28 Aug 23

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

12.0°C > 14.0°C: Another winning weather forecast: not. Started with low overcast and drizzly rain. Lifted and cleared c.08:30 only to cloud up again after 08:00 with more showers threatening. Moderate west-north-west breeze. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 06:13 BST

+ = my first sighting of this species at this site this year.
++ = new species for me at this site.
* = a species photographed today

Note morning lift from the Telford Balloon Festival: cloud too low; wind too strong

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:20 – 07:30 // 08:30 – 10:10

(174th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- One adult with a begging well-grown juvenile Great Crested Grebes again. Where is the other parent? Could it be sitting on eggs of a second brood.
- By 07:00 there were no Black-headed Gulls (or anything else) on the football field. The question arises: what do they find to eat first thing?
- Unlike yesterday there was no early arrivals of a significant number of Lesser Black-backed Gulls.

Counts of birds noted flying over here:
- 15 Canada Geese: outbound as five small groups
- 1 (?♂) Mallard
- 2 Feral Pigeons: singles
- 211 Wood Pigeons
- 8 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: most adults but not all ages determined
- 4 Jackdaws
- 4 Pied Wagtails

Warblers noted (the number singing in brackets):
- 12 (2) Chiffchaffs
- 9 (0) Reed Warblers
- 3 (0) Blackcaps

Hirundines etc., noted:
- House Martins heard only

Counts from the lake area:
- 25 Canada Geese: arrived together
- 1 Greylag Goose: flew in with Canadas
- 2 + 2 Mute Swans
- 8 (?♂) Mallard
- 6 Moorhens
- 88 Coots
- 1 + 1 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 7 Black-headed Gulls: two juveniles / first winters
- 6 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: four adults; two juveniles / first winters

On or around the street lamp poles at dawn:

Moths:
- *1 Common Grass-veneer (Agriphila tristella)
- +*1 Narrow-winged Grey (Eudonia angustea)
- +*1 Flame Carpet (Xanthorhoe designata)
- +*1 possible Small Square Spot (Diarsia rubi)

Other things
- *1 midge sp.
- *1 springtail Pogonognathellus longicornis-type
- *2 Common Candy-striped Spiders (Enoplognatha ovata)
- 1 Bridge Orb-web Spider (Larinioides sclopetarius)
- 1 Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus harvestman
- 1 Leiobunum blackwalli / rotundum harvestman
- *1 Paroligolophus agrestis harvestman: not first of year but first of Autumn

Around the sailing club HQ on in their shelter pre-dawn:

Nothing noted

Noted later:

Butterflies:
- Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)

Moths:
- none

Bees / wasps etc.:
- Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris)

Hoverflies:
- Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax)
- *Orange-belted Leafwalker (Xylota segnis)

Dragon-/damsel-flies:
- *Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum)

Other flies:
- greenbottles
- *'long-legged fly', perhaps Dolichopus festivus
- several unidentified species
- *perhaps a Grouse Wing caddis fly (Mystacides longicornis)

Beetles:
- adult and larva of Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni)

Bugs:
- Common Green Shieldbug (Palomena prasina)
- *a tiny plant bug

Also
- *stretch spider Tetragnatha sp.
- White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis)
- *fruits of Lords & Ladies / Cuckoo Pint (Arum maculatum)

A Common Grass-veneer moth (Agriphila tristella). For some reason my current camera does not render the iris blue.

This moth is a Narrow-winged Grey (Eudonia angustea). An unidentified midge is crashing the photo.

A Flame Carpet moth (Xanthorhoe designata) on a street lamp pole pre-dawn.

I cannot positively identify this dew-covered moth but my best suggestion from the moths currently flying is Small Square Spot (Diarsia rubi).

I found just one Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum): this immature female.

 I do not often see this species of hoverfly. It is an Orange-belted Leafwalker (Xylota segnis).

A caddis fly. I suspect it is a rather battered Grouse Wing caddis fly (Mystacides longicornis) as I am unaware of any other caddis flies with such strong markings on the wings. The antennae look rather short: broken? Strangely only the right antennae looks banded.

A 'long-legged fly', perhaps Dolichopus festivus.

A tiny plant bug that I hope to get identified by the Shropshire Recorder. My fingers on the right give some idea of scale.

My clearest photo of what is probably a Common Candy-striped Spider (Enoplognatha ovata). There are similar species which cannot be separated from photos, though these are less likely.

And here is its, perhaps, partner. Not all individuals of these species have the 'candy stripes'.

I noted several stretch spiders Tetragnatha sp. today. These were abundant in late Winter and Spring and unseen by me until today. I guess these are a new brood I will see through the Winter.

Here is another in its web.

This is a Paroligolophus agrestis harvestman: not my first of year but my first this Autumn. Look closely and at the top of the photo is a tiny springtail of the Pogonognathellus longicornis-type.

 I noted the fruits of Lords & Ladies / Cuckoo Pint (Arum maculatum) for the first time this year. Don't even think about eating them!

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 07:35 – 08:25

(161st visit of the year)

Bird notes:

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 2 Jackdaws

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

Hirundines etc., noted:
- c.15 House Martins

Noted on / around the water
- >29 Canada Geese: all but one arrived
- >69 Greylag Geese: all but one arrived
- 2 + 4 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 9 (?♂) Mallard only again
- 1 (1♂) all-white feral duck
- 51 (>12♂) Tufted Duck
- 9 Moorhens
- 51 Coots: the geese were in the way when I tried to count them
- *3 + 2 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 6 Black-headed Gulls: two juveniles / first winters
- 2 Cormorants: one of these arrived
- 1 Grey Heron

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

Moths:
- 1 Common Grass-veneers (Agriphila tristella)
- *1 Elbow-stripe Grass-veneer (Agriphila geniculea)

Other things
- adult and larva of Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni)
- 3 Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus harvestmen

Elsewhere around The Flash:

Nothing of note

The Flame Carpet moth at the lake was taken by camera flash pre-dawn. This one was taken by natural light.

A rather contrasting shot of the two stripey-headed juvenile Great Crested Grebes with one of their parents. Today was the first time I have seen them leave the safety of the island's environs.

I was unable to get a 'side-on' photo of this moth. Nevertheless the markings can be seen well-enough to identify it as an Elbow-stripe Grass-veneer (Agriphila geniculea)

(Ed Wilson)

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

Moths:
- *1 micro-moth, very provisionally perhaps a Hawthorn Midget (Phyllonorycter corylifoliella)
- 1 Common Grass-veneer (Agriphila tristella)
- *1 Flame Carpet (Xanthorhoe designata)

Also
- larva of Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni)
- *planthopper
- 1 Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus harvestman

A tiny micro-moth, which I have very provisionally identified as a Hawthorn Midget (Phyllonorycter corylifoliella).

A planthopper. Many species look like this: green with no obvious markings.

(Ed Wilson)

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Noted in the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Moths:
- *1 Silver Y (Autographa gamma)

Other things
- 34 White-legged Snake Millipedes (Tachypodoiulus niger)
- 3 Common Rough Woodlouse (Porcellio scaber)
- three unidentified spiders

On the ceiling of the tunnel I found this Silver Y moth (Autographa gamma). It makes a change from futile attempts to photograph them as they hide in long grass.

(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
2 Teal
(Ed Wilson)

2010
Priorslee Lake
Turtle Dove
(Ed Wilson)

2007
Priorslee Lake
Pair Ruddy Duck
(Malcolm Thompson)