6 Jul 23

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

10.0°C > 18.0°C: Mainly clear start with just a few patches of high cloud. Good sunny spells before increasing cloud after 09:00. Moderate south-westerly breeze. Excellent visibility.

Sunrise: 04:54 BST

After today I have a busy spell doing other things for a few weeks. Reports will be highlights only 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: 04:55 – 06:10 // 07:20 – 10:00

(148th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- No Common Whitethroats noted. They are not singing at the moment and I did not go near the nest site to see any.
- For the first time in many a long day I heard no Blackbirds singing. Probably since I first heard one on 3 February. Must have a sore throat by now.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 6 Feral Pigeon: together
- 79 Wood Pigeons again!
- 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: all (near) adults
- 2 Starlings: together

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

Hirundines etc., noted:
- 12 Swifts
- 2 Barn Swallows
- 2 House Martins

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 2 Mute Swans
- 10 (?♂) Mallard
- 4 + 3 (3 broods) Moorhen
- 81 Coots
- *6 + 3 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 3 Black-headed Gulls: two adult; one first year

Noted on and around the street lamp poles around dawn:

Moths:
- 1 Little Grey (Eudonia lacustrata)

Other things:
- plume midge sp.
- *unidentified ichneumon sp.
- *Common Green Lacewing (Chrysoperia carnea)

Noted later:

Butterflies:
- *Small Skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris)
- Large Skipper (Ochlodes sylvanus)
- *Small White (Pieris rapae)
- *Green-veined White (Pieris napi)
what did I write yesterday about not having seen many 'white' butterflies?
- Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria)
- Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus)
- *Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina)
- +*Gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus)
- Comma (Polygonia c-album): at least six today; best year ever

Moths:
- *Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet (Zygaena lonicerae)
- Common Marble (Celypha lacunana)
- Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella) [not all grass moths specifically identified]
- +*Pale Straw Pearl (Udea lutealis)
- *Shaded Broad-bar (Scotopteryx chenopodiata)
- Latticed Heath (Chiasmia clathrata)

Bees / wasps etc.:
- *Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
- Garden Bumblebee (Bombus hortorum)
- Tree Bumblebee (Bombus hypnorum)
- Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)
- Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum)
- Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris) [not all wasps specifically identified]

Hoverflies:
- Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
- Common Spotted Field Syrph (Eupeodes luniger)
- Chequered Hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare)
- Common Twist-tail (Sphaerophoria scripta) [was Long Hoverfly]
- Syrphus sp. (S. ribesii / S. vitripennis)

Dragon-/damsel-flies:
- Emperor Dragonfly (Anax imperator)
- Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum)
- Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans)
- +Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum): immature / female-type in flight only

Other flies:
- +*fly with dark wing-tips, probably of the genus Opomyza.

Beetles:
- Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni): adult and larvae
- 7 Spot Ladybird (Coccinella 7-punctata): very many adults. No Harlequins as yet.
- *unidentified ladybird-type
- Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis)
- Common Red Soldier Beetle (Rhagonycha fulva)
- +*Spotted Longhorn beetle (Rutpela maculata)

Bugs:
- ++*Green Leaf-hopper (Cicadella viridis)
- *Common Froghopper (Philaenus spumarius)

Also
- White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis)

Just some high cloud to take the edge off the sunrise. No colour though. Has all the smoke from the Canadian forest fires gone elsewhere?

One of the juvenile Great Crested Grebes was being chased by one of the adults again. It is protesting loudly!

An adult Great Crested Grebe has given a different juvenile a fish.

The juvenile has to learn how to manoeuvre the fish to be able to swallow it head first. The adult has what appears to weed hanging from its bill.

It seems to be trying. Exactly what is causing all the splashing.

Juvenile Blackbirds can be confused with Song Thrushes. Here is an extreme example of a Blackbird with much brown amongst the black. Had it been a Song Thrush there would have been black spots and not wiggly bits as seen here. Not always easy to see when the bird is hopping about.

A Small Skipper butterfly (Thymelicus sylvestris) feasting on Common Knapweed (Centaurea nigra). Where does it keep that long tongue when not in use?

Yesterday I noted that I had seen very few 'white' butterflies this year. First today was this Small White (Pieris rapae). It is not always easy to separate Small White from Large White (Pieris brassicae). The definitive difference when size is not apparent is the shape of the black around the wing tip. On Large White the black is much more extensive, especially along the wing trailing edge.

And here is a Green-veined White (Pieris napi)

Two Meadow Brown butterflies (Maniola jurtina) showing an upper and lower view. The one showing the upper view is one of the dark specimens.

Here is a more typical example.

I saw my first Gatekeeper butterflies (Pyronia tithonus) this morning. Smaller than Meadow Brown it can be positively identified by have two white spots inside the black area in the forewing. These are a very combative species chasing away both Ringlets (Aphantopus hyperantus) and Meadow Browns.

A Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet moth (Zygaena lonicerae) resting on Tufted Vetch (Vicia cracca).

And a pair mating.

My first Pale Straw Pearl moth (Udea lutealis) of the year.

A particularly well-marked example of a Shaded Broad-bar moth (Scotopteryx chenopodiata).

This Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) needs to get on with things. It has no pollen on its pollen sacs.

The best I could do with the small ichneumon on one of the street lamp poles at dawn. No idea about the species.

The Common Green Lacewing (Chrysoperia carnea) on another of the street lamp poles at dawn.

This fly with dark wing-tips, probably of the genus Opomyza. The members of this group cannot be identified except by examination under a microscopic and a knowledge of what to look for. I have neither!

Well it looks like a tiny, tiny ladybird: I suspect it is not as I have searched photos of all 32 UK species without any success. There are other groups of beetles that are the same basic shape.

Here it is casting a shadow on (a small part of) the palm of my hand.

One of the most spectacular beetles that I see every year is this Spotted Longhorn (Rutpela maculata) here resting the rim of a Convolvulus flower.

I took the photo of the Common Froghopper (Philaenus spumarius), on the right here, and only when I looked at the photo on the computer did I notice the other insect which I believe to be a Green Leaf-hopper (Cicadella viridis). This latter may be a new species for me though specific identification of leaf-hoppers is not easy.

Aircraft of the day. There is no mistaking this for a Chinook, specifically an Royal Air Force Boeing-Vertol CH-47F Chinook HC.6.

Data from the ADS-B app. 'SHF' is the flight code used by the RAF's Support Helicopter Force using the call-sign 'Vortex'. Its direction suggested it was en route from its base at RAF Odiham and the Army's Stafford Barracks where it will likely refuel man and machine. The mess food is reputed to be good.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:15 – 07:15

(137th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- No Mallard ducklings seen

Birds noted flying over here:

None

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

Hirundines etc., noted:

None

Noted on / around the water
- 132 Canada Geese
- 61 Greylag Geese
- no Canada x Greylag Goose located
- 3 + 4 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 19 (?♂) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) all-white feral duck.
- 19 (?♂) Tufted Duck
- 4 + 2 (2 broods) Moorhens
- 24 + 15 (6 broods) Coots: one very new brood of at least four
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- 1 Grey Heron

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

Moths:
- 1 Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella)
- *1 Common Grey (Scoparia ambigualis)
- *2 Riband Waves (Idaea aversata)
- *1 Clouded Border (Lomaspilis marginata): my best year for this species

Noted elsewhere around The Flash:

Damp and windy here.

- *Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni): larvae
I was told about a dead shrew on one of the paths but it seemed to have gone before I got there.

I have used the wing-shape to determine this as a Common Grey moth (Scoparia ambigualis).

A Riband Wave (Idaea aversata) wishing to know its whereabouts.

This one was on a lamp pole in squirrel alley. Still none of the form with the filled-in band.

Keep them coming. Another Clouded Border moth (Lomaspilis marginata).

I have previously photographed Alder Leaf Beetles (Agelastica alni) apparently 'lost' on street lamp poles. Here is a larva equally lost.

(Ed Wilson)

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

Moths:
- 1 Common Grey (Scoparia ambigualis)
- 1 Riband Wave (Idaea aversata): apparently this species dead in spider's web
- *2 Small Fan-footed Waves (Idaea biselata)

and:
- 7 Spot Ladybird (Coccinella 7-punctata): pupa. About time it pupated!

On one of the railing beside the street lamp that has produced many recent records is this Small Fan-footed Wave (Idaea biselata).

And on the next lamp pole along was another.

(Ed Wilson)

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On the roof of the Priorslee Avenue tunnel

- +*1 Bright-line Brown-eye moth (Lacanobia oleracea)
- 1 Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)

Not in the best position and not a well-marked specimen. I believe this to be a Bright-line Brown-eye (Lacanobia oleracea) though neither the 'bright-line' (at tip of the wing) nor the 'brown-eye' near the outer edge of the wing are evident.

(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

2010
Priorslee Lake
2 Common Sandpiper
(Ed Wilson)