6 Sep 23

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

15.0°C > 17.0°C: Just a few thin high clouds early though hazy. Misty after 07:00, clearing somewhat after 08:15. Very light easterly breeze. Moderate visibility but poor for a while.

Sunrise: 06:28 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 // 07:50 – 09:00

(182nd visit of the year)

An abbreviated visit so not many insects seen later.

Bird notes:
- There were c.200 Black-headed Gulls on the football field c.06:30: moving around too much to get an accurate count. These dispersed to places unknown but were perhaps many of at least 160 birds that flew in low from the East (with large gulls) at 08:25, though very few stayed.
- 116 large gulls were noted flying East before 06:00 when it was too dark to identify them. 34 of these stopped off at the lake for a wash and brush up. Many of them flew over very low almost as if they had been on the football field.
- At least 80 large gulls (five Herrings and 75 Lesser Black-backs) arrived, as with the Black-headed Gulls, low from the East at 08:25 and may have included some of the unidentified large gulls seen earlier.

Counts of birds noted flying over:
- 67 Canada Geese: 43 outbound in four groups; 24 inbound together
- 4 (?) Tufted Duck: together
- 4 Stock Doves: single and trio
- 29 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Herring Gull
- 13 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 82 unidentified large gulls
- 1 Pied Wagtail

Warblers noted (the number singing in brackets): a bumper morning!
- 13 (2) Chiffchaffs
- 4 (2) Blackcaps: very quiet song

Hirundines etc., noted:
- 6 House Martins

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 2 Mute Swans
- 7 (1♂) Mallard
- 6 Moorhens
- 92 Coots
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- >200 Black-headed Gulls: see notes
- *5 Herring Gulls
- >*75 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: see notes
- 34 unidentified large gulls

On or around the street lamp poles at dawn:

Moths:
- everything but again...

Other things:
- *1 Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris)
- *1 unidentified fly with brown wings
- 1 plumed midge (Chironomus plumosus)
- 2 plumed midges (Microtendipes pedellus)
- *2 wood gnats, perhaps Sylvicola fenestralis
- *1 springtail Pogonognathellus longicornis-type
- 1 owl midge Psychodidae sp.
- *1 small beetle, probably Paradromius linearis
- 1 Red-legged Shieldbug (Pentatoma rufipes)
- 1 Garden Spider (Araneus diadematus)
- *3 Clubiona sp. spiders of very different sizes
- 1 Common House Spider (Eratigena atrica)
- *1 Bridge Orb-web Spiders (Larinioides sclopetarius)
- *1 Walnut Orb Weaver spider (Nuctenea umbratica)
- *2 female Leiobunum rotundum harvestmen
and at this time
- at least four of the larger direct flying species of bat.

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

Nothing unusual

Noted later:

Butterflies:
- Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria)

Moths:
- none

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

Hoverflies:
- Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax)
- Chequered Hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare)

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

Other flies:
- greenbottles

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

Bugs:
- none

Also
- stretch spider Tetragnatha sp.
- White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis)

The continuing saga of the waning super blue moon. Less moon; fewer craters visible.

Not much of a sunrise.

Later when the mist rolled in a photo of the sun (don't look with unprotected eyes). This shows a sun-spot at 8 o'clock position.

A few photos of the large gulls that arrived and then departed c.08:25. Here is a juvenile / first winter Herring Gull. A Lesser Black-backed Gull would show much more contrasting markings on the underwing.

Another juvenile / first winter Herring Gull from below and...

...the same from above showing the paler inner primaries. Only the tips of the secondaries are dark: on a similar-aged Lesser Black-backed Gull the secondary coverts are also dark and the inner primaries are not paler.

An adult Lesser Black-backed Gull showing three yet to be dropped outer-most primaries.

And here from above showing a few white shafts to the secondaries not yet covered by regrowing coverts.

Apologies that the nearer bird – a juvenile / first winter Herring Gull – is not quite in focus but the comparison of the upper-wing with that of the juvenile / first winter Lesser Black-backed Gull is diagnostic.

Current score: Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris) nil; Bridge Orb-web Spider (Larinioides sclopetarius) nil. Might change!

I have been unable to identify this unusual fly with brown wings.

Two for the price of one. The upper insect is a wood gnat, perhaps Sylvicola fenestralis though the five species of Sylvicola really need microscopic examination to identify. No idea about the other insect beyond a midge / gnat?

Another two. On the left another Sylvicola wood gnat. On the right a Pogonognathellus longicornis-type springtail.

Obsidentify pointed me to the ground beetle Paradromius linearis as the identity of this small beetle.

 The largest of what I believe to be three Clubiona sp. spiders.

The medium-sized Clubiona sp. spider apparently munching a midge.

It may not look it on my enlarged photo but this is the smallest of the three Clubiona sp. spiders. For this one Obsidentify concurs and gives the name "Stout Sac Spider".

At the top of a street lamp pole was this Walnut Orb Weaver spider (Nuctenea umbratica).

A female Leiobunum rotundum harvestman identified by the parallel sides to the dark saddle. It shares with the male a black ocularium (i.e. the area around the eyes. The eyes are mounted above the front of the abdomen)

(Ed Wilson)

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

The Flash: 06:50 – 07:45

(168th visit of the year)

A generally quiet morning. Rather misty so all numbers 'best effort'

Bird notes:

Bird(s) noted flying over here:

None

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

Hirundines etc., noted:
- House Martin(s) heard but lost in mist

Noted on / around the water: better visibility than yesterday, but still dull.
- 3 Canada Geese: one of these departed
- 2 + 4 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 18 (11♂) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) all-white feral duck
- 59 (>18♂) Tufted Duck
- 8 Moorhens
- 67 Coots
- 4 + 2 (1 broods) Great Crested Grebes
- 28 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Cormorant
- 1 Grey Heron

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

Moths:
- *1 Single-dotted Wave (Idaea dimidiata)
- +*1 Common Marbled Carpet (Chloroclysta truncata)
- +*1 Large Yellow Underwing (Noctua pronuba)
- +*1 Square-spot Rustic (Xestia xanthographa)

Other things
- *1 Common Green Lacewing (Chrysoperia carnea)
- 2 Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus harvestmen
- 1 White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis)

Elsewhere around The Flash:

Nothing of note

Not an oddity: a Coot with a white stripe along the flanks. Well it does have a white stripe along the flanks but it is detritus from the increasingly murky water and not feathering as it would be on a Moorhen.

Easy to access was this Single-dotted Wave moth (Idaea dimidiata).

The other three moths here were, unhelpfully, at the top of street lamp poles. This rather amazingly is my first Common Marbled Carpet (Chloroclysta truncata) of the year. It is a very common species and I usually see a dozen in most years. This species is very variable in appearance.

This is a Large Yellow Underwing (Noctua pronuba). One of the most abundant moth species found by moth recorder as they examine their moth traps in the morning. The Cheshire moth recorder told me that years ago he could often record over 400 a night during this species' flight-season. Nowhere near that number I am afraid these days.

The Square-spot Rustic (Xestia xanthographa).

Neatly standing out against the white of the label at the top of a street lamp the venation on this Common Green Lacewing (Chrysoperia carnea) is clearly visible.

Would you believe a White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis)? The markings on the shell are very variable.

(Ed Wilson)

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

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

Moths:
- none

Other things
- 1 cranefly Limonia nubeculosa

(Ed Wilson)

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

Noted in the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Moths:
- none

Other things:
- 16 White-legged Snake Millipedes (Tachypodoiulus niger)
- 6 Common Rough Woodlouse (Porcellio scaber)
- the usual array of mostly unidentified spiders including
Garden Spiders (Araneus diadematus)
*stretch spiders Tetragnatha sp.

Also neatly standing out against the white wall is this stretch spider Tetragnatha sp.

(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
Common Sandpiper
(John Isherwood)

Nedge Hill
2 Yellow Wagtails
(John Isherwood)

2006
Priorslee Lake
Spotted Flycatcher
(Ed Wilson)