22 Sep 23

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

8.0°C > 13.0°C: Patchy cloud, mainly at high level; some mist over the lake. Calm start with light / moderate southerly breeze later. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 06:55 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:
- Two duck (or immature) Goosanders first of, ahem, Winter: at The Flash.

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:25 – 09:20

(192nd visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- at last: a decent count of Rooks on roost dispersal and even a few Jackdaws with them.
- the Cetti's Warbler sang several times. Today from the north-west area. Is it really the same bird that has been more or less regular since 21 October 2021?
- other warblers fewer in number.
- 11 Pied Wagtails were on the football field at 09:15.

Counts of birds noted flying over:
- 21 Canada Geese: inbound together
- 4 Greylag Geese: single and duo outbound; single inbound
- 2 Feral Pigeon: together
- 2 Stock Doves: singles
- 93 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Herring Gull
- 47 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 28 unidentified large gulls
- 31 Jackdaws
- 124 Rooks
- 1 Starling

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

Hirundines etc., noted:
- House Martins heard high overhead 06:40: not located

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 2 Mute Swans
- 8 (>3♂) Mallard: eight unsexed birds flew off 06:00. Later four (three drakes) back(?).
- 4 Moorhens
- 103 Coots
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- >45 Black-headed Gulls: 45 arrived at the lake 06:30. By 06:50 the last 22 were seen flying away from the football field.
- *3 Herring Gulls: one adult and two first winters
- *36 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: not all ages determined with majority being first winters
- >100 unidentified large gulls stopped off 06:20 to 06:35. Probably mostly Lesser Black-backs but too dark to tell
- 1 Cormorant: arrived and departed
- 1 Grey Heron: briefly only
- 1 Kingfisher

On or around the street lamp poles at dawn:

Moths:
- none

Other things:
- 1 plumed midge Microtendipes pedellus
- *1 (even) smaller plumed midge
- 1 wood gnat, perhaps Sylvicola fenestralis
- *1 fly Drosophila sp.
- 1 springtail Pogonognathellus longicornis
- 1 Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni)
- *1 ground beetle Nebria brevicolis or N. salina.
- *1 Nursery Web Spider (Pisaura mirabilis)
- *1 stretch spider Tetragnatha sp.
- *1 other unidentified spider
- *1 harvestman Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus
- *2 harvestmen Paroligolophus agrestis

The sailing club HQ area not examined pre-dawn

Also pre-dawn:

- 1 pipistrelle-type bat.

Noted later: my 'Winter timing' means I leave the lake before many insects are around.

Butterflies:
- none

Moths:
- +*Pink-barred Sallow (Xanthia togata)

Bees / wasps etc.:
- none

Hoverflies:
- *Syrphus sp. (S. ribesii / S. vitripennis)

Dragon-/damsel-flies:
- none

Other flies:
- many unidentified flies
- no craneflies noted

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

Bugs:
- *probable Potato Capsid bug (Closterotomus norwegicus)
- +*Pine Ladybird (Exochomus quadripustulatus)
- *Red-legged Shieldbug (Pentatoma rufipes)

Spiders / Harvestmen:
- none

Molluscs:
- White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis)

The sunrise

A Mute Swan against the early mist over the lake.

A first winter Herring Gull identified by the pale area around the inner primaries. (Obsidentify's other suggestion was Palmate Newt!)

And a first winter Lesser Black-backed Gull identified by the two rows of dark feathers along the trailing edge of the wing (the primaries and secondaries and their respective coverts).

 It makes a change for a Blue Tit to be sitting in the open.

A long-tailed Tit hiding its long tail.

I noted this Pink-barred Sallow moth (Xanthia togata) at the top of a street lamp pole well after dawn. Did I overlook it earlier? While it doesn't look very 'pink'-barred, the dark base to the wings rules out other sallow species.

Sunning itself is a hoverfly from the species pair Syrphus ribesii / S. vitripennis.

The right-hand insect is a small fly, most likely from the Drosophila family. It lacks the dark wing tips of the frequently seen Spotted-winged Drosophila (D. suzukii). The left-hand insect is a male, and hence plumed, midge. It is smaller and darker than any of the midge species I typically see.

Here is a ground beetle, either Nebria brevicolis or N. salina. Separation of these species depends on whether there are hairs on the inside of the hind tibia. Good luck on that from this photo!

Probably Potato Capsid bug (Closterotomus norwegicus) here on the edge of a Field Bindweed flower (Convolvulus arvensis). There are other mainly green bugs that it could be.

A very small ladybird with comma-like red markings and a rim around the edge of the elytra (wings) identifies this as my first Pine Ladybird (Exochomus quadripustulatus) of the year.

I found this Red-legged Shieldbug (Pentatoma rufipes) on the 'boxing ring' railings. A strange location.

 Nursery Web Spiders (Pisaura mirabilis) are one of the easiest spiders to identify.

The tube-like abdomen and long legs identify this as one of the stretch spiders Tetragnatha sp.

A spider that remains unidentified. It is upside down under its web. It seems to be a male with 'boxing gloves' as palps.

This harvestman belongs to the species pair Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus not separable from photos. The long pedipalps separate these from all other harvestmen.

This harvestman has rather short legs and is best identified by the line running down the centre of its abdomen. It is a Paroligolophus agrestis.

Plane of the day. Seven and half miles up is an Airbus A350 900 series of Air Caraïbes Atlantique operating for Air Caraïbes of Guadeloupe.

Here, courtesy of FlightRadar24 is the flight data. Nearly there!

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:25 – 10:30

(178th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- Again many geese had arrived before me and were already inside the island.
- I last noted Goosander here on 01 April
- I noted House Martins making a food pass though I did not hear any juvenile begging calls.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 1 Sparrowhawk
- 1 Common Buzzard
- 1 Jackdaw

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

Hirundines etc., noted:
- 6+ House Martins

Noted on / around the water:
- 69 Canada Geese
- 2 Greylag Goose
- 2 + 4 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 29 (19♂) Mallard: no ducklings noted
- 1 (1♂) all-white feral duck
- 64 (>18♂) Tufted Duck
- *2 (0♂) Goosander: departed
- *9 Moorhens
- 55 Coots
- 4 + 3 (2 broods) Great Crested Grebes
- 6 Black-headed Gulls
- 2 Cormorants: departed separately
- 1 Grey Heron

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

Moths:
- +*1 Narrow-winged Grey (Eudonia angustea)

Other things
- 1 harvestman Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus

Noted elsewhere around The Flash:

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

Hoverflies:
- Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
- Syrphus sp. (S. ribesii / S. vitripennis)

Nothing else

The two drake / immature Goosanders before they were spooked by a fisherman casting his bait. The leftmost bird is in full sun and can only be recognised by the head shape and especially the bill shape. The bird in the right foreground is a juvenile Moorhen with its head in the water.

On a street lamp pole in squirrel alley I located this Narrow-winged Grey moth (Eudonia angustea). 'Grey' moths are easier at this as most other species have ceased flying.

A Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum) looks for nectar and pollen in a White Dead-Nettle flower (Lamium album). The bee seems to have been successful with a well-laden pollen sac.

(Ed Wilson)

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Noted in the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Moths:
- none

Other things:
- 1 wood gnat, perhaps Sylvicola fenestralis
- 19 White-legged Snake Millipedes (Tachypodoiulus niger)
- several unidentified spiders

(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

2008
Priorslee Lake
Water Rail
Common Redstart
(Ed Wilson)

The Flash
The drake Mallard x Pintail has returned for the 5th year at least
(Ed Wilson)

2007
Priorslee Lake
Gadwall
Redwing
(Ed Wilson)