9.0°C: Scattered cloud below a medium overcast giving early light rain. Seemed to be clearing somewhat only for very low cloud / mist to descend for a while c.10:00. Almost calm. Good visibility but poor for a while.
Sunrise: 07:50 BST
+ = my first sighting of this species at this site this year.
++ = new species for me at this site.
* = a species photographed today
Despite it being a remarkably quiet morning there were two notable records:
- a Lapwing was over the Balancing Lake at 08:15. This was only my third record of this much-declined species at the lake this year. Even more surprising was that it briefly settled on rocks on the dam face. It is many years since I saw one 'on the ground' here.
- a Chiffchaff was calling at the top end of The Flash. This species does over-winter in small numbers though they are normally silent by mid-October and then can be hard to find.
Priorslee Balancing Lake: 06:00 – 09:35
(219th visit of the year)
If I thought the M54 traffic noise was a problem yesterday then contractors mowing the grass alongside Castle Farm Way today made even more noise.
Bird notes:
- the lower number of Coots logged was almost certainly due to the misty conditions rather than any real decrease in number.
- Jays are especially visible at the moment as they collect and bury acorns for the winter. I read that these birds have excellent spatial awareness and memory and can accurately access their cache after may months. I am led to believe that Grey Squirrels have a more random approach to burying nuts and then just scrabble around to relocate them.
- just two Rooks noted. I surmise that the floods have affected their usual feeding areas and the roost-dispersal is in some other direction.
- at least four Redwings were heard while it was still dark. They might have been nocturnal migrants or disturbed roosting birds.
- I forgot to note that on Sunday it was exactly two years ago that I first recorded the male Cetti's Warbler that has been noted singing more or less continually ever since. My only previous record of a Cetti's Warbler here, a bird first noted on 30 September 2020 and thereafter, was of a non-singing and therefore presumed female. It did not stay in to 2021.
- a small (five?) group of Siskins at the West end was probably accompanied by the Lesser Redpoll I heard calling.
Counts of birds noted flying over:
- 2 Stock Doves: together
- 25 Wood Pigeons: no migrant groups
- 1 Herring Gull
- 5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 39 Jackdaws
- 2 Rooks
- 1 Fieldfare
- 4 Redwings
- 6 Pied Wagtails
Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 2 Mute Swan
- 4 (3♂) Mallard
- 16 (10♂) Tufted Duck
- 6 Moorhens
- 115 Coots
- 1 Little Grebe
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- 42 Black-headed Gulls
- 13 Herring Gulls: one (near?) adult; 12 first winters
- 5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: four adult; one first winter
- 1 Cormorant: arrived
The (semi) nocturnal community on or around the street lamp poles at dawn:
Moths:
- 2 November Moth agg. (Epirrita dilutata agg.)
- 2 November Moth agg. (Epirrita dilutata agg.)
Other things:
- 3 winter midge
- *1 winter cranefly Trichocera sp.
- *1 fly Dryomyza anilis.
- 3 springtails Pogonognathellus longicornis.
- 1 springtail Tomocerus minor
- *1 spider Amaurobius fenestralis.
- 2 Bridge Orb-web Spiders (Larinioides sclopetarius)
- *2 Nursery Web Spiders (Pisaura mirabilis)
Noted later:
- *18 male craneflies Tipula pagana: 16 on wall of sailing club HQ; 2 on fence alongside Teece Drive.
- *galls of the Spangle Gall Wasp (Neuroterus quercusbaccarum).
- 3 winter midge
- *1 winter cranefly Trichocera sp.
- *1 fly Dryomyza anilis.
- 3 springtails Pogonognathellus longicornis.
- 1 springtail Tomocerus minor
- *1 spider Amaurobius fenestralis.
- 2 Bridge Orb-web Spiders (Larinioides sclopetarius)
- *2 Nursery Web Spiders (Pisaura mirabilis)
Noted later:
- *18 male craneflies Tipula pagana: 16 on wall of sailing club HQ; 2 on fence alongside Teece Drive.
- *galls of the Spangle Gall Wasp (Neuroterus quercusbaccarum).
Amongst the rubbish left by the receding flood at the lake is a female Pied Wagtail.
"Been there: done that".
So it is replaced by a Grey Wagtail.
"Whee!"
A winter cranefly Trichocera sp.
This fly is Dryomyza anilis. There are three red fly species I see on the street lamp poles. The small one is the Spotted-winged Drosophila (Drosophila suzukii): this is the medium-sized one; and the larger one is the Muscid fly Phaonia pallida.
(Ed Wilson)
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The Flash: 09:40 – 10:35
(205th visit of the year)
Very misty for some of the time I was here with the island disappearing for a while.
Bird notes:
- a female Sparrowhawk dived in to the island scattering Wood Pigeons and finches. It stayed in the island for several minuted before leaving, apparently empty-clawed.
Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 1 Jackdaw
- 2 Redwings
- 1 Lesser Redpoll
Noted on / around the water:
- 7 Canada Geese
- 5 Greylag Geese
- 2 + 4 Mute Swans
- 2 (2♂) Gadwall
- 34 (23♂) + 4 (1 brood) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) all-white feral duck
- 1 (1♂) Common Teal
- 21 (13♂) Tufted Duck
- 45 brownhead Goosander
- 17 Moorhens
- 38 Coots
- 5 Great Crested Grebes: juveniles no longer readily separable
- 5 Black-headed Gulls
- 2 Herring Gulls: first winters, together, briefly
- *2 Grey Herons: one chased away
Noted on / beside the street lamp poles etc. around the water etc.:
Moths:
- 2 November Moth agg. (Epirrita dilutata agg.)
- 2 November Moth agg. (Epirrita dilutata agg.)
Other things:
- 1 Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni)
- *1 possible Lace-weaver Spider (Amaurobius similis)
Noted elsewhere around The Flash:
- 1 Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni)
- *1 possible Lace-weaver Spider (Amaurobius similis)
Noted elsewhere around The Flash:
Bees / wasps etc.:
- Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris): just two noted
- Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris): just two noted
Did someone day "flying barn door".
(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
2010
Priorslee Lake
733 Wood Pigeons
11 Skylarks
151 Fieldfare
20 Redwings
2 Brambling
2 Linnets
2 Redpolls
(Ed Wilson)
2009
Priorslee Lake
5 Wigeon
1 Little Grebe
(John Isherwood)
The Flash
1 Shoveler
1 Teal (female)
1 Common Gull
(John Isherwood)