Friends of Priorslee Lake Wildlife Site: 6 Jun 23

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

10.0°C > 11.0°C: Overcast. Light / moderate easterly wind. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 04:49 BST

* = a photo of this species today

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:05 – 06:10 // 07:20 – 09:20

(120th visit of the year)

A very quiet morning.

Bird notes:
- One Grey Heron chased the other away at c.05:20 and then left anyway at c.05:35.
- Try as I might I could only find four Great Crested Grebes at any one time.
- Many of the warblers are now singing very intermittently. The Sedge Warbler gave two short burst of song at c.05:15 only. The Garden Warbler was not heard at all.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 1 Stock Dove
- 8 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Herring Gull
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 3 Jackdaws

Warblers noted (the number singing in brackets):
- 1 (1) Cetti's Warbler
- 1 (1) Willow Warbler
- 12 (10) Chiffchaffs
- 1 (1) Sedge Warbler
- 7 (7) Reed Warblers
- 14 (13) Blackcaps
- no Garden Warbler
- 1 (1) Common Whitethroat

Hirundines etc., noted:
- >25 Swifts
- 2 Barn Swallows
- 1 House Martin

Counts from the lake area: it remains very quiet
- *2 + 2 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 3 (3♂) Mallard: two ♂♂ on a roof in Teece Drive c.06:10 may have been two on the lake later
- 2 Moorhens
- 23 + 12 (5 broods) Coots
- 4 Great Crested Grebes
- *4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls at various times: three immatures
- 2 Grey Herons: departed separately

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

On and around the street lamp poles at dawn: too cool and windy?

Nothing found

Noted later:

Butterflies:
- none

Moths:
- Timothy Tortrix (Zelotherses paleana)
- *Silver-ground Carpet (Xanthorhoe montanata)

Bees / wasps etc.:
- Garden Bumblebee (Bombus hortorum)
- Tree Bumblebee (Bombus hypnorum)

Dragon-/damsel-flies:
- none

Hoverflies:
- none

Other flies:
- Grouse Wing caddis fly (Mystacides longicornis)
- *Aphid sp.
- *Mayfly sp.

Beetles:
- *Nettle Weevil (Phyllobius pomaceus)
- *unidentified beetle sp.

Bugs:
- Common Green Capsid (Lygocoris pabulinus)

Also
- White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis)

It is unusual for the adult Mute Swans to fly around at this time of year while they are looking after the cygnets. The cob occasionally does so to chase away geese. Today he just went for a fly around.

I think this is the same gull that I had second-thoughts yesterday. The new feathers on its back look too dark to be a Herring Gull but too pale to be a Lesser Black-backed Gull. The very white head remains a puzzle as does the all-black bill. I am now wondering about a first year Yellow-legged Gull. I will ask around.

An immature Lesser Black-backed Gull in moult. It looks to have most, if not all, of its primary feathers intact. I am not sure whether the secondaries are missing entirely and it is the secondary coverts that comprise the back of the inner part of the wing; or whether what is visible are the short and regrowing secondaries.

Another moulting immature Lesser Black-backed Gull. It is unusual in that the central tail-feathers are clean white adult feathers while the other tail-feathers look more like those of a first year bird. It is often four years before this species has an all-white tail and it is usual for the central tail-feathers to be the last to loose all traces of dark markings.

A Silver-ground Carpet moth (Xanthorhoe montanata).

I noticed this small green creature inside a buttercup. It looks to be a species of aphid. There seems to be no such thing as a 'buttercup aphid' so I have no idea.

This mayfly was on the wall of the sailing club HQ.

Yet another Nettle Weevil (Phyllobius pomaceus).

Not sure about this beetle. It did not look like an Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni) and it was not close to any Alder tree. There are many small beetle species like this.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:15 – 07:15

(111th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- Both adults from one of the two Great Crested Grebe pairs were asleep together beside the island perhaps suggesting their eggs had hatched and the young were on their back(s).
- *Another family party of Robins noted.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
- 1 Jackdaw

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

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

Noted on / around the water
- *65 Canada Geese
- 8 Greylag Geese
- 3 + 4 Mute Swans:
- 24 (21♂) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) all-white duck (Peking(?) Duck)
- 7 (4♂) Tufted Duck
- 7 Moorhens
- 21+ 7 (4 broods) Coots
- 4 Great Crested Grebes

Noted on / around the street lamp poles:
- *1 Figure of Eighty moth (Tethea ocularis): not on the same pole as the individual on Sunday.

Noted elsewhere:

Nothing

As I noted with Greylag Geese a few days ago the Canada Geese are also beginning their annual post-breeding moult. Note how the folded wings leave a white expanse ahead of the tail.