23 Sep 23

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

9.0°C > 13.0°C: Some early patchy cloud then clear. Light westerly breeze. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 06:57 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:
- The first Skylarks of Autumn on the move
- Now 13 brownhead Goosanders at The Flash.

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:35 – 09:05

(193rd visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- more Coots today. They are easier to count now some of the weed has dispersed and the birds are not all congregated together.
- a Grey Heron flew East over the football field at 07:05. This seemed not to have come from the lake (I had not seen it there earlier) but from the Ricoh grounds.
- in part due to clearer conditions the roost dispersal of Jackdaws and Rooks was more in normal 'winter' behaviour. A large group of Rooks passed over with a small number of Jackdaws intermingled. Then about five minutes later a large noisy group of Jackdaws flew past to the East.

Counts of birds noted flying over:
- 19 Canada Geese: 12 outbound together; 7 inbound together
- 5 Greylag Geese: inbound together
- 72 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Black-headed Gull
- 33 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 69 unidentified large gulls
- 1 Grey Heron
- 211 Jackdaws
- 96 Rooks
- 4 Skylarks
- 11 Pied Wagtails

Warblers noted (the number singing in brackets):
- 1 (1) Cetti's Warbler
- 10 (3) Chiffchaffs
- 2 (0) Blackcaps

Hirundines etc., noted:
- 2 Barn Swallows: East at 08:15
- House Martins heard high overhead 07:05: not located

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 2 Mute Swans
- 2 (1♂) Mallard
- 3 Moorhens
- 128 Coots
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- >47 Black-headed Gulls: 47 on the lake c.08:00. Just 13 (of these?) were seen on the academy sports field c.07:00.
- 4 Herring Gulls: all first winters
- 63 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: not all ages determined with majority being first winters
- c.120 unidentified large gulls stopped off 06:20 to 06:35. Probably mostly Lesser Black-backs but too dark to be certain

On or around the street lamp poles at dawn:

Moths:
- 1 The Sallow (Cirrhia icteritia)

Other things:
- 3 Spotted-winged Drosophila fly (Drosophila suzukii)
- +*1 cranefly Limonia nubeculosa
- ++*1 possible fungus gnat Macrocera sp.
- ++*1 possible dark-winged fungus gnat Sciara sp.
- *1 wood gnat Sylvicola sp.
- 1 springtail Pogonognathellus longicornis
- 1 Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni)
- 1 stretch spider Tetragnatha sp.
- 4 harvestmen Leiobunum rotundum/blackwalli

The sailing club HQ area not examined pre-dawn

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

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

Hoverflies:
- Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax)

Dragon-/damsel-flies:
- new exuvia of unknown species

Other flies:
- very many unidentified flies on the Ivy

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

Bugs:
- +*Hawthorn Shieldbug (Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale): instar

Molluscs:
- White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis)

An almost clear sky around dawn.

Present both pre- and post-dawn was this moth named The Sallow (Cirrhia icteritia). Another of the yellow-toned 'sallow' moths that fly in Autumn.

This cranefly at rest with the patterned wings held closed over its back is a Limonia nubeculosa. As with all craneflies the halteres are very obvious. These are the vestigial hind wings present on all true flies that act like gyroscopes to keep them orientated.

The best I can do is suggest this is a possible fungus gnat Macrocera sp.

Obsidentify suggested this was one of the dark-winged fungus gnats Sciara sp. I cannot suggest anything different but the wings do not look 'dark' as the banded abdomen appears to be showing through.

The flash needed pre-dawn has 'blown out' whatever markings were on the wings. It is a wood gnat Sylvicola sp. but which I cannot say.

A different shieldbug instar here. It is of a Hawthorn Shieldbug (Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale). The layout of the red areas separates this species from all other shieldbugs.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:10 – 10:15

(179th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- I have no idea where the Mute Swans were hiding. Inside the island perhaps?
- the four Mallard 'ducklings' are hardly that now: almost full grown.
- all the Goosanders are 'brownheads': that is to say immatures, ducks or drakes in Autumn eclipse plumage. I would not expect to positively identify any drakes much before the turn of the year.

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

Warblers noted
None

Hirundines etc., noted:
None

Noted on / around the water:
- 56 Canada Geese
- 2 Greylag Goose
- [Mute Swans not seen!]
- 26 (16♂) + *4 (1 brood) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) all-white feral duck
- *51 (>12♂) Tufted Duck
- *13 (0♂) Goosander
- 5 Moorhens
- 53 Coots
- 4 + 3 (2 broods) Great Crested Grebes
- 8 Black-headed Gulls
- no Cormorants
- 1 Grey Heron

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

Moths:
- none

Other things
- 1 stretch spider Tetragnatha sp.

Noted elsewhere around The Flash:

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

Hoverflies:
- *Migrant Field Syrph or Migrant Hoverfly (Eupeodes corollae) [or Migrant Aphideater!]
- Syrphus sp. (S. ribesii / S. vitripennis)

Also
- *pupa case, probably from a Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis).

The duck Mallard with her four well-grown ducklings.

Another view: looking closely at the bills of the ducklings I cannot yet say which of them will become drakes and which will become ducks.

Again the high contrast has somewhat spoilt the photo. At front left is a duck Tufted Duck; at front right a drake Tufted Duck; at the back four 'brownhead' Goosanders.

A busy bee. A busy Honey Bee (Apis mellifera).

And another.

This hoverfly Eupeodes corollae has many names. Usually books call it a Migrant Hoverfly, Steven Falk names it Migrant Field Syrph. While my Obsidentify app calls it a Migrant Aphideater! One remaining problem is that while many individuals are migrants from the Continent it also breeds in the UK!

Here she (the eyes do not meet) seems to be cleaning her tongue with her front legs.

A pupa that whatever it was has emerged. The shape and markings (but not the colour) suggest it is from a Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis).

Plane of the day: this is a EuroFOX 2K built by UK-based Ascent Industries from a kit supplied by Slovak company Aeropro s.r.o.. From this angle it almost looks to be a bi-plane: in reality the 'upper wing' are extensive wing flaps that give this aircraft a very short take-off and landing capability from unpaved surfaces. The owner of this aircraft flies from a private strip near his home in Tarporley in Cheshire. It was flying to Mid-Wales Airport at Welshpool.

(Ed Wilson)

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Noted in the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Moths:
- none

Other things:
- *2 craneflies Tipula lateralis
- 1 owl midge Psychodidae sp.
- 9 White-legged Snake Millipedes (Tachypodoiulus niger)
- 1 Walnut Orb Weaver spider (Nuctenea umbratica)
- several other, unidentified, spiders

One of the two craneflies Tipula lateralis. The pale stripe down the abdomen and pale area in the wing identify this species.

This is the other. The way it is sitting and holdings its wings makes it look as if the pale area in the other side of the wing.

(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 Whinchat
3 Snipe
1 Wigeon
(John Isherwood)

2011
Priorslee Lake
Common Sandpiper
(Ed Wilson)

2008
Priorslee Lake
Water Rail
(Ed Wilson)

2007
Priorslee Lake
Ruddy Duck
Kingfisher
696 Swallows, House Martins and Sand Martin
55 Meadow Pipit
(Ed Wilson)