31 Oct 23

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

8.0°C > 10.0°C: Very low cloud after overnight rain. Occasional light drizzle. Cloud lifting a bit with a few patches of blue appearing. Very light south-easterly breeze. Moderate visibility.

Sunrise: 07:04 GMT

+ = 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: 05:45 – 09:15

(225th visit of the year)

Highlight today was a calling Chiffchaff seen at the West end. A late date to hear (and see) this species here.

Other bird notes:
- two drake Pochard were new arrivals.
- unlike yesterday there was no early arrival of Black-headed Gulls with the first five arriving at 06:45. At least 175 were present later.
- there was no early passage or arrival of large gulls and they were few and far between throughout.

Counts of birds noted flying over:
- 11 Goosander: south-west 06:55
- 2 Stock Doves: together
- 41 Wood Pigeons: of these just seven in a single migrant flocks heading South.
- 4 Herring Gulls
- 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Sparrowhawk
- 1 Common Buzzard
- 5 Jackdaws
- 1 Rook
- 3 Siskins: together

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 2 Mute Swans
- no Mallard
- 2 (2♂) Pochard
- 31 (23♂) Tufted Duck
- 5 Moorhens
- 128 Coots
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- c.175 Black-headed Gulls
- 5 Herring Gulls
- 5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Grey Heron: departed before dawn
- 1 Kingfisher

The (semi) nocturnal community on or around the street lamp poles at dawn:

Moths:
- 2 November Moth agg. (Epirrita dilutata agg.)
- *1 Mottled Umber (Erranis defoliaria); my first of this winter season but a species already seen this year (in January)

Other things:
- *2 winter craneflies Trichocera regelationis
- *1 gnat, possibly from the Scatopsidae group
- 1 springtail Tomocerus vulgaris
- *1 ++Common Shiny Woodlouse (Oniscus asellus)
- *1 White-legged Snake Millipede (Tachypodoiulus niger)
- 1 Tawny Soil Slug (Arion owenii)
- 1 Bridge Orb-web Spider (Larinioides sclopetarius)
- 1 Nursery Web Spider (Pisaura mirabilis)
- *1 male harvestman Leiobunum blackwalli

Noted later
- *Kentish Snail (Monacha cantiana)

These all on the fence alongside Teece Drive.:
- *1 Common Plume moth (Emmelina monodactyla)
- 1 Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni)
- *1 Common European Earwig (Forficula dentata) [used to be lumped in with F. auricularia]

And some fungus:
- *Parrot Waxcap (Hygrocybe psittacina)
- *Snowy Waxcap (Hygrocybe virginea)
- *Brick Tuft (Hypholoma lateritium)
- *Sycamore Tarspot (Rhytisma acerinum) on Populus x canadensis (P. deltoides x P. nigra)
- *Hairy Curtain Crust (Stereum hirsutum)

Finally, as we come to the end of October here are the plants I noted in flower this morning, many looking rather the worse for wear after all the rain:
Red Campion (Silene dioica)
Creeping Buttercup (Ranunculus repens)
Bramble [Blackberry] (Rubus fruticosus agg.)
Bush Vetch (Vicia sepium)
Hop Trefoil (Trifolium campestre)
Red Clover (Trifolium pratense)
Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum)
Imperforate St John's-wort (Hypericum maculatum)
Ivy (Hedera helix)
Common Hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium)
Field Bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis)
Daisy (Bellis perennis)
Hemp-agrimony (Eupatorium cannabinum)
Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)
Common Groundsel (Senecio vulgaris)
Common Ragwort (Jacobaea vulgaris)
Autumn Hawkbit (Scorzoneroides autumnalis (as Leontodon autumnalis in my ancient Flora))
Prickly (or Spiny) Sow-thistle (Sonchus asper)
Creeping [or Field] Thistle (Cirsium arvense)
Dandelion sp. (Taraxacum officinale agg.)
Common Hawkweed (Hieracium vulgatum)
plus this species not noted (probably overlooked) at the end of last month:
++*Cat's-ear (Hypochaeris radicata)

After all the rain the lake is muddy brown and here is why. The left-most exit is the Wesley Brook and that is running clear. All the mud is being washed in from the other sluices which drain from somewhere in the estate and pass under the academy.

Not a brilliant shot of a resting Common Plume moth (Emmelina monodactyla). All the moths in this group have very segmented wings which they close up at rest.

I am also not very proud of this photo of a Mottled Umber (Erranis defoliaria). It was a very long way up a tall lamp pole on a murky morning. It is my first of this winter season.

A winter cranefly Trichocera regelationis, the most-common species in this group.

This is more difficult and I have not got a positive identification for it. Note the dark, small and rounded head, well-separated from the brown thorax. The structure suggests a gnat, possibly from the Scatopsidae group, though I can find no illustrations of a species with a brown thorax.

Hiding against a knot-hole on the wooden fence alongside Teece Drive was a Common European Earwig (Forficula dentata).

A Common Shiny Woodlouse (Oniscus asellus). I do wonder whether I have been misidentifying those I have seen in the Priorslee Avenue tunnel though the walls are a dry environment and they may well have been Common Rough Woodlouse (Porcellio scaber) as I thought.

A White-legged Snake Millipede (Tachypodoiulus niger).

Rather confusing with 'lots of legs' due to shadows from both my torch and the camera flash. On the body of this harvestman the white surrounds to the eyes on top of the abdomen can be seen identifying it as a harvestman Leiobunum blackwalli. Females are more easily separable from L. rotundum by the markings on their saddle, females of both species having a less-round body.

After all the rain it is not surprising there are many slugs and snails around. This is a Kentish Snail (Monacha cantiana). No more confined to Kent than Sandwich Terns are confined to the bay of that name in Kent.

Another. "It looks a long way down there".

A flower I have not previously identified amongst all the 'yellow hawk- things' is this Cat's-ear (Hypochaeris radicata).

The results of a fungus foray around the lake, all identities courtesy of Obsidentify and checked as best I can against the narrative and photos on the Naturespot we site. The largest here is Parrot Waxcap (Hygrocybe psittacina), the fruiting bodies starting with a green tinge which is what I assume the smaller ones are though I did not check their identities.

Now Snowy Waxcap (Hygrocybe virginea).

Cheating slightly as these were outside my self-declared recording area and growing on someone's front lawn in Pitchford Drive. How could I resist such a splendid collection of Brick Tuft (Hypholoma lateritium).

On the leaves are the black spots Sycamore Tarspot fungus (Rhytisma acerinum). Obsidentify gave the leaf as from a Poplar hybrid, most likely Populus x canadensis (P. deltoides x P. nigra). So there.

This Hairy Curtain Crust (Stereum hirsutum) which I am also certain I have recorded before. It is common on lying dead wood.

(Ed Wilson)

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

The Flash: 09:20 – 10:35

(211th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- Fewer Goosander again with another bird moulting in to drake plumage. Three were seen in flight as I was departing. I think they were too.
- When I arrived a Great Crested Grebe was flying around reasonably high overhead. Perhaps it was on its way in and was the sixth individual noted on the water later.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 1 Great Crested Grebes: see notes
- 3 Siskins

Noted on / around the water:
- 8 Canada Geese
- 3 Greylag Geese
- 2 + 4 Mute Swans
- 1 (1♂) Gadwall
- 35 (20♂) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) all-white feral duck
- *44 (17♂) Tufted Duck
- *12 (3♂) Goosander
- 17 Moorhens
- 42 Coots
- 6 Great Crested Grebes
- 7 Black-headed Gulls
- *1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: third winter?

Noted on / beside the street lamp poles etc. around the water etc.:
- Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni)

Noted elsewhere around The Flash:

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

Fungus:

All different groups from those recorded earlier
- *Sulphur Tuft (Hypholoma fasciculare)
- *The Deceiver (Laccaria laccata)
- *possible Spotted Toughshank (Rhodocollybia maculata)
- *possible Poplar Knight (Tricholoma populinum) and / or perhaps Yellowing Knight (T. scalpturatum)

Do you ever get the feeling someone is watching you? This duck Tufted Ducks seems to be looking carefully at me.

Flying birds on a dull morning are never going to give a sharp image especially when they are speedy species like Goosanders. This illustrates the need for caution. Here the white on the wing seems to go across the full width of the wing suggesting that these two brownheads will both moult or become drakes.

But from a slightly different perspective the front part is grey and not white and thus they are ducks.

Apart from the extent of dark on the bill this Lesser Black-backed Gull could pass as an adult winter bird.

Here in flight the black on the median coverts (on the leading edge just out from the bend of the wing) indicates it is not an adult but most likely a third winter bird.

Another root-about to find more fungus while the are in such profusion. These are Sulphur Tuft (Hypholoma fasciculare).

This trio come from a species called The Deceiver (Laccaria laccata). "Why is it called that?" I hear you ask. Mr. Google says it is because the cap changes colour with age and the weather and it can therefore be difficult to identify.

Several groups of fungus close together where not positively identified. This is likely Spotted Toughshank (Rhodocollybia maculata). The location amongst fallen leaves and the date of late October fits well with this species' known habitat.

These may be Poplar Knight (Tricholoma populinum). Certainly they were under Poplar (Populus sp.) trees

While these, very adjacent are probably Yellowing Knight (Tricholoma scalpturatum).

(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

2013
Candles Landfill Site
2nd winter Caspian Gull
8 Yellow-legged Gulls
Great Black-backed Gull
c.700 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
(Tom Lowe)

2010
Priorslee Lake
Chiffchaff
Mistle Thrush
29 Fieldfares
32 Redwings
13 Siskins
3 Linnets
(Ed Wilson)

2009
Priorslee Lake
1 Shoveler
5 Wigeon
(John Isherwood)

2005
Trench Pool
2 Goosander
10 Shoveler
(John Isherwood)