Priorslee Lake and The Flash
12.0°C > 16.0°C: Mainly sunny. Moderate southerly breeze. Very good visibility.
Sunrise: 04:55 BST
A quick canter around both locations before heading off for the day.
No photos today
+ = my first sighting of this species at this site this year.
++ = new species for me at this site.
Priorslee Balancing Lake: 04:45 – 05:15 // 06:20 – 07:45
(149th visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- A second pair of Great Crested Grebes with at least one juvenile.
- No Cetti's Warbler heard!
- Two different Sedge Warblers heard and photographed singing. One on the flat area of long grass at the South part of the West end. The other in lakeside vegetation behind the sailing club's boat platforms.
Non-exhaustive count of birds noted flying over here:
- 1 Mallard
- 8 Feral Pigeon: together
- 21 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
- 15 Starlings: together
Warblers noted (the number singing in brackets):
** numbers affected by my single speedy circuit.
- 1 (1) Willow Warbler
- 11 (10) Chiffchaffs
- 2 (2) Sedge Warblers
- 5 (5) Reed Warblers
- 5 (4) Blackcaps
Hirundines etc., noted:
- 14 Swifts
- 1 Sand Martin
- 2 Barn Swallows
- 2 House Martins
Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 2 Mute Swans
- 17 (?♂) Mallard
- 4 Moorhen
- 25 Coots: presumably most still hiding in the reeds
- 8 + >4 (2 broods) Great Crested Grebes
- 3 Black-headed Gulls: two adult; one first year
Noted on and around the street lamp poles around dawn:
Nothing noted
Noted later:
Butterflies:
- Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina)
- Gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus)
Moths:
- Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella) [not all grass moths specifically identified]
Bees / wasps etc.:
- Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)
- Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum)
- Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris) [not all wasps specifically identified]
Hoverflies:
- Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
- Tapered Dronefly (Eristalis pertinax)
Dragon-/damsel-flies:
- none
Beetles:
- Common Red Soldier Beetle (Rhagonycha fulva)
Bugs:
- none
Also
- White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis)
- first flowers of Wild Angelica (Angelica sylvestris)
(Ed Wilson)
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The Flash: 05:20 – 06:15
(138th visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- The geese were all in discreet areas and easier to count and the totals are likely to somewhat more accurate than other recent counts.
- Increase in the number of Tufted Ducks
- Three Cormorants seen. Two left separately and it seems likely all three roosted here.
Birds noted flying over here:
None
Warblers noted (the number singing in brackets):
- 4 (4) Chiffchaffs
- 3 (3) Blackcaps
Hirundines etc., noted:
- 1 Swift
- 2 House Martins
Noted on / around the water
- 141 Canada Geese
- 83 Greylag Geese
- 1 Canada x Greylag Goose located
- 3 + 4 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 18 (?♂) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) all-white feral duck.
- 28 (?♂) Tufted Duck
- 5 Moorhens
- ? + 9 (4 broods) Coots
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- 3 Cormorants: see notes
- 1 Grey Heron
Noted on / around the street lamp poles around the water etc.:
Moths:
- 1 Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella)
Noted elsewhere around The Flash:
Damp and windy here.
- Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni): larvae
(Ed Wilson)
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Between the lake and The Flash on / around street lamp poles:
Moths:
- 1 Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella)
- 1 Common Grey (Scoparia ambigualis)
- 1 Single-dotted Wave (Idaea dimidiata)
- 2 Riband Wave (Idaea aversata): one of these, as yesterday, dead in spider's web
and:
- 1 Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
- 7 Spot Ladybird (Coccinella 7-punctata): pupa
(Ed Wilson)
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On the roof of the Priorslee Avenue tunnel
- 1 Common Grey (Scoparia ambigualis)
- 1 Double-striped Pug (Gymnoscelis rufifasciata): provisional ID
(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
2011
Priorslee Lake
Lesser Whitethroat
(John Isherwood)
2010
Priorslee Lake
2 Common Sandpipers
3 Common Terns
Kingfisher
50+ Swifts
(Ed Wilson)
2007
Priorslee Lake
1 drake Ruddy Duck
(Martin Adlam)
2011
Priorslee Lake
Lesser Whitethroat
(John Isherwood)
2010
Priorslee Lake
2 Common Sandpipers
3 Common Terns
Kingfisher
50+ Swifts
(Ed Wilson)
2007
Priorslee Lake
1 drake Ruddy Duck
(Martin Adlam)