24 Oct 23

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

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.)

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).

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.

One of 16 male craneflies Tipula pagana that were on wall of sailing club HQ. This one has lost one of its legs.

And this is a close-up of one of the two on the Teece Drive fence. If you look closely there is a tiny springtail in the 5 o'clock position which I had not noted at the time.

These are galls of the Spangle Gall Wasp (Neuroterus quercusbaccarum). They are rather old and therefore don't look too much like Spangles (if anyone still knows what Spangles looked like). I struggled to find any of these today unlike previous years when they have been abundant on the underside of Oak (Quercus) leaves.

A spider that seems easy to identify. It is Amaurobius fenestralis. The scientific name suggests where it is frequently seen – around window-frames.

For a change a spider with too many legs! This Nursery Web Spider (Pisaura mirabilis) has something in its jaws that clearly has / had long legs though I can't guess what it might be (have been).

(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.)

Other things:
- 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

This Grey Heron was being chased off by another. Note the long neck plumes streaming back along the underside of the wing.

Did someone day "flying barn door".

A small spider a long way up a street lamp pole was never going to give a sharp image. A possible Lace-weaver Spider (Amaurobius similis) is as far as I am going to get.

(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)