1 Nov 23

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

12.0°C > 11.0°C: Early pulses of sometimes heavy rain; cleared c.06:40 and thereafter broken cloud with some sunny spells. Increasing southerly breeze, becoming moderate, even fresh. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 07:06 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 – 09:25

(226th visit of the year)

Highlight today were two Woodcock that flew past the sailing club HQ toward the M54. Unusually I managed to get my binoculars on one and positively identify it rather than log it as a 'what else could it have been' shape.

Other bird notes:
- yesterday's two drake Pochard gone.
- a group of >100 large gulls, almost all Lesser Black-backs, arrived c.08:10.
- three Common Buzzards seen overhead together was an unusual sight these day.

Counts of birds noted flying over:
- 1 Stock Dove
- 72 Wood Pigeons: of these 30 in two migrant flocks heading South.
- 3 Herring Gulls
- 52 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 8 Cormorants: a single and a septet
- 3 Common Buzzards
- 50 Jackdaws
- 3 Skylarks
- 6 Rooks
- 5 Starlings
- 48 Fieldfare: two groups flew South
- 9 Redwings: two groups flew South
- 2 Pied Wagtails

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 2 Mute Swans
- 2 (2♂) Mallard
- 36 (20♂) Tufted Duck
- 7 Moorhens
- 125 Coots
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- c.200 Black-headed Gulls
- 21 Herring Gulls
- 145 Lesser Black-backed Gulls

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

Moths:
- *2 November Moth agg. (Epirrita dilutata agg.)
Nothing else was braving the rain sluicing down at the time (other than me!).

These all on the fence alongside Teece Drive.:
- 1 Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni)
- 1 Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis) pupa (case?)
- *1 Common European Earwig (Forficula dentata) [used to be lumped in with F. auricularia]
- *3 harvestman Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus

And some more fungus:
- *+The Deceiver (Laccaria laccata)
- *++possible Stump (or Pear-shaped) Puffball (Lycoperdon pyriforme)
- *++Wrinkled Crust (Phlebia radiata)
- *+Fragile Brittlegill (Russula fragilis)
- Hairy Curtain Crust (Stereum hirsutum)

 After having got soaked first thing I did not expect this.

 These two November Moth-types (Epirrita dilutata agg.) sat out the deluge and were still present later.

Probably the same Common European Earwig (Forficula dentata) as yesterday showing that it is waterproof. This is a female – males have pincers with a stronger curve.

This harvestman Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus is making the most of only seven legs.

Whereas this is staggering on with six.

Not much on the lake so it was mainly "to the woods" to look for fungus. I found this fungus, The Deceiver (Laccaria laccata), at The Flash yesterday. My first here.

Obsidentify was not too confident about this fungus. Checking with Naturespot it does seem credible that this is Stump (or Pear-shaped) Puffball (Lycoperdon pyriforme).

Inside the wood it is very dark. I had to use photo flash to get any sort of image of this fungus. It is Wrinkled Crust (Phlebia radiata).

This is Fragile Brittlegill (Russula fragilis).

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:30 – 10:55

(212th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- Once again fewer Goosander though they were being very mobile and hard to keep track of.
- Still six Great Crested Grebes.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 1 Common Buzzard
- 5 Jackdaws: together
- 11 Starlings: together

Noted on / around the water:
- 7 Canada Geese
- 3 Greylag Geese
- 2 + *4 Mute Swans
- 39 (24♂) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) all-white feral duck
- 33 (17♂) Tufted Duck
- *7 (1♂) Goosander
- 10 Moorhens
- *49 Coots
- *6 Great Crested Grebes
- 14 Black-headed Gulls
- *2 Herring Gulls: one first winter and one third winter
- 1 Kingfisher

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): very many

Hoverflies:
- *Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
- *+Stripe-faced Dronefly (Eristalis nemorum)
- Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax)

Other flies:
- *Common Blow-fly (Calliphora vicina)
- *Yellow Dung Fly (Scathophaga stercoraria)

Fungus: 

Again all different groups from those recorded earlier though some species are repeated
- *Angel's Bonnet (Mycena arcangeliana)
- *Common Bonnet (Mycena galericulata)
- *Bleeding Oak Crust (Stereum gausapatum)
- *probable Yellowing Knight (Tricholoma scalpturatum)

Mute Swan cygnet formation flying time.

A drake Tufted Duck about to splash-down. When they are swimming you do not realise how large, proportionately, their feet are.

A brownhead Goosander. Look at the base of the bill. I think it is a growth.

Zoomed in and enlarged.

It seems to be only on one side so it is not, as I initially suspected, that the bill has become entangled with discarded plastic.

A Great Crested Grebe showing the white in the wings usually only evident in flight.

Always up for a flight. A Coot looking belligerent.

A first-winter Herring Gull. Unlike most Lesser Black-backed Gulls at this age the dark bill has a pale tip.

Whereas this is a third winter – I think. The amount of dark in the tail band is rather more extensive than usual as is the extent of the dark marks in the inner part of the wing. However the wing-tip pattern is typical. I would never be able to make such fine judgment without a photo.

A Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus) tries to access nectar from what is now a seed-head of Ivy (Helix sp.).

Another individual persisting.

I apologise this is not sharp but it shows something not easily seen on flies – the vestigial hind wing that acts as a gyroscope to tell the insect about its orientation.

Not as I thought at the time, a Tapered Dronefly (Eristalis pertinax). It is not 'tapered-enough' and the pale bands across the abdomen do not fit either. It is a Stripe-faced Dronefly (E. nemorum) and my first here this year!

Why do Common Blow-flies (Calliphora vicina) often rub their front legs together?

Aren't they wonderfully horrid? A Yellow Dung Fly (Scathophaga stercoraria). Not sure about the other fly photo-bombing the image.

 More fungus: this group is of Angel's Bonnets (Mycena arcangeliana)

Whereas these are Common Bonnets (Mycena galericulata).

One in close-up.

These are more Common Bonnets which I found as one of what I thought were two species of fungus growing on a dead limb of an otherwise healthy tree. I did not, at the time, note the white inflorescence which is an as yet unidentified third species.

This was the second species. At the time Obsidentify was 99% sure it was Serpula himantioides. That species is not in Naturespot. From Wikipedia I learn it is related to dry-rot fungus. However it looks to me like a 'crust' and when I showed the app this edited photo it gave me the option of Bleeding Oak Crust (Stereum gausapatum). That seems more likely.

This is another probable Yellowing Knight (Tricholoma scalpturatum).

(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
Brambling
3 Fieldfares
12 Redwings
5 Siskins
2 Linnets
(Ed Wilson)

2005
Priorslee Lake
Cormorant
14 Pochard
40 Tufted Duck
Female Blackcap
Chiffchaff
Goldcrest
Willow Tits with the Long-tailed Tits
Kingfisher
Jays
Skylark
Siskin
Redpoll
(Ed Wilson)