11 Oct 23

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

16.0°C > 17.0°C: A brief sunny spell around 11:00 otherwise cloudy and with rain after 12:00. Moderate south-westerly breeze. Very good visibility.

[Sunrise: 07:28 BST]

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

Dodging the rain today so a later visit and in the wrong order with The Flash first.

Best of the day were Redwings at The Flash. I heard several calling from the trees and then when a group of 36 some (all?) of these flew up and joined them as they flew away south-west.

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 11:55 – 12:25

(209th visit of the year)

Bird notes:

Counts from the lake area:

Viewing from the Castle Farm Way lay-by and dam-top only:
- 2 + 2 Mute Swans
- 10 (8♂) Mallard
- 2 Moorhens
- 122 Coots
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- c.120 Black-headed Gulls
- 3 Herring Gulls
- 1 Yellow-legged Gull
- 81 Lesser Black-backed Gulls

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 10:50 – 11:45

(195th visit of the year)

A normal, albeit belated, walk around.

Bird notes:
- only one of yesterday's two presumed Common Teal was noted. Still tucked up against the island and impossible to positively identify.
- at least 22 brownhead Goosanders were safely tucked up inside the island. There could well have been more.
- oddly there were three juvenile Great Crested Grebes begging alongside adults. It is some weeks since I noted a third juvenile and at that time it seemed more advanced and was fending for itself

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 36 Redwings
- 1 Pied Wagtail

Warblers noted:

None

Noted on / around the water:
- 10 Canada Geese
- 2 + 4 Mute Swans
- 37 (23♂) + 4 (1 brood) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) all-white feral duck
- 1 (0♂) presumed Common Teal
- 13 (7♂) Tufted Duck
- 22 brownhead Goosander
- 14 Moorhens
- 40 Coots
- 5 + 3 (2 broods) Great Crested Grebes
- 7 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Grey Heron

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

Moths:
- none

Other things:
- 1 Muscid fly, perhaps Helina evecta
- 1 cranefly Tipula confusa

Noted elsewhere around The Flash:

Butterflies:
- Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)

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

Hoverflies:
- Tapered Drone Fly (Eristalis pertinax)

Other flies:
- Muscid fly of unknown species

Newly found fungus:
- Lumpy Bracket (Trametes gibbosa)

None the wiser with this duck. Only one today?

A male (the eyes meet) Tapered Drone Fly (Eristalis pertinax). Females are not noticeably 'tapered'.

This Muscid fly is perhaps Helina evecta. This species is most abundant in Autumn and frequently found resting on walls and tree trunks so a street lamp pole would be an acceptable substitute.

I've seen them elsewhere: this is my first cranefly Tipula confusa at The Flash this year.

Now I have the equipment, so as to speak, I had a go at identifying the fungus growing on the stump of a long-felled tree. It required some gardening to expose this. It has been around ages and is clearly a bracket fungus. It was not marked like a typical Turkeytail (Trametes versicolor). Courtesy of Obsidentify it is (98% probability) Lumpy Bracket (Trametes gibbosa).

(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

2011
Priorslee Lake
14 Redwing
(Ed Wilson)

2010
Priorslee Lake
Common Gull, though it could have been Mew/Ring-billed Gull!
Yellow Legged Gull
(Mike Cooper/Ed Wilson)

2007
Priorslee Lake
2 Ruddy Ducks
42 Redwing
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
4 Wigeon
1 Shoveler
8 Pochard
64 Tufted Ducks
30 Robins
(Ed Wilson)