2 Jul 23

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

12.0°C > 16.0°C: Mostly cloudy at medium level. A few early breaks. Moderate / fresh south-westerly breeze. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 04:51 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 – 06:20 // 07:30 – 09:45

(144th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- The two Common Sandpiper flew off together calling at c.08:30.
- A most unusual date to see Sand Martins here. They were briefly feeding low over the water c.08:15 when it was particularly dull.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 25 Wood Pigeons
- 5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 3 Jackdaws
Worse still

Warblers noted (the number singing in brackets):
- 1 (1) Cetti's Warbler
- 1 (1) Willow Warbler
- 9 (9) Chiffchaffs
- 10 (9) Reed Warblers
- 9 (6) Blackcaps
- 1 (1) Garden Warbler
- no Common Whitethroat

Hirundines etc., noted:
- c.25 Swifts
- 2 Sand Martins
- 10 House Martins

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 2 Mute Swans
- 1 (?♂) Mallard
- 1 Moorhen
- 31 + 35 (? broods) Coots
- 9 + 2 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 2 Common Sandpiper
- 1 Black-headed Gull: first year throughout
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: adult, briefly

Noted on and around the street lamp poles around dawn:

Moths:
- 1 Common Grey (Scoparia ambigualis)
- 1 +*Brimstone Moth (Opisthograptis luteolata)

otherwise:
- 1 Common Spotted Field Syrph hoverfly (Eupeodes luniger)
- 1 *Pellucid Fly (Volucella pellucens)
- 1 *Leiobunum rotundum harvestman: female

Noted later:

Butterflies:
- Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus)
- Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina)

 
Moths:
- Common Marble (Celypha lacunana)
- +*Nut-bud Moth (Epinotia tenerana)
- unidentified grass moths
- +*Riband Wave (Idaea aversata)
- *Straw Dot (Rivula sericealis)

Bees / wasps etc.:
- Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
- Garden Bumblebee (Bombus hortorum)
- *Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)
- Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum)
- *Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
- Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris)
- *a Tenthredo sawfly

Hoverflies:
- ++*unknown: perhaps one of the Anasimyia (duck hoverflies)
- Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
- Migrant Field Syrph or Migrant Hoverfly (Eupeodes corollae)
- Common Spotted Field Syrph (Eupeodes luniger)
- Chequered Hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare)
- *Common Twist-tail (Sphaerophoria scripta)
- Syrphus sp. (S. ribesii / S. vitripennis)
- Bumblebee Plume-horned Hoverfly (Volucella bombylans)
- Pellucid Fly (Volucella pellucens)

Dragon-/damsel-flies:
- *Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum)
- *Red-eyed Damselfly (Erythromma najas)
- *Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans)

Other flies:
- Black Snipefly (Chrysopilus cristatus)
- semaphore fly Poecilobothrus nobilitatus
- *'greenbottle'

Beetles:
- Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni): adults and larvae
- *Rough-haired Lagria Beetle (Lagria hirta)
- Common Red Soldier Beetle (Rhagonycha fulva)

Bugs:
- 7 Spot Ladybird (Coccinella 7-punctata): adult and pupa
- *Common Froghopper (Philaenus spumarius)

Also
- +*Common Candy-striped Spider (Enoplognatha ovata) f. lineata
- White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis)

 Almost a sunrise.

I got one chance to grab a photo of this Nut-bud Moth (Epinotia tenerana) before it flew away. Only my second-ever record of this species.

My first Riband Wave moth (Idaea aversata) this year at this location. Another specimen without the filled-in 'band' between the outer two cross-lines.

 It is a while since I last saw a Straw Dot moth (Rivula sericealis). This one took a while...

 ...to settle down.

For some reason none of my cameras have ever produced a pin-sharp image of a Brimstone Moth (Opisthograptis luteolata).

Would you believe a Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)?

A sleeping Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris). The buff on most examples we see is restricted to a narrow band between the white tail and the main part of the abdomen.

Not a hoverfly because it has, relatively, long antennae. It is one of the Tenthredo sawflies that are difficult to specifically identify.

I think this is a hoverfly. The markings seem clear-enough and the abdomen suggests it may be one of the Anasimyia (duck hoverflies). However these have stripes on the thorax which...

 ...this clearly doesn't. I'll try and find out more.

On the right is a male Common Twist-tail hoverfly (Sphaerophoria scripta). I'll have to look in to the one on the left. There are other species in the genus, none of which I have knowingly seen.

Not something I expect to see sleeping on a street lamp pole around dawn: a Pellucid Fly (Volucella pellucens).

An immature male Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum). The only thing 'blue' at this age seems to be the eyes.

The solid dark top to the thorax identifies this as a Red-eyed Damselfly (Erythromma najas). As do the red eyes but they are more difficult to spot with the naked eye.

And third species I noted today: a Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans). I cannot seem to find any Azure Damselflies (Coenagrion puella) at the moment though I am sure they are around.

A 'greenbottle'. There are many possible species that are this colour.

The upper insect is a Rough-haired Lagria Beetle (Lagria hirta). But underneath the leaf what is the fly? I suspect a Scorpion Fly Panorpa sp. though I have not seen another for some days.

A Common Froghopper (Philaenus spumarius). These come with many different patterns and this form I cannot recall having seen before.

This is a Common Candy-striped Spider (Enoplognatha ovata) of the form lineata that lacks any stripes, candy-coloured or otherwise.

A sign of Autumn: a harvestman. This is a female Leiobunum rotundum harvestman. (I recorded a harvestman in May so perhaps not so early).

Before the flower had opened I thought this might be Large Yellow Foxglove (Digitalis grandiflora). Not so: just an aberrant Foxglove (D. purpurea).

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:25 – 07:25

(133rd visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- Almost all the geese were jammed in to the area alongside Derwent Drive. Did not make them easier to count!
- Among the geese I noted three Great Crested Grebes. Later I noted one sitting on a nest beside the island. At that time I could only see one among the geese.

Birds noted flying over here:

None

Warblers noted (the number singing in brackets):
- 4 (4) Chiffchaffs
- 1 (1) Blackcap

Hirundines etc., noted:
- 8 Swifts
- 8 House Martins

Noted on / around the water
- 154 Canada Geese
- 52 Greylag Geese
- 3 + 4? (1 brood) Mute Swans: cygnets hiding inside island: at least three
- 25 (?♂) Mallard: no ducklings seen
- 1 (1♂) all-white feral duck.
- *16 (?♂) Tufted Duck
- 5 + 1 (1 brood) Moorhens
- 22 + 8 (4 broods) Coots
- 3? Great Crested Grebes
- 1 Black-headed Gull
- 1 Grey Heron

Noted on / around the street lamp poles around the water:
- 1 *Engrailed moth (Ectropis crepuscularia)

Noted elsewhere around The Flash:
- Garden Bumblebee (Bombus hortorum)
- Common Carder Bee (Bombus pastor)
- Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris)
- Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
- Common Spotted Field Syrph (Eupeodes luniger)
- Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni): adults and larvae

Ten Tufted Duck, some looking rather scruffy as they start their post-breeding moult. There may be one duck among the drake – the mostly hidden middle bird in the right-hand trio.

Had a hard night then? No wonder it didn't want to sing.

An Engrailed moth (Ectropis crepuscularia).

(Ed Wilson)

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Between the lake and The Flash on / around street lamp poles:

- 1 Chequered Hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare): different pole to yesterday

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

- 1 *Common Marbled Carpet moth (Chloroclysta truncata) on the ceiling

A Common Marbled Carpet moth (Chloroclysta truncata) on the ceiling of the tunnel. This moth comes in a multiplicity of forms.

(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
Hobby
(Ed Wilson)

2012
Priorslee Lake
3 Redshank
Hobby
(Ed Wilson)

2010
Priorslee Lake
Common Sandpiper
(Ed Wilson)