly was still in wing-moult and only able to patter away across the water.
- Some of the Tufted Ducks are now difficult to sex as they undertake their post-breeding moult. As with the Mallard I will not attempt to separate them until they start to acquire their breeding plumage.
- A Grey Heron seen what I arrived. One flew in later may or may not have been the same bird. There was no sign of any confrontation so I doubt there were two present at the same time even though I did not see the first bird leave.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 2 Cormorants: together

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

Hirundines etc., noted:
- >15 Swifts
- >6 House Martins
At least 25 birds in a swirling group hard to specifically identify

Noted on / around the water
- 131 Canada Geese
- 1 Canada x Greylag Goose
- 91 Greylag Geese
- 2 + 4 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- *21 (?♂)+ 6 (1 brood) Mallard
- *1 (1♂) all-white feral duck.
- 10 (?♂) Tufted Duck
- 4 + 1 (1 brood) Moorhens
- 22 + 7 (4 broods) Coots
- 3 Great Crested Grebe
- 1 or 2 Grey Herons

Noted on / around the street lamp poles around the water:

Moths:
- *1 Common Grey (Scoparia ambigualis)

Noted elsewhere around The Flash:
- Common Froghopper (Philaenus spumarius)

The pen Mute Swan with her four fast-growing cygnets.

All six Mallard ducklings seem in a hurry to get somewhere and are in danger of leaving Mum behind.

And just to prove there were six yesterday and not five as I thought.

So where has he been for the last week or so? Still moulting as it lacks the curled tail-feather shown by all Mallard-derived drakes.

This is my friendly and usually noisy Wren. He was unwilling to sing to the camera today.

A Common Grey moth (Scoparia ambigualis) well-camouflaged against a lichen-covered street lamp pole.

From yesterday and not at all easy to see. A yellow and brown micro-moth amongst lichen on a Neighbourhood Watch sign attached to a street lamp pole beside Priorslee Academy. I have searched my micro-moth field guide and the 'flying tonight' section of the West Midland Moths web site without success.

(Ed Wilson)

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

Between the lake and The Flash:

Moths on street lamp poles:
- *Common Grey (Scoparia ambigualis)

Another of those 'grey' moths. This, I am reasonably confident, is also a Common Grey (Scoparia ambigualis).

The semaphore fly Poecilobothrus nobilitatus I noted yesterday. I have included it because the eye is both red and green. The eye-colour obviously depends upon the angle of the light.

(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

2010
Priorslee Lake
Common Sandpiper
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
1 drake Ruddy Duck
(Ed Wilson)