15 Aug 23

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

11.0°C > 17.0°C: Mostly clear early; increasing fair-weather clouds later. Calm start with mist over the lake; light southerly breeze later. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 05:52 BST

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

* = a photo today

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:00 – 06:20 // 07:30 – 10:00

(164th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- Normally the geese go outbound in small groups and return en masse. Today many also returned in small groups.
- A Swift briefly seen again.

Counts of birds noted flying over here:
- 205 Canada Geese: 101 outbound in 19 groups; 104 inbound in 12 groups.
- 51 Greylag Geese: duo outbound; 49 inbound in nine groups.
- 2 Stock Doves: singles
- 111 Wood Pigeons
- 16 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
- 1 Jackdaw
- 1 Rook
- 1 Pied Wagtail

Warblers noted (the number singing in brackets):
- 13 (1) Chiffchaffs
- 1 (0) Reed Warblers
- 2 (0) Blackcaps

Hirundines etc., noted:
- 1 Swift: over North side trees 05:50 – 05:55.
- 2 House Martins high over football field c.06:10

Counts from the lake area:
- 5 Canada Geese: one departed; four stopped off while inbound
- 2 + 2 Mute Swans
- 14 (?♂) Mallard
- 3 Moorhens
- 83 Coots
- *2 + 3 (2 broods) Great Crested Grebes
- 58 Black-headed Gulls on the football field area c.06:10: three juveniles. No more than 12 at the lake.
- *1 Yellow-legged Gull: juvenile
- 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: one adult; three juveniles
- 1 Grey Heron: arrived

On or around the street lamp poles at dawn:

Moths:
- *1 Common Grass-veneer (Agriphila tristella)
- 3 other grass moths covered in dew and unidentifiable

Other things
- *2 European Hornets (Vespa crabro)
- *1 spider sp., probably a Common Candy-striped Spider (Enoplognatha ovata)
- 1 other spider sp. from the Clubiona group
A pipistrelle-type bat was seen flying over the West end at c.05:30. My first of the Autumn.

Noted later:

Butterflies:
- *Green-veined White (Pieris napi)
- Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria)
- Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina)
- Gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus)
- Peacock (Aglais io)
- *Comma (Polygonia c-album)
- *Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas)
- Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus)

Moths:
- *Common Nettle-tap (Anthophila fabriciana)
- Satin Grass-veneer (Crambus perlella): many
- Pale Straw Pearl (Udea lutealis)
**I did not check most of the grass moths flying today.

Bees / wasps etc.:
- Garden Bumblebee (Bombus hortorum)
- *Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum)
- Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
- Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris)
- *ichneumon sp.

Hoverflies:
- *possible Late Buttercup Cheilosia (Cheilosia albitarsus)
- Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
- *Plain-faced Dronefly (Eristalis arbustorum)
- *Stripe-faced Dronefly (Eristalis nemorum)
- Tapered Dronefly (Eristalis pertinax)
- Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax)
- Chequered Hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare)
- Dead-head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea) [aka Batman Hoverfly]
- *Common Twist-tail (Sphaerophoria scripta) [was Long Hoverfly]
- Syrphus sp. (S. ribesii / S. vitripennis)

Dragon-/damsel-flies:
- hawker sp. seen in flight before 06:00
- Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum)

Other flies:
- Grouse Wing caddis fly (Mystacides longicornis)
- *Red-eyed Eriothrix (Eriothrix rufomaculata)
- ***several unidentified flies

Beetles:
- 7 Spot Ladybird (Coccinella 7-punctata)

Bugs:
- none

Also
- White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis)

Mist over the lake and two Mallard and a Canada Goose swimming off, spoiling the stillness of the water.

A Great Crested Grebe providing a fish for its offspring. The adults will soon be teaching the young to deal with fish for themselves, catching and then dropping the fish for the juveniles to chase.

Not a juveniles Lesser Black-backed Gull as I thought. The inner primaries are too pale and secondary coverts are not all-dark. The head is rather white as well. A juvenile Yellow-legged Gull.

Shall we hold hands? The were two juvenile gulls together and I am now not sure what species the other one was. This view does not help except they do look different. But then gulls do look different to confuse!

Two Green-veined White butterflies (Pieris napi). These fresh specimens show how they acquired the 'green-veined' name even though the veins are not really green.

Not so pristine as a week ago but Comma butterflies (Polygonia c-album) are always a delight.

My third-ever Small Copper butterfly (Lycaena phlaeas) about to be bumped off its Dandelion (Taraxacum sp.) by a male Common Twist-tail hoverfly (Sphaerophoria scripta).

This is a Common Nettle-tap (Anthophila fabriciana): a small and attractively marked moth. I had wondered where these were this year. I saw one back in late May but none since until now.

A grass moth with a wide pale area, cleanly edged is a Common Grass-veneer (Agriphila tristella).

Many Common Carder Bees (Bombus pascuorum) are looking very pale and worn. Not this one.

An unexpected sighting at the top of a street lamp pole pre-dawn was these two European Hornets (Vespa crabro). I have checked: they are not the invasive and notifiable (to whom?) Asian (Giant) Hornet (V. mandarinia), most easily told as 'our' hornets show stripes with dots and teardrop accents, most prevalent on the right-most individual.

A small ichneumon that briefly stayed still-enough for a "grab shot".

Not much to go to identify this all-black hoverfly. My best thought is a Late Buttercup Cheilosia (Cheilosia albitarsus) though this looks rather more robust than illustrations of that species.

A male Plain-faced Dronefly (Eristalis arbustorum).

I thought another though the extent of the pale on the legs says otherwise and it is just possible to see dark on the face of this Stripe-faced Dronefly (Eristalis nemorum). A camera certainly aids identification of insects.

It was definitely a 'fly day' with many unidentified species. This one was easier with its pointed snout, orange sides to the abdomen and a very hairy 'tail'. My app. suggested Red-eyed Eriothrix (Eriothrix rufomaculata), confirmed from the NatureSpot web site.

The unidentified species start with this small fly sitting a grass seed-head.

A common-enough species. One day I will have time-enough to identify it. One of my apps suggests it is a Sarcophaga sp.

A different individual of the same species.

My what red eyes you have! Apparently another Sarcophaga sp.

This one is broad in the beam.

A greyer species.

Some flies are nectar-feeders. A greenbottle tucks in.

Like everything on the street lamps poles early this (same?) Common Candy-striped Spider (Enoplognatha ovata) is bespattered.

Plane of the day: this is a Diamond Aircraft DA 62 owned by the Morson Group who are major supporters of the Sale Sharks Rugby club - hence 'SALE' in the registration. The '2-' indicates this Austrian-designed and built aircraft is registered in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, probably for tax purposes.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:25 – 07:25

(152nd visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- The immature white Mute Swan seemed to have been forced off the water and was sitting in the lay-by along Derwent Drive.
- Another late record of a Swift flying around. Just one today and that briefly.
- Further to my observation that the 'Merlin' app. does not always get the identity correct: today it suggested I was listening to a calling Spotted Flycatcher though it did quickly identify the calls correctly as a Tree Creeper.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:

None

Warblers noted (the number singing in brackets):
- 7 (0) Chiffchaffs

Hirundines etc., noted:
- 1 Swift, briefly
- 2 House Martins, also briefly and distantly

Noted on / around the water
- 5 Canada Geese
- *3 + 4 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 18 (?♂) Mallard
- [all-white feral duck not noted]
- 27 (>8♂) Tufted Duck
- 9 Moorhens
- 54 Coots
- 4 + 2 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 1 Cormorant: arrived and almost immediately departed.
- *2 Grey Herons

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

Moths:
- +*1 Elbow-stripe Grass-veneer (Agriphila geniculea)
- *1 Riband Wave (Idaea aversata); of the nominate ribboned form

Other things
- 1 Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris)
- *1 Red-legged Shieldbug (Pentatoma rufipes)
- 1 Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni): larvae

Noted elsewhere around The Flash:

- fungus, perhaps Peppery Milkcap (Lactarius piperatus)

The grown-up cygnet from 2021 sitting disconsolate on the roadway. The resident cob - its father - has been chasing it for some days and seems to have forced it off the water. How will it feed?

A Grey Heron practising to be a dancing crane.

Yet another grass moth species to confuse. This is an Elbow-stripe Grass-veneer (Agriphila geniculea) and has just entered its main flight season. Many of the other grass moths continue to fly.

My first Riband moth Wave (Idaea aversata) this year of the nominate ribboned form.

A Red-legged Shieldbug (Pentatoma rufipes).

The Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) is in full bloom now. For some reason this plant, growing all around here, is not found at the Balancing Lake.

(Ed Wilson)

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

Moths:
- 1 Single-dotted Wave (Idaea dimidiata)

(Ed Wilson)

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Noted in the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Moths:
- *1 Flame Carpet (Xanthorhoe designata)
- +*1 Red Underwing (Catocala nupta)

Other things
- several midges
- 7 White-legged Snake Millipedes (Tachypodoiulus niger)

An easy identification of this Flame Carpet moth (Xanthorhoe designata). There are no confusion species.

A Red Underwing moth (Catocala nupta). I see this species here most year and only sometimes does it sit with any red visible. Apart from any hawk-moths about the largest moth I see.

(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
1 Common Sandpiper
(Ed Wilson)

2012
Priorslee Lake
Location
1 Common Sandpiper
(Ed Wilson)

2007
Priorslee Lake
Little Egret
Common Sandpiper
Common Gull
Hobby
Wheatear
(Ed Wilson)

2005
Priorslee Lake
Yellow Wagtail
Kingfisher
(Ed Wilson)