29 Nov 23

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

1.0°C > 2.0°C: A late frost after the clearance of overnight cloud. Good sunny spells. Slight mist over the water. Very light northerly breeze. Mainly good visibility.

Sunrise: 07:56 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: 06:05 – 09:25

(248th visit of the year)

A drake Common Teal became by 101st species recorded here this year. A species that I did not see here in the first Winter period.

Other bird notes:
- Probably rather more duck Tufted Ducks than my count suggests: the slight mist over the water meant the white-sided drakes were easy to see; the dull brown / black ducks less so,
- Of the 36 Wood Pigeons noted flying over 23 flew out of trees to the East and away South. Whether these were migrating or merely flushed from the trees was impossible to say. Certainly they did not gain much height, suggesting the latter.
- Yesterday's Great Crested Grebes gone again.
- A bumper arrival of Black-headed Gulls with a very minimum of 500 present by 07:25.
- With clear skies to the East I was able to see a distant, high group of Jackdaws on roost dispersal. If this is their current flight line then it is no surprise I have failed to see them on recent cloudy and dull mornings.
- As yesterday a Mistle Thrush was singing alongside Teece Drive and another bird flew West over the dam.

Counts of birds noted flying over:
- 6 (♂?) Goosander: West together 07:35
- 36 Wood Pigeons: see notes
- 34 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 136 Jackdaws
- 8 Rooks
- 15 Starlings together
- 11 Redwings: three groups
- 1 Mistle Thrush

Birds seen leaving roosts around the lake:
- no Starlings seen to leave. While I was not best-positioned to see them they would usually have been noisy-enough as they left to have drawn my attention to them.

Counts from the lake area:
- 1 Greylag Goose: very briefly
- 2 + 2 Mute Swans
- 2 (1♂) Gadwall
- 5 (3♂) Mallard
- *1 (1) Common Teal: as highlighted
- 1 (0) Pochard
- *63 (41♂) Tufted Duck
- 5 Moorhens
- *138 Coots
- no Great Crested Grebes
- >500 Black-headed Gulls: see notes
- 12 Herring Gulls
- 88 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- *2 Cormorants: arrived and departed separately
- 1 Grey Heron: arrived

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

Moths:
- 2 male Winter Moths (Operophtera brumata)

Otherwise:

Spiders and allies:
- 2 spiders Clubiona sp.
- 2 Nursery Web Spiders (Pisaura mirabilis)
- *4 Long-jawed Orb-web Spiders Tetragnatha sp.

Noted later on the Teece Drive fence:

Nothing

New groups of fungus found:

None

This morning's moonlight shot from the dam before the cloud moved away to reveal...

...the waning Beaver Moon. More craters visible today as the angle of cross-lighting from the sun increases.

Just a touch of colour with cloud still hanging around to the south-east.

As good as it got with mist over the water.

It was a misty morning.

A prize will be awarded... No: it won't. This unusual cloud formation caught my eye.

The bird at the back is the drake Common Teal, best identified through the light mist by the yellow area at the tail. Two Coots and drake Tufted Duck share the photo.

A group of ten Tufted Ducks flying around. I've tried to sex all these birds and decided I cannot. The birds with a clear demarcation between the dark neck and white belly are certainly drakes. The others cannot all be ducks as when they were on the water drakes outnumbered ducks about 2:1.

One Cormorant arrives...

 ...and another leaves.

A Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp. in typical pose. Stretch spider is an alternative name for this group of species.

And one in an atypical pose. It is easier to check it has all eight legs by counting the shadows.

Plane of the day. A two-seat Cessna 152 owned by APS Leasing of Oswestry and leased to and operated by the Shropshire Aero Club flying out of Sleap Airfield near Wem. It was on a day trip to North Weald Airfield near Epping.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:30 – 10:35

(233rd visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- A noisy group of 21 Greylag Geese came from the South and circled several times. Five of them peeled off and splashed-down on the water. The other 16 circled again and left to the East.
- Two Mute Swan cygnets came in and splashed down. The residents were unhappy and soon saw them off. It is tempting to suggest they might be the two cygnets from the Balancing Lake. I think not: although these have been 'doing the own' thing there I have yet to see them fly anything other than low circuits and show any interest in what the outside world might look like. Neither have I seen them fly at all for over a week.
- A drake Pochard was new in.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 16 Greylag Geese
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull

Noted on / around the water:
- 3 Canada Geese
- 5 Greylag Geese: arrived
- *2 + 6 Mute Swans: see notes
- 1 (1♂) Gadwall
- 45 (28♂) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) all-white feral duck
- 2 (1♂) Pochard
- 38 (26♂) Tufted Duck
- 2 (0♂) Goosander
- *16 Moorhens
- 41 Coots
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- 9 Black-headed Gulls
- *1 Herring Gull: third winter bird
- 4 Cormorants: two departed together
- 1 Grey Heron

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

Moths:
- none

But:
- *1 harvestman Paroligolophus agrestis

Noted elsewhere around The Flash:

Nothing

New fungus found:

None

One of the two Mute Swan cygnet visitors.

 Here three of the residents take issue with the visitors.

One of the Moorhens looking for food.

If only large gulls at the lake were this cooperative enabling all the plumage details to be examined and enabling positive identification and ageing.

This can be identified as a third winter by the grey forewing with browner tones in the centre; and rather indistinct tail band. A mainly horn bill with extensive dark markings especially on the lower mandible.

 It makes a change to find Paroligolophus agrestis harvestman in full sun.

I did not expect to find a fresh Common (or Black; or Lesser) Knapweed (Centaurea nigra) flower as we approach December.

(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
6 Gadwall
2 Pochard
2 Teal
1 Shoveler
Shelduck
1 Yellow-legged Gull
4 Great Black-backed Gulls
(JW Reeves / John Isherwood)

2012
Priorslee Lake
Goldeneye
3 Gadwall
6 Pochard
33 Tufted Ducks
144 Coots
Woodcock
216 Black-headed Gulls
c.480 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
47 Herring Gulls
2 Great Black-backed Gulls
c.950 Wood Pigeons
16 Redwings
2 Fieldfares
c.560 Jackdaws
81 Rooks
11 Siskins
3 Redpolls
(Ed Wilson)

2011
Priorslee Lake
3 Yellow-legged Gulls
1 Great Black-backed Gull
(John Isherwood)

2010
Madeley
3 Waxwings
(Pete Nickless)

2009
Priorslee Lake
Drake Pintail
(Martin & Ian Grant)

2006
Priorslee Lake
1 Little Grebe
28 Pochard
54 Tufted Ducks
1 drake Ruddy Duck
>1450 Black-headed Gulls
331 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
278 Wood Pigeons
35 Robins
27 Blackbirds
69 Fieldfares
7 Song Thrushes
13 Redwings
1 Siskin
8 Reed Buntings
(Ed Wilson)

2005
Priorslee Lake
2 Little Grebes again
2 Wigeon
2 Pochard
47 Tufted Duck
223 Coot
A drake Shoveler
7+ Cormorants
8000 Black-headed Gulls
3500 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
7 Herring Gulls
25 Golden Plover
14 Fieldfares
8 Redwings
13 Skylarks
7 Reed Buntings
(Ed Wilson)