16 Sep 23

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

12.0°C > 15.0°C: Very low cloud lifting only slightly after earlier mist. Moderate east-north-east breeze. Moderate visibility.

[Sunrise: 06:45 BST]

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

Highlights today were:
- the drake Wigeon still at the Balancing Lake
- another big count of geese at The Flash
- +my first *Yellow Wagtail of the year in this area: with Pied Wagtails on the academy football field. Bird species #95 here this year for me.

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 07:10 – 09:35

(189th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- A drake Wigeon was seen in flight briefly c.08:25. I have assumed it was 'our' bird that went for a fly around. It was present both before and after the bird seen in flight.
- The Mallard seen flying over came and left to the East. They might have been using the 'storm pools' created at the edge of the new housing across Castle Farm Way.
- One group of Feral Pigeons was 12 strong and might have comprised Racing Pigeons. However as they were heading East and Racing Pigeons are usually heading North / north-west I have assumed they were a larger than usual group of 'roof pigeons'.
- Difficult to be certain exactly how many Chiffchaffs there were as some were both singing and calling while others were calling only.
- At least 18 Pied Wagtails were on the football field c.07:30, with at least 31 by 09:30 (with the Yellow Wagtail, as highlighted).

Counts of birds noted flying over:
- 5 Greylag Geese: duo outbound; single and duo inbound
- 7 (?♂) Mallard
- 19 Feral Pigeon: groups of six and 12; also a single
- 3 Stock Doves: a single and a trio
- 93 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Common Buzzard
- 2 Jackdaw

Warblers noted (the number singing in brackets):
- 18? (7) Chiffchaffs: but see notes
- 3 (1) Blackcaps
**NB: yesterday's figure should have read
- 3 (2) Blackcaps

Hirundines etc., noted:
- House Martins: heard only, lost in the low cloud over the football field c.07:20

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 2 Mute Swans
- 1 (1♂) Eurasian Wigeon
- 3 (1♂) Mallard
- 4 Moorhens
- 93 Coots
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- *46 Black-headed Gulls: all these at the lake; they had moved off the football field before my later arrival.
- *5 Herring Gulls: four adults and one first winter
- *15 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: 12 adults and three first winters
- 2 Cormorants: arrived separately

Street lamp poles not visited pre-dawn: just a few unidentified flies later

Noted later: dull with wet vegetation

Butterflies:
- none

Moths:
- none

Bees / wasps etc.:
- none

Hoverflies:
- *Chequered Hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare)

Dragon-/damsel-flies:
- none

Other flies:
- *++a possible Root-maggot fly from the Anthomyiidae family
- European Cranefly (Tipula paludosa)
- other craneflies not identified

Beetles:
- Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni); adults

Bugs:
- none

Spiders / Harvestmen:
- Garden Spider (Araneus diadematus)

Molluscs:
- *+Wrinkled Snail (Candidula intersecta): shell only
- White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis)

Newly noted plant:
- *+Great(er) (Hairy) Willowherb (Epilobium hirsutum)

Fungus:
- *Shaggy Inkcap or Lawyer's Wig (Coprinus comatus)

Separation of Herring (the near one) and Lesser Black-backed Gulls is easy when they are adults. Both are beginning to show some speckling on the head which many of them show when in winter plumage.

Here is the adult Herring Gull clearly in wing-moult. I am not sure why it shows pinkish (yellowish?) stain on the side of the neck.

A first winter Herring Gull on the left and the same stained adult on the right. An adult winter Black-headed Gull between them.

An adult Lesser Black-backed Gull also in wing moult. It should show a neat, rather wide white trailing edge to the wing and doesn't!

A classic first winter Lesser Black-backed Gull with two rows of dark feathers across the whole trailing edge of the wing; a neat and wide black tail-band with speckling on the upper tail.

Probably the same bird at rest. The feathering is neat.

Compare with the first winter Herring Gull. The feathers are less neatly arranged but most importantly the back feathers are grey with white-fringed black tips whereas on the first winter Lesser Black-backed Gull they are all black with small white-fringes.

A Grey Wagtail. From side-on the length of the tail is clearly shown.

I am not having much luck with my 'record shots'. Between two Pied Wagtails and walking away is a Yellow Wagtail. Wherever I approached the security fence around the football field the birds were always 'the other side' and a long ways away. And I hope they are Pied Wagtails and not passage White Wagtails. Too far to see whether any had grey rumps.

Two Chequered Hoverflies (Melanostoma scalare) share the pollen of a Field Bindweed flower (Convolvulus arvensis).

Obsidentify suggested this as possible Root-maggot fly from the Anthomyiidae family. Looking at the NatureSpot web site it might well be though it did not provide a specific identity.

An empty shell of a Wrinkled Snail (Candidula intersecta). Seems an appropriate name.

A side view. Some snails have a raised centre (a 'spire') which can be useful in identifying the species. This species does not.

Both PlantNet and Obsidentify told me these leaves were from Great(er) (Hairy) Willowherb (Epilobium hirsutum). The disagreed about its common name! Will this really flower this year now?

Jammed up inside the academy's security fence were this trio of Shaggy Inkcap or Lawyer's Wig fungus (Coprinus comatus). These are probably two days old. The soon lose their shape and deliquesce in to a soggy, inky-looking mess.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:40 – 10:25

(175th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- A large conifer tree was being felled in the grounds of a nearby house and the sound of chainsaws seemed to have caused many of the Tufted Duck to move elsewhere.
And
- as a footnote to yesterday it seems I did not record any Meadow Pipits over here on Spring passage so yesterday's birds represented my 74th bird species at The Flash in 2023.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:

None

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

Hirundines etc., noted:

None

Noted on / around the water:
- >258 Canada Geese
- >55 Greylag Goose
**the geese were counted on the water: an unknown number were already inside the island
- 2 + 4 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 34 (21♂) + 4 (1 brood) Mallard: same as yesterday
- 1 (1♂) all-white feral duck
- 17 (>2♂) Tufted Duck
- 7 Moorhens
- 58 Coots
- 5 + 2 (2 broods) Great Crested Grebes
- 13 Black-headed Gulls
- no Cormorants
- 2 Grey Herons

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

Moths:
- 1 *Large Yellow Underwing (Noctua pronuba)

Other things
- 1 *European Cranefly (Tipula paludosa)
- 1 Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni)

Noted elsewhere around The Flash:

Bees / wasps etc.:
- Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
- Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)

Beetles:
- Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni); adults

Spiders:
- Garden Spider (Araneus diadematus)

A horrible photo of a Large Yellow Underwing moth (Noctua pronuba) near the top of the tallest street lamp pole in squirrel alley.

An European Cranefly (Tipula paludosa) on a street lamp pole.

A side-on view makes this insect look almost pre-historic.

(Ed Wilson)

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Noted in the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Moths:
- none

Other things:
- *2 craneflies Tipula confusa
- 17 White-legged Snake Millipedes (Tachypodoiulus niger)
- no Common Rough Woodlouse (Porcellio scaber): hiding away from daylight?
- 1 Garden Spider (Araneus diadematus)
- *1 Common House Spider (Eratigena atrica)
- several other unidentified spiders
- 1 female Leiobunum blackwalli harvestman

On the ceiling I notes this craneflies Tipula confusa – a species with well-marked wings and which folds its wings over its back at rest.

This looks like another cranefly of the same species very much in the wars with just three legs.

A Common House Spider (Eratigena atrica).

(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
Ringed Plover
(Ed Wilson)

2007
Priorslee Lake
Nuthatch
Kingfisher
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
Kingfisher
(Ed Wilson)