3 Sep 23

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

12.0°C > 17.0°C: Just some thin high cloud otherwise clear skies; low-level mist over lake and field briefly. Light and variable breeze. Mainly very good visibility.

Sunrise: 06:23 BST

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

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:20 – 06:45 // 07:40 – 09:35

(179th visit of the year)

One that got away: at c.05:50 I twice heard brief and distant calls of a wader sp. I could not identify it.

Other bird notes:
- At the moment there is no roost dispersal of Jackdaws and Rooks over the lake (why?). I heard Jackdaws calling c.06:30: their calls seemed to be coming from trees retained between the new estate and the academy grounds.
- An unusual site was 11 Carrion Crows flying together at 08:15. Even more unusual they were silent. Conventional wisdom is that one or two birds together are crows; more would be Rooks. Does not always apply!
- A loose party of 17 Barn Swallows flew south-west at 08:55: presumed migrants.
- House Martins were heard high overhead early. Six seen late including begging juvenile(s). I was of the impression the calls came from a large number of birds.
- A bumper number of warblers of different species. Many were in sun-lit trees along the South side, fly-catching. The Garden Warbler was a juvenile and at least one of the Common Whitethroats was also.
- Another Mistle Thrush fly-over on an unusual date. One flew North over the football field at 06:30.
- The first signs of a nearby roost developing when four Pied Wagtails flew North together at 06:20

Counts of birds noted flying over:
- 137 Canada Geese: 111 outbound in nine groups; 26 inbound in three groups
- 2 Greylag Geese: singles outbound
- 58 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Collared Dove
- 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 91 unidentified large gulls
- 1 Grey Heron
- 1 Mistle Thrush
- 4 Pied Wagtails

Warblers noted (the number singing in brackets): a bumper morning!
- *1 (0) Willow Warbler
- *18 (4) Chiffchaffs
- 5 (0) Reed Warblers
- *5 (0) Blackcaps
- 1 (0) Garden Warbler
- *3 (0) Common Whitethroats

Hirundines etc., noted:
- 17 Barn Swallows
- 6+ House Martins

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 2 Mute Swans
- 9 (?♂) Mallard
- 7 Moorhens
- 84 Coots
- 1 Great Crested Grebe
- >141 Black-headed Gulls: see notes
- 51 Lesser Black-backed Gulls

On or around the street lamp poles at dawn:

Moths:
- 1 Common Grass-veneer (Agriphila tristella)
- *1 Snout (Hypena proboscidalis)

Other things
- *1 Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris)
- *1 bug sp., probably a Common Froghopper (Philaenus spumarius)
- 4 Bridge Orb-web Spiders (Larinioides sclopetarius)
- *1 female Leiobunum rotundum harvestman

And on the ground beneath:
- 1 Common Toad (Bufo bufo)

Around the sailing club HQ or in the sailing club shelter.

Nothing unusual

Noted later: very little in cloudy conditions

Butterflies:
- *Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria)

Moths:
- none

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

Hoverflies:
- *Tapered Dronefly (Eristalis pertinax)
- *Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax)
- *Tiger Hoverfly (Helophilus pendulus)
- Syrphus sp. (S. ribesii / S. vitripennis)

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

Other flies:
- *bluebottle Calliphora vomitoria
- greenbottles
- Common Crane-fly (Tipula oleracea)
- cranefly Tipula paludosa
- *various other unidentified flies (one a Sarcophaga sp.)

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

Bugs:
- 7 Spot Ladybird (Coccinella 7-punctata)
- +*Kidney-spot Ladybird (Chilocorus renipustulatus)
- Dock Bug (Coreus marginatus)
- *Common Green Shieldbug (Palomena prasina)

Also
- White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis)
- *++Golden Shelled Slug (Testacella scutulum agg.)

The super blue moon continues to wane.

Too much high cloud to give much colour early over the somewhat misty lake.

Some colour later.

The wide supercilium helps identify this as a Willow Warbler. They average more yellow-toned than...

...Chiffchaffs. In the field I find the easiest way to separate non-calling birds is to see how they move. A Chiffchaff is always on the move, constantly dipping its tail as it does so. A Willow Warbler is more deliberate in its movements and rarely dips its tail.

A female or immature Blackcap: both have brown caps at this date.

I am slightly puzzled by this bird. I though I was taking a photo of a Common Whitethroat: pale throat, grey head and brown on the wings. But the photo shows a buff-washed band across the breast; a thicker than expected bill with a pale base. Or are both these due to the deep shadow?

A bit of sun and the Speckled Wood butterflies (Pararge aegeria) come out to sunbathe and warm up.

This morning's Snout moth (Hypena proboscidalis).

What exactly do Common Wasps (Paravespula vulgaris) do around the street lamp poles pre-dawn?

A male Tapered Dronefly (Eristalis pertinax)

And a male Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax).

A Tiger Hoverfly (Helophilus pendulus). I have seen very few of these this year.

A Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum). The club-mark on the first visible segment of the abdomen separates it from the U-shaped mark of Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella) a species I have not seen for several weeks.

A Common Crane-fly (Tipula oleracea). It is 'cranefly' season now and there will be many more of these.

This fly is from the Sarcophagidae. From the NatureSpot web site I read that "the family is varied and includes predators and parasitoids of various insects, breeding in animal faeces, carcasses, dead snails, decomposing organic matter, but the biology of many species is poorly understood or completely unknown". Specific identity is not possible.

Another from the group with differing abdomen pattern.

A fly with a ginger beard! It is Calliphora vomitoria: what a charming name! Again from the NatureSpot web site: "This large 'bluebottle' fly has a characteristic shiny blue abdomen and a dark thorax. The orange hairs on the gena and post gena, looking like a ginger beard, help to distinguish this species".

I have not seen one of these pre-dawn before: I think it is probably a Common Froghopper (Philaenus spumarius).

This is a female Leiobunum rotundum harvestman. Thanks goodness it is a female as they can be separated from female L. blackwalli by the parallel sided saddle. Males of both species are just 'round' and harder to separate.

My first Kidney-spot Ladybird (Chilocorus renipustulatus) of the year. I found this on the control box of the sluice on the dam top.

An adult (right) and an instar (left) of Common Green Shieldbugs (Palomena prasina).

I think this is a Golden Shelled Slug (Testacella scutulum agg.) - there are several species that require detailed examination (but not by me!). The tiny shell it at the end of the abdomen (on the right here). A new species for me.

(Ed Wilson)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Flash: 06:50 – 07:35

(165th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- Many Mallard had done their hiding trick.
- There does seem to be only one surviving juvenile Great Crested Grebe. Two earlier nesting attempts failed completely.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:

None

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

Hirundines etc., noted:

None

Noted on / around the water: better visibility than yesterday, but still dull.
- 3 Canada Geese
- 1 Greylag Goose
- 2 + 4 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 15 Mallard
- 1 (1♂) all-white feral duck
- 48 (>11♂) Tufted Duck
- 9 Moorhens
- 60 Coots
- *5 + 1 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 14 Black-headed Gulls
- 2 Cormorants: arrived together
- 1 Grey Heron

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

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

Other things
- 1 Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni); adults
- 1 Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus harvestman

Elsewhere around The Flash:

Nothing of note

Against the light: an adult Great Crested Grebe has caught a fish.

Not too easy to see this is a Elbow-stripe Grass-veneer moth (Agriphila geniculea) as the white stripe along the wing might suggest a Common Grass-veneers (Agriphila tristella). The dark mark part-way along the wing hints at something different.

It was not easy to access the other side but here it is with the markings clearer.

(Ed Wilson)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Nothing noted

(Ed Wilson)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Noted in the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Moths:
- *1 Snout (Hypena proboscidalis)

Other things
- 1 owl midge Psychodidae sp.
- 18 White-legged Snake Millipedes (Tachypodoiulus niger)
- many unidentified spiders

The Snout moth (Hypena proboscidalis) here shows perhaps better why it acquired the name.

(Ed Wilson)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On this day can be found via the yearly links in the right-hand column.

Sightings from previous years without links are below

2011
Priorslee Lake
103 Greylag Geese
314 Canada Geese
14 Tufted Ducks
1 Herring Gull
1 Kingfisher
1 Dunnock
1 Mistle Thrush
5 Blackcap
13 Chiffchaff
28 Greenfinch
40 Linnet