26 Oct 23

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

11.0°C > 13.0°C: Clearing after rain with sunny intervals. Light southerly breeze. Very good visibility.

[Sunrise: 07:53 BST]

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

Other things to do this morning so I avoided getting wet anyway. A later visit with extended time at The Flash first.

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 14:05 – 14:40

(221st visit of the year)

Viewing from the dam-top area only

Bird notes:

Counts of birds noted flying over:
- 2 Common Buzzards

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 2 Mute Swans
- 1 (1♂) Gadwall
- 3 (2♂) Mallard
- 17 (8♂) Tufted Duck
- 4 Moorhens
- 136 Coots
- 1 Little Grebe
- 1 Great Crested Grebe
- *16 Black-headed Gulls
- 20 Herring Gulls
- 51 Lesser Black-backed Gulls

Other things:
There were two *Dandelions (Taraxacum sp.) in flower on the dam top and each held two hoverflies:
- *Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax)
- *Chequered Hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare)
- *Common Twist-tail (Sphaerophoria scripta)

An adult winter Black-headed Gull has its eyes on me.

And passes by.

Two hoverflies here. The right-hand individual is a Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax). The left-hand individual is none too clear: most likely it is a Chequered Hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare).

And two here on the other late-flowering Dandelion (Taraxacum sp.). In the centre is a Common Twist-tail (Sphaerophoria scripta). The other is definitely a Chequered Hoverfly.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 12:15 – 13:55

(207th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- The trio of mostly-white geese still present.
- Unusually a Jackdaws was tossing moss from the roof of a house in Derwent Drive,

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 1 Common Buzzard
- 4 Jackdaws

Noted on / around the water:
- 4 Canada Geese
- *21 Greylag Geese
- *3 mostly-white feral geese
- 2 + 4 Mute Swans
- 2 (1♂) Gadwall
- *45 (29♂) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) all-white feral duck
- 23 (12♂) Tufted Duck
- *37 (2♂) Goosander
- 13 Moorhens
- 35 Coots
- 5 Great Crested Grebes
- 13 Black-headed Gulls
- *3 Herring Gulls: one adult; two immatures
- *2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: adults
- *1 Grey Heron
- 1 Kingfisher

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

Moths:
- 2 November Moth agg. (Epirrita dilutata agg.)

Other things:
- *1 Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis) var. spectabilis

Noted elsewhere around The Flash:

Bees / wasps etc.:
- *Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris): very, very many in the sun

Hoverflies:
- *Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
- *Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax)
- Migrant Field Syrph or Migrant Hoverfly (Eupeodes corollae)
- *Syrphus sp. (S. ribesii / S. vitripennis)

Flies:
- very many unidentified flies of at least four species including:
- *Common Blow-fly (Calliphora vicina)
- *a possible Muscid Fly Eudasyphora cyanella
- *a possible Trembling-wing Fly (Palloptera ustulata agg.)

Bugs
- *Common Green Shieldbug (Palomena prasina)

Fungus:
- *Conifer Mazegill (Gloeophyllum sepiarium)

A slightly better photo of the three mainly white feral geese. Also in this photo are some of the accompanying Greylag Geese with a stately Grey Heron standing guard.

A duck Mallard speeds by.

The Goosander on the left has a brownhead. The extent of the white in the wing suggests this is moulting in to drake plumage and in a few weeks it may well look like the drake on the right.

I haven't seen too many large gulls here as yet this winter. Perhaps we need some colder weather. An immature Herring Gull joins a Black-headed Gull in harassing the feeding group of brownhead Goosanders.

The rather faded and broken tail-band on the bird suggests it is a second winter.

An adult Lesser Black-backed Gull arrives.

One of the vary many Common Wasps (Paravespula vulgaris) feeding on the Ivy (Hedera). A typically hairy individual.

And another. They were variable in size: none seemed to be large-enough to be Queens looking for a place to hibernate. Some were unusually small.

Also on the Ivy is this Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus).

A Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax). The abdomen of this looks rather tapered...

...unlike this rather tubby individual.

A hoverfly from the Syrphus species pair sp. S. ribesii / S. vitripennis.

And another.

A Common Blow-fly (Calliphora vicina). There are several similar species but this species is typically the most abundant at this time of year.

Another rubbing its front legs together.

 My app suggests this is likely to be a Muscid Fly Eudasyphora cyanella. One of several 'greenbottles'.

This seems to be a possible Trembling-wing Fly (Palloptera ustulata agg.).

Two views of the same Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis) var. spectabilis.

The other view.

A Common Green Shieldbug (Palomena prasina). This species changes to a brown colour during the winter. No sign of that here.

A rather better specimen of Conifer Mazegill (Gloeophyllum sepiarium) on the railings around the water.

(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
17 Tufted Ducks
c.400 Lesser Black-backed Gull
(Mike Cooper)

2005
Priorslee Lake
16 Pochard
41 Tufted Duck
212 Coot
778 Fieldfare
199 Redwings
800 Wood Pigeons
Chiffchaff
Possible Firecrest
3 Siskin
18 Redpoll
275 Starlings
(Ed Wilson)