5 Jul 23

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

11.0°C > 15.0°C: Early light showery rain cleared after c.08:00 to be replaced by puffy clouds and a light shower. Moderate / fresh westerly breeze. Excellent visibility.

Sunrise: 04:54 BST

After tomorrow I have a busy spell doing other things for a few weeks. Reports will be brief highlights and / or non-existent.

* = 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: 05:05 – 06:15 // 07:20 – 09:50

(147th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- All three juvenile Great Crested Grebes seen together. Fewer adults again.
- A second Garden Warbler was singing along the North side again at a slightly different location. Along the South side I heard one or possibly two birds in song. The locations were very different on my two transits. Previously I have heard birds singing simultaneously from these location.
- Two Common Whitethroats were seen carrying food and another was heard calling.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 79 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Cormorant
- 1 Grey Heron

Warblers noted (the number singing in brackets):
- 1 (1) Cetti's Warbler
- 1 (1) Willow Warbler
- *13 (10) Chiffchaffs
- *13 (10) Reed Warblers
- 14 (11) Blackcaps
- 2 (2) Garden Warblers: perhaps a third; see notes
- *3 (0) Common Whitethroats

Hirundines etc., noted:
- 10 Swifts: eight early; two later
- 2 House Martins

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 2 Mute Swans
- 10 (?♂) Mallard
- 2 + 4 (3 broods) Moorhen
- 71 Coots
- 6 + 3 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 2 Black-headed Gulls: one adult; one first year
- 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: all worn (near) adults
- 1 Grey Heron

Noted on and around the street lamp poles around dawn:

Moths:
- *1 Mottled Beauty (Alcis repandata)

Noted later:

Butterflies:
- *Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina)
- *Comma (Polygonia c-album)

Moths:
- Common Marble (Celypha lacunana)
- Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella)
- *caterpillar of a Vapourer (Orgyia antiqua)

Bees / wasps etc.:
- Garden Bumblebee (Bombus hortorum)
- Tree Bumblebee (Bombus hypnorum)
- *Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)
- Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris)
- *sawfly, perhaps from the genus Tenthredininae

Hoverflies:
- Broad-banded Epistrophe (Epistrophe grossulariae)
- Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
- Migrant Field Syrph [or Migrant Hoverfly] (Eupeodes corollae)
- Common Spotted Field Syrph (Eupeodes luniger)
- *Chequered Hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare)
- *Syrphus sp. (S. ribesii / S. vitripennis)
- *Pellucid Fly (Volucella pellucens)

Dragon-/damsel-flies:
- Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum)
- *unidentified red-eyed(?) damselfly

Other flies:
- Black Snipefly (Chrysopilus cristatus)
- *Yellow Dung Fly (Scathophaga stercoraria)
- *other unidentified flies

Beetles:
- Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni): adult and larvae
- *Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis)
- Common Red Soldier Beetle (Rhagonycha fulva)

Bugs:
- 7 Spot Ladybird (Coccinella 7-punctata): pupae and adults
- *Red-legged Shieldbug (Pentatoma rufipes): instar

Also
- White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis)

Very early it was clear to the East. It was light rain where I was standing.

One of the trio of juvenile Great Crested Grebes is making off with a small fish. I assume the adult caught it and gave it to the youngster but...

...why it the adult then apparently attack the juvenile. Another of the trio looks on. The pink on the face of juveniles is bare skin in front of the eye. I have no idea as to its purpose.

A trio of Chiffchaffs, probably all juveniles, were jumping about in a bare-branched bush. I was, of course, looking in to the light. A bit of photo-editing gave acceptable results.

 This may or may not be the same bird.

I think this is a different individual.

How cute.

It is in the reeds so there is a good chance this is a Reed Warbler. It is indeed.

Zoomed in.

In even closer-up. Despite what my camera manual says when I use electronic zoom there is a loss of definition (here I did, but I very rarely do so).

A Common Whitethroat with a beakful. This must be for a second brood.

My previous photo of a Meadow Brown butterfly (Maniola jurtina) was of an unusually dark individual. This is a more typical example.

I cannot recall a year when I have seen so many Comma butterflies (Polygonia c-album). I don't suppose gardeners are worried but where are all the 'white' butterflies this year?

This very fresh Mottled Beauty moth (Alcis repandata) was on one of the street lamp poles pre-dawn and had the decency to stay put and allow a natural light photo revealing all the intricacies of the markings. Had it been resting on a tree trunk it would have blended well.

This guise would certainly discourage anyone from eating you. I don't have a comprehensive guide to caterpillars and larva. I think this is the caterpillar of the Vapourer moth (Orgyia antiqua).

How could I resist? Another Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius) feeding on nectar from Common Knapweed (Centaurea nigra).

I believe this to be a sawfly, though the antennae are unusually short. One antenna is damaged. It may be from the large genus Tenthredininae. But then again... I have very limited experience with this group of insects.

Chequered Hoverflies (Melanostoma scalare) are very small and sit with their wings tight against their abdomen making specific identification often tricky as there are several possible confusion species, albeit none as common.

Luckily this one moved to an angle where the marking were visible through the folded wings

A busy Dandelion with three Syrphus hoverflies (S. ribesii / S. vitripennis) and a female Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis) joining them. Despite two of the hoverflies being females (the eyes are separated) I cannot see enough of the hind leg to say which of the two species either might be.

A very obliging Pellucid Fly (Volucella pellucens) also feeding on Common Knapweed.

This damselfly exhibits all the features of the one that puzzled me yesterday. As this photo was taken at least 400 yards / metres from where I took the photo yesterday it suggests it is common and I am overlooking something to fail to arrive at an identification. I think the plant it is resting on is Common Sorrel (Rumex acetosa).

 It is a while since I saw a Yellow Dung Fly (Scathophaga stercoraria).

 Lovely!

A 'greenbottle' with a reflective thorax. You can just about make out me taking its photo.

An instar of a Red-legged Shieldbug (Pentatoma rufipes).

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:20 – 07:15

(136th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- Just one brood of Mallard ducklings seen: the six older ducklings.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 1 Jackdaw

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

Hirundines etc., noted:
- 14 House Martins

Noted on / around the water
- 131 Canada Geese
- 76 Greylag Geese
- 1 Canada x Greylag Geese
- 3 + 4 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- *21 (?♂) + 6 (1 brood) Mallard
- no all-white feral duck.
- 20 (?♂) Tufted Duck
- 6 + 4 (2 broods) Moorhens
- 24 + 15 (7 broods) Coots
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- 1 Grey Heron

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

Moths:
- *1 Single-dotted Wave (Idaea dimidiata)
- *1 Flame Carpet (Xanthorhoe designata)

Noted elsewhere around The Flash:

Damp and windy here.

- Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni): larvae
- +*first flowers of Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria)

The duck Mallard with the six well-grown ducklings. It looks to me as if some of the ducklings bills are changing colour, indicating which sex they are. I would need a closer view to hazard a guess.

My second Single-dotted Wave moth (Idaea dimidiata) here this year.

Not new here this year but a better view of a Flame Carpet moth (Xanthorhoe designata). Some species in this group can vary considerable and others have very similar species. This one is always easy.

So far a single stem of Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) has but a single flower. Give it a week and there will be a profusion of flowers on dozens of stems.

(Ed Wilson)

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

Moths:
- *1 Common Grey (Scoparia ambigualis)
- *1 Little Grey (Eudonia lacustrata)
- *1 Riband Wave (Idaea aversata)
- *1 Clouded Border (Lomaspilis marginata)

and:
- 7 Spot Ladybird (Coccinella 7-punctata): pupa

I don't know what it is about the one street lamp pole and the ivy on the ground beneath but it is producing an abundance of moths. Here the top two are pesky 'greys'. Bottom left is a Riband Wave (Idaea aversata). Bottom right a Clouded Border (Lomaspilis marginata).

Some very welcome feedback via Martin Adlam on yesterday's 'six grey collage' has identified #1,3 and 6 as Common Greys (Scoparia ambigualis); and #2, 4 and 5 as Little Greys (Eudonia lacustrata). Thus today's #1 seems to be the same species as yesterday's #6 and hence a Common Grey. Today's #2 seems to be the same species as yesterday's #2 and hence a Little Grey.


(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

2012
Priorslee Lake
Kingfisher
Grasshopper Warbler singing
(Ed Wilson)

2010
Priorslee Lake
2 Green Sandpipers seen flying from the lake towards Priorslee Flash: these were my first here for c.10 years
1 Common Sandpiper
House Sparrow unusual here
(Ed Wilson)

2005
Priorslee Lake
Possible Crossbills close-by
(Ed Wilson)