30 Sep 23

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

10.0°C > 13.0°C: A few clear patches early: cloud increasing and lowering with light rain by 10:35. Very light south-westerly breeze. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 07:09 BST

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

A quiet morning with no highlights

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:35 – 09:30

(200th visit of the year)

Nothing to celebrate my 200th visit of the year.

Bird notes:
- No large gulls settled on the water early as sometimes happens. It seems it needs at least one bird to settle before the others feel brave-enough to do so. All those I noted flying over were Lesser Black-backed Gulls with adults predominating.
- After c.08:00 a sizeable arrival of mainly Lesser Black-backed Gulls with, I would, a higher proportion of immatures.
- A female Sparrowhawk flew E overhead c.06:35. A pair flew North together over the football field c.07:20 with the smaller male doing an undulating display flight ahead of the female.

Counts of birds noted flying over:
- 7 Canada Geese: a single and sextet inbound
- 4 (2♂) Mallard
- 7 Feral Pigeons: together
- 1 Stock Dove
- 61 Wood Pigeons
- 41 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 96 Jackdaws
- 176 Rooks
- 3 Pied Wagtails

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

Hirundines etc., noted:

None

Counts from the lake area:
- 4 Canada Geese: two present when I arrived; two more flew in; all departed
- 2 + 2 Mute Swans
- 2 (1♂) Mallard
- 2 (0♂) Tufted Duck
- 5 Moorhens
- 130 Coots
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- 61 Black-headed Gulls: 49 counted on the football field c.07:20. Just 12 more on the lake at that time.
- *8 Herring Gulls
- *115 Lesser Black-backed Gulls

On or around the street lamp poles at dawn:

Moths:
- none

Other things:
- 3 Spotted-winged Drosophila (Drosophila suzukii)
- *++1 fly sp. Tachypeza nubila
- *6 springtails Pogonognathellus longicornis
- 1 White-legged Snake Millipede (Tachypodoiulus niger)
- *1 spider Clubiona sp.
- 3 Bridge Orb-web Spiders (Larinioides sclopetarius)

Noted later:

Butterflies:
- unidentified in flight only

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

Other Flies etc.:
- Muscid fly Phaonia rufiventris

Beetles:
- *Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni)

Bugs:
- *Red-legged Shieldbug (Pentatoma rufipes): dead in web

Spiders:
- Nursery Web Spider (Pisaura mirabilis)

Molluscs:
- White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis)

Also

I found these plants in flower, additions to the list I provided on Thursday (28th)
- *Slender Speedwell (Veronica filiformis)
- *++Autumn Hawkbit (Scorzoneroides autumnalis (but Leontodon autumnalis in my ancient Flora))
- Prickly (or Spiny) Sow-thistle (Sonchus asper)

The Harvest or Corn moon which was full about 18 hours before I took this photo. It briefly appeared between the clouds.

The sunrise produced a few salmon tones before...

...soon fading with an interesting-shaped cloud appearing.

Probably a Herring Gull. The detail of black on the outer primaries (wing-tips) is one definitive way to separate Herring, Yellow-legged and Caspian Gulls. Sadly here the moult is incomplete and not all eight outer primaries are fully grown.

A motley collection of Lesser Black-backed Gulls (and two Coots at the back). Six of them are adults and illustrate just how variable these birds can be, especially in the extent of the dark markings on the head.

This fly is a new insect for me. It is Tachypeza nubila. This small (0.1" (or 3mm in new money)) fly with dark wings is unusual in having a swollen base to front legs.

This Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni) seems to have not folded its wings properly as they are sticking out from under the elytra (wing cases).

I tried to rescue this Red-legged Shieldbug (Pentatoma rufipes) from a spider's web but I was too late. The spider had already eaten the insides.

Yesterday I showed what I thought were two Common House Spiders (Eratigena atrica) in a deadly embrace. Exactly what has happened since I am unsure. Perhaps these are exoskeletons? A springtail Pogonognathellus longicornis scurries away.

While mentioning springtails here is perhaps my best photo to date. Strangely this one has no bands on the abdomen so perhaps it is a different species.

This spider seems to be one of the Clubiona species. One of my apps suggested it was a garden ghost spider without specifying the scientific name. Reference to the internet places this is the genus Hibana which is exclusively a New World family.

Not my best: Slender Speedwell (Veronica filiformis).

This may or may not be an Autumn Hawkbit flower (Scorzoneroides autumnalis) (it is Leontodon autumnalis in my ancient Flora!). All the "hawk-things" are very difficult to identify so I am relying on my app.

Plane of the day. This is a Jabiru J430 flying out of Mid-Wales Airport at Welshpool. The Jabiru is an Australian-design with two or, as here, four seats. It is in shared ownership with the 'KH' being the airport manager.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:35 – 10:35

(186th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- Three Gadwall again: two drakes this time.
- A Kingfisher seen and heard dashing along the North side. I did not where it perched.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:

None

Warblers noted:
- 1 (0) Chiffchaff

Hirundines etc., noted:

None

Noted on / around the water:
- 34 Canada Geese
- 4 Greylag Geese: of these three arrived together.
- 2 + 4 Mute Swans
- *3 (2♂) Gadwall
- 37 (26♂) + 4 (1 brood) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) all-white feral duck
- 49 (>22♂) Tufted Duck
- *2 brownhead Goosander
- 14 Moorhens
- *49 Coots
- 4 + 1 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 17 Black-headed Gulls
- 2 Cormorants
- *1 Grey Heron
- 1 Kingfisher

On / beside the street lamp poles etc. around the water etc.:

Nothing noted

Noted elsewhere around The Flash:

Bees / wasps etc.:
- Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
- Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum)

Beetles:
- Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni)

Molluscs:
- *Brown-lipped Snail (Cepaea nemoralis)

Fungus:
- *++bracket fungus Ganoderma sp., perhaps G. lipsiense aka Artist's Fungus

Flowers

And flowers noted though not logged on 28th at either here or at the Balancing Lake:
- *Bistort (Polygonum bistorta)

Bottom right are two drake Gadwall with dark tails. Bottom left is a preening duck Gadwall. The only Grey Heron present today is also preening.

The drake Tufted Duck with some type of growth on its neck. When I photographed it two days ago the growth looked spherical. Perhaps it has burst? Quite separately note how the white flanks are spreading from the front as it moults in to breeding plumage. Unusually it still show some white in the under-tail.

The two brownhead Goosanders. The closer bird has the loose head plumes that suggests it is a duck. The other bird may have a slightly browner head (though it could be the angle of the light) and seems to have a smoother head profile suggesting it is, or will be, a drake.

I think a Brown-lipped Snail (Cepaea nemoralis).

A bracket fungus Ganoderma sp. My app suggested it as perhaps G. lipsiense aka Artist's Fungus. However that scientific name is not in NatureSpot which firstly suggests Artist's Fungus is G. applanatum; and secondly note that it is less common than Southern Bracket (G. australe) with separation is only possible by microscopic examination of the spores! I found this on a the trunk of a dead Silver Birch tree (Betula pendula).

This flower is Bistort (Polygonum bistorta).

This is Imperforate St John's-wort (Hypericum maculatum). At the lake this flower was just about finished. Here it looks as if a late plant is about to flower.

(Ed Wilson)

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Noted in the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Moths:
- none

Other things:
- 1 *cranefly Tipula lateralis
- 2 owl midges Psychodidae sp.
- 1 Common Rough Woodlouse (Porcellio scaber)
- 4 White-legged Snake Millipedes (Tachypodoiulus niger)
- 1 harvestman Leiobunum rotundum
- usual array of unidentified spiders

With this pale line down its abdomen and the pale area in the wings this cranefly is Tipula lateralis. Very few craneflies are still evident.

(Ed Wilson)

29 Sep 23

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

13.0°C > 15.0°C: Mainly clear with very thin high cloud, more haze than cloud. Light / moderate westerly breeze later. Very Good visibility.

Sunrise: 07:07 BST

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

Highlight today was a *Little Grebe new in at the Balancing Lake.

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:35 – 09:20

(199th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- At least 7 Canada Geese on the lake arriving in ones and twos. Five of them departed with three (more?) arriving
- Two Tawny Owls were calling from near the Priorslee Avenue tunnel c.05:40.
- Three Skylarks flew North together 08:10. Bird(s) heard twice overhead later while I was busy doing other things.

Counts of birds noted flying over:
- 14 Greylag Geese: inbound together
- 1 (1♂) Tufted Duck
- 2 Feral Pigeons: together
- 1 Stock Dove
- 54 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Herring Gull
- 13 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 27 Jackdaws
- 74 Rooks
- 5 Skylarks at least: see notes
- 5 Pied Wagtails
- 1 Siskin

Warblers noted (the number singing in brackets):
- 1 (1) Cetti's Warbler
- 7 (2) Chiffchaffs
- 1 (0) Blackcap

Hirundines etc., noted:

None

Counts from the lake area:
- up to 10 Canada Geese at various times: see notes
- 2 + 2 Mute Swans
- 5 (3♂) Mallard
- 2 (0♂) Tufted Duck
- 4 Moorhens
- 124 Coots
- *1 Little Grebe
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- c.75 Black-headed Gulls: 52 counted on the football field c.07:20. At least 22 more on the lake at that time.
- *10 Herring Gulls
- *68 Lesser Black-backed Gulls

On or around the street lamp poles at dawn:

Moths:
- *1 The Sallow (Cirrhia icteritia)

Other things:
- 3 flies Dryomyza anilis
- 2 Spotted-winged Drosophila (Drosophila suzukii)
- 1 wood gnat, perhaps Sylvicola fenestralis
- 1 unknown caddis fly
- 5 springtails Pogonognathellus longicornis-type
- *1 White-legged Snake Millipede (Tachypodoiulus niger)
- *1 spider sp., probably Amaurobius sp.
- *2 Common House Spiders (Eratigena atrica): dead?
- *1 spider sp., perhaps Furrow Orb-weaver (Larinioides cornutus)
- 3 Bridge Orb-web Spiders (Larinioides sclopetarius)
- 1 harvestman Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus
- 1 male harvestman Leiobunum rotundum/blackwalli
- 1 harvestman Paroligolophus agrestis
- *1 Tawny Soil Slug (Arion owenii)
- *1 Brown-lipped Snail (Cepaea nemoralis)

Noted later:

Butterflies:
- Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)

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

Hoverflies:
- *Tapered Dronefly (Eristalis pertinax)
- Chequered Hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare)

Dragonflies:
- *Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum)

Other Flies etc.:
- *Muscid fly Phaonia rufiventris
- *Tachinid fly Tachina fera
- many unidentified flies on Ivy.

Beetles:
- Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni)

Bugs:
- Common Green Shieldbug (Palomena prasina)

Molluscs:
- White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis)

The moon sets through scattered thin high cloud

The sun is soon to rise...

...struggling to shine through those thin high clouds.

A new arrival is this Little Grebe.

A well-illuminated first winter Herring Gull.

Whose buoy is it anyway? Two first winter Lesser Black-backed Gulls dispute ownership

Stop hiding. A Chiffchaff being camera shy.

That's better.

Not to be outdone a Dunnock poses in the sun.

Me too!

The moth called The Sallow (Cirrhia icteritia) on the overhang of a street lamp pre-dawn. My third of the year here.

A male, and therefore a tapered Tapered Dronefly (Eristalis pertinax).

A Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum). I am not sure of the sex of this individual. Females are brown. Adult males are red but immatures orange-red. This appears to be neither.

This seems to be a Muscid fly Phaonia rufiventris. The 'ventris' is indeed 'rufi'!

Almost grotesque but wonderful. The Tachinid fly Tachina fera.

My app suggested this was one of the Amaurobius species of spider.

While it suggested this spider is a Furrow Orb-weaver (Larinioides cornutus). The patterns on the abdomen of many spiders is very variable.

I showed these two Common House Spiders (Eratigena atrica) a few days ago when I thought they were mating. A deadly embrace?

The line along the side of the body identifies this as a Tawny Soil Slug (Arion owenii).

A Brown-lipped Snail (Cepaea nemoralis) and a White-legged Snake Millipede (Tachypodoiulus niger).

Fresh vegetation at the end of September. Yes. This a rather late-growing Wild Angelica (Angelica sylvestris). Most have more or less finished flowering.

Plane of the day: a 900-series Boeing 787 Dreamliner of the UK arm of the low-cost carrier Norsk. A 2019-build aircraft originally operated by Norwegian Air UK, a subsidiary of Norwegian Air Shuttle that failed to make money on low-cost Transatlantic flights.

As usual the flight information from FlightRadar24.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:25 – 10:25

(185th visit of the year)

Bird notes:

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- *2 Common Buzzards

Warblers noted:
- 3 (1) Chiffchaffs
- 1 (0) Blackcap

Hirundines etc., noted:

None

Noted on / around the water:
- 14 Canada Geese: of these five arrived together.
- 2 + 4 Mute Swans
- 22 (15♂) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) all-white feral duck
- 44 (>19♂) Tufted Duck
- 6 brownhead Goosander
- 10 Moorhens
- 55 Coots
- *4 + *2 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 15 Black-headed Gulls
- *1 Cormorant
- 1 Grey Heron

On / beside the street lamp poles etc. around the water etc.:

Nothing noted

Noted elsewhere around The Flash:

Butterflies:
- *Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)

Bees / wasps etc.:
- Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
- presumed Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris)

Hoverflies:
- Tapered Dronefly (Eristalis pertinax)

Dragonflies:
- presumed Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum): seen in flight only

Flies:
- several unidentified flies

Beetles:
- Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni)

Bugs:
- *Dock Bug (Coreus marginatus)

Spiders:
- Garden Spider (Araneus diadematus)

Fungus:
- *Not Arcyria slime moulds

One of two immature Great Crested Grebes. Immatures because it shows stripes on the face. Both birds seemed to be the same age and likely from the same brood. None was begging to be fed by any of the adults today.

An adult Great Crested Grebe looking supercilious.

A Cormorant takes a bath.

Rather a 'grab shot. All the Wood Pigeons suddenly wing-clattered as they took to the air causing me to look up for the cause: this passing Common Buzzard.

Very few of the Ivy flowers are open as yet. This Red Admiral butterfly (Vanessa atalanta) has found one to stick its long tongue in to.

One of two Dock Bugs (Coreus marginatus) I found.

I got closer to the fungus today. I also suspect the fungus had 'grown' since yesterday. There is no way these are any of the slime mould fungus as I had thought they might be.

They seem quite distinctive but I cannot make an identification.

One more photo. One helpfully showing the gill structure that ought to help. Ought.

(Ed Wilson)

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Noted in the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Moths:
- *Silver Y (Autographa gamma)

Other things:
- 8 White-legged Snake Millipedes (Tachypodoiulus niger)
- 1 Walnut Orb Weaver (Nuctenea umbratica)
- usual array of other, unidentified, spiders

Yet another Silver Y moth (Autographa gamma). It was on the roof of the tunnel. I have inverted the image for easier viewing!

(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
3 Pochard
2 Sparrowhawks
24 Swallows
Peregrine Falcon
(Ed Wilson)

2008
Priorslee Lake
Redwing
(Ed Wilson)

2005
Priorslee Lake
Siskin
105 Greenfinches
Swallow
House Martin
3 Chiffchaffs
Kingfisher
(Ed Wilson)