23 Nov 23

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

10.0°C > 12.0°C: A mixed morning. Early low cloud made it very dull and there was some light drizzle c.08:15. Thereafter it steadily cleared with wall-to-wall blue by 10:00. Moderate south-westerly wind increasing fresh and gusty. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 07:46 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: 06:00 – 09:20

(243rd visit of the year)

I understand the new gate at the Teece Drive entrance has generated differing views. Severn Trent has confirmed it is a "standard design disabled access pedestrian gate". It can be opened by mobility scooter users with a radar key. The path along the West end is clearly signposted as a Public Footpath and should not therefore be used by bicycles (much less e-scooters). A new gate was needed after the old gate fell down. Its temporary replacement was vandalised several times. Unauthorised vehicles were seen inside the gate as a result.

Bird notes:
- The counts of large gulls very much 'best effort' with the birds swirling around in the wind making it difficult to track them. Later some of the birds flying over made late decisions to divert in. A higher proportion of Herring Gulls today.

Counts of birds noted flying over:
- 1 Greylag Goose: outbound
- 19 Wood Pigeons
- 2 Herring Gulls
- 108 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 6 Cormorants: a duo and a quartet
- 1 Common Buzzard
- 4 Jackdaws
- 1 Rook
- c.67 Starlings: c.60 from a roost in the area (but not at the lake); a group of seven later
- 4 Pied Wagtail

Birds seen leaving roosts around the lake:
- c.165 Starlings left the north-west reeds in four groups.
- 3 Reed Buntings left a South side roost.
I was sheltering from the wind and would not necessarily have seen all the Starlings leave. The south-side roost of Reed Buntings was a surprise: I have not seen any leave this area previously.

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 Canada Geese: arrived and very soon departed
- 2 + 2 Mute Swans
- 7 (4♂) Mallard
- 39 (19♂) Tufted Duck
- 4 Moorhens
- 118 Coots: some sheltering in the reeds?
- 1 Great Crested Grebe
- c.250 Black-headed Gulls
- 49 Herring Gulls
- 181 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 2 Cormorants: arrived separately
- 1 Grey Heron: present throughout

The (semi) nocturnal community on or around the street lamp poles at dawn:
A plethora this morning. When I rechecked later in the morning I could only find a few large flies and a sleeping moth.

Moths:
- *+1 male Scarce Umber (Agriopis aurantiaria)
- *1 male Mottled Umber (Erranis defoliaria)

Otherwise:

Bees, wasps etc.
- *++1 parasitic wasp Braconid sp.

Flies etc.:
- *1 root-maggot fly Anthomyiidae sp.
- *4 plumed midges
- *1 wood gnat, likely Sylvicola fenestralis
- 2 winter craneflies Trichocera sp.
- *+1 unidentified Tipula cranefly
- 1 Spotted-winged Drosophila (Drosophila suzukii)

Beetles:
- 1 flea beetle Alticinae sp.

Bugs etc.:
- *2 springtails Pogonognathellus longicornis
- 1 springtail Tomocerus vulgaris
- *1 unidentified globular springtail
- *2 planthopper Eupteryx urticae
- *++1 leafhopper Aphrodes sp.
- *+1 Common Nettle Bug (Liocoris tripustulatus)

Spiders and allies:
- 2 Nursery Web Spiders (Pisaura mirabilis)
- 1 Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp.
- *1 harvestman Opilio canestrinii
- 2 harvestmen Paroligolophus agrestis.

Noted later on the Teece Drive fence:

Not much.
- 3 Alder Leaf Beetles (Agelastica alni)

New groups of fungus found:
- *Clouded Funnel (Clitocybe nebularis): a third big group

A distant shot of one of eight Redwings in the trees near the Teece Drive gate. As so often they were shy and flew off before I could get any closer.

This is my 100th moth species at the lake this year. It is a male Scarce Umber (Agriopis aurantiaria). A male because females have only vestigial wings. Despite the epithet 'scarce' this is a common-enough moth. Perhaps it is scarce in comparison with the similar...

...male Mottled Umber (Erranis defoliaria). This species is variable in tone and markings but almost always shows the prominent dot toward the outer edge of the wing.

There were many different insects on the street lamp poles today and I have mostly selected photos of species I have not seen before or at least shown recently. I had my first-ever parasitic wasp Braconid sp. at The Flash yesterday. Another here today.

A root-maggot fly Anthomyiidae sp.

One of at least four plumed midges I found. I can find no illustrations of a species with the dark, narrow body shown here. So 'unidentified'.

This wood gnat is likely Sylvicola fenestralis. All members of this genus have patterned wings: only this one seems to have the three lines on the thorax.

This is most odd. What seems to be a Tipula cranefly with a banded abdomen reminiscent of a Marmalade Hoverfly! I have not been able to track this down and my app did not help.

One of two springtails Pogonognathellus longicornis I noted.

Two for the price of one – and I cannot identify either. The upper one is a globular springtail. I am not sure what the other one is. A gnat perhaps?

One of two planthoppers Eupteryx urticae. For scale the dark markings are a small part of the faded '0' from the street lamp's identification number.

And here is number #2. The question arises as to why something so small evolves to have such a complex pattern.

This leafhopper is from the Aphrodes group, 'difficult' to specifically identify according to the internet.

Apologies for the reflection of the camera flash from this Common Nettle Bug (Liocoris tripustulatus). It was in a very awkward position to get a better photo.

The harvestman Opilio canestrinii.

My third group of Clouded Funnel fungus (Clitocybe nebularis) at the lake so far. At least these had the decency to be vaguely funnel-shaped.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:25 – 10:38

(227th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- Today all the 'different' ducks were visible: a drake Gadwall, the pair of Common Teal and immature drake Pochard. No Goosander though. Some other things were apparently sheltering from the wind – duck Tufted Duck? Moorhens? Great Crested Grebes?
- A Song Thrush was still singing intermittently at the top end.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 1 Sparrowhawk
- 1 Jackdaw

Noted on / around the water:
- 7 Canada Geese
- 7 Greylag Geese
- 2 + 4 Mute Swans
- 1 (1♂) Gadwall
- 45 (29♂) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) all-white feral duck
- 2 (1♂) Common Teal
- 1 (1♂) Pochard
- 43 (29♂) Tufted Duck
- 7 Moorhens
- 43 Coots
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- 47 Black-headed Gulls
- *4 Herring Gull: two third-; one second-; and one first- winter
- 1 Grey Heron

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

Moths:
- 1 male Mottled Umber (Erranis defoliaria)
- 1 Sprawler (Asteroscopus sphinx): its 17th day
Both moths were in fractionally different positions.

Also:
- *1 Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis) var. succinea

Noted elsewhere around The Flash:
I surmise that the Ivy (Hedera) flowers are just about exhausted. While there was a good range of species there were no more than a dozen wasps and very few flies.

Butterflies:
- *Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)

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

Hoverflies:
- *Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
- *Tapered Drone Fly (Eristalis pertinax)
- Common Drone Fly (Eristalis tenax)
- *++Yellow-barred Peat Hoverfly (Sericomyia silentis) [or Bog Hoverfly; also Yellow-barred Pond Fly]

Other flies:
- not very many and nothing unusual

Otherwise:
- *empty(?) Girdled Snail (Hygromia cinctella) shell

New groups of fungus found:

None

The complete set of dark-centred secondary feathers (along the trailing edge of the inner wing) identify this a second winter bird, clearly a Herring Gull from the pale grey in the wing. The dark area around the bend in the wing is also too extensive for a third winter bird.

The lower bird here IS a third winter Herring Gull with very little of the black tail-band remaining. The upper bird is a first winter Herring Gull.

The same two birds from a different perspective.

There may have been less activity around the Ivy this morning but a Red Admiral butterfly (Vanessa atalanta) was tempted to try its luck at finding nectar.

A few Marmalade Hoverflies (Episyrphus balteatus) were around. It is exactly 10 months since I saw my first here in 2023. There have been many generations in between. The typical average life-span of adults is about a month, longer in some species.

A Common Drone Fly (Eristalis tenax).

Most definitely the highlight of the day. A new species of hoverfly for me. It is what Stephen Falk names Yellow-barred Peat Hoverfly (Sericomyia silentis). Elsewhere on the internet it is called both Bog Hoverfly and Yellow-barred Pond Fly, thus illustrating the importance of including scientific names. Stephen notes the species does tend to roam widely away from the habitats its names imply.

 I have no idea! I assume a dead fly but what and how?

A Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis) of the very variable but multi-spotted succinea form.

Is anyone home? An empty(?) Girdled Snail (Hygromia cinctella) shell.

(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

2013
Priorslee Lake
2 Gadwall
2 Pochard
123 Tufted Duck
1 Goosander
2 Water Rails
15 Moorhens
227 Coots counted
1 Snipe
2 Yellow-legged Gulls
600 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
5 Great Black-backed Gulls
2 adult hybrid Lesser Black-backed x Herring Gulls
102 Fieldfare
39 Redwings
266 Jackdaws
Redpolls
Siskins
(Ed Wilson/Tom Lowe)

Trench Middle Pool
22 Swans
6 Shoveler
14 Tufted Duck
183 Coots
61 Black-headed Gulls
14 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
17 Herring Gulls
Caspian/Yellow-legged Gull
2 Ravens
1 Redwing
(Ed Wilson)

Little Wenlock, Candles Landfill Site
Adult + 1st winter Yellow-legged Gulls
1500 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
(Tom Lowe)

2012
Priorslee Lake
30 Greylag
3 Gadwall
6 Pochard.
21 Tufted Ducks
3 Goosander
153 Coots
c.640 Wood Pigeons
8 Redwings again.
453 Jackdaws
61 Rooks logged.
2 Siskins
(Ed Wilson)

2011
Priorslee Lake
6 Yellow-legged Gulls
(Andy Latham)

2008
Priorslee Lake
2 Cormorants
>60 Greylag Geese
14 Pochard
177 Tufted Duck
1 Lapwing
1 Snipe
2 Water Rails
159 Coot
c.1300 Black-headed Gulls
c.100 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
5+ Herring Gulls
74 Redwings
c.60 Fieldfare
132 Jackdaws
166 Rooks
c.1750 Starlings
c.30 Siskin
(Ed Wilson)