6 Dec 23

The Flash and Priorslee Balancing Lake

0.0°C > 1.0°C: Early mist and low cloud: later mostly sunny, high cloud encroaching from the south-west. Light and variable breeze. Moderate visibility, becoming very good.

[Sunrise: 08:05 GMT]

Early freezing fog meant another 'wrong way round' visit.

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 09:45 – 10:35

(253rd visit of the year)

c.10% ice, mainly thin and mostly adjacent to the dam.

Watching only from the Castle Farm Way lay-by and the dam top.

Bird notes:
- Several groups of Tufted Duck seen flying around. Whether these were birds that I counted on the lake or other birds is impossible to say.
- Large gulls arriving and departing all the time. Figures quoted are the highest number noted.

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 2 Mute Swans
- 2 (1♂) Gadwall
- 9 (5♂) Mallard
- 1 (0♂) Common Teal
- 5 (3♂) Pochard
- 143 (>75♂) Tufted Duck
- 2 Moorhens
- 138 Coots
- 42 Black-headed Gulls
- >30 Herring Gulls
- 1 Yellow-legged Gull
- 1 possible Caspian Gull: first winter
- >250 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 6 Cormorants: of these two departed and two arrived
- 1 Grey Heron

One of the Mute Swan cygnets about to get a surprise as it attempts to land on the ice.

A few holes in the ice are made as it skids on a twisted foot.

 Just crashing in to the ice.

Splat!

Almost 150 Tufted Ducks were on the lake. There were several groups flying around. Here is a quartet. The leading bird is a duck; the trailing and lowest bird are drakes; I suspect the top bird is an immature drake.

A duck, still with white around the base of the bill, flies above a drake.

Two ducks sandwich a drake.

A single duck.

Crowded at times. The drakes at the top and bringing up the rear both have their tufts blowing in the wind.

Even more crowded. 26 here.

Another group of 15 flying around, arriving or leaving.

There will be many gull photos today. This an adult winter Black-headed Gulls.

A third winter Herring Gull with some unusual plumage features. The primaries are all new adult-looking primary feathers. The secondaries look more like those of a second winter bird. There is less black in the tail tip than normal for a third winter bird.

This looks to be a first winter Herring Gull, but...

...this view suggests otherwise. The inner primaries are too dark and the paler area is too restricted, both indicating this is a first winter Yellow-legged Gull.

For comparison this is a first winter Herring Gull.

And another first winter Herring Gull.

This first winter bird with a white head is possibly a Caspian Gull.

An adult winter Herring Gull in front of an adult winter Lesser Black-backed Gull. Some field guides indicate that Lesser Black-backs have longer, narrower wings than Herring Gulls. I do not find this at all helpful.

An adult winter Lesser Black-backed Gull.

Another.

This one has about the maximum amount of head streaking. By the turn of the year birds will already be beginning to moult out of winter plumage in to its white-headed breeding plumage.

Two head off.

And another. Look at the legs....

...this bird is ringed. I did not notice this until checking the photos. I'll try and find out when and where the ring was attached.

After a bathe many of the large gulls spent a while just standing around on the ice. These all seem to be adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 10:45 – 12:15

(238th visit of the year)

Back to c.90% ice. Still somewhat misty with the island not clear.

Bird notes:
- Just a single Tufted Duck among the throng of ducks and Coots etc. in the open water by one of the footbridges. Two other Tufted Ducks seen in flight low over the ice: where did they go?
- I probably overlooked two Great Crested Grebes yesterday: I found two together tucked under overhanging vegetation around the island.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 19 Greylag Geese
- 2 (0?♂) Tufted Duck

Noted on / around the water:
- 4 Canada Geese: also one long-dead
- 2 Greylag Geese
- 2 + 4 Mute Swans
- 39 (26♂) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) all-white feral duck
- 1 (0♂) Tufted Duck
- 13 Moorhens
- 48 Coots
- 3 Great Crested Grebe
- 25 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: (near) adult, departed

Of interest elsewhere.
Nothing found 

It seems there are piranhas here. A dead Canada Geese floating in the water with much of the flesh eaten away. No chance of goose breast for Christmas.

An adult winter Lesser Black-backed Gull complains about something.

There are dozens of out of focus or out of frame photos of this Goldcrest are in my recycle bin. Perseverance provided a mostly sharp image. These sprites need to feed furiously all the time in daylight hours at this time of year. The long nights are very stressful for them.

(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
Little Wenlock, Candles Landfill Site
2 adult Caspian Gulls (one with a green ring suggesting a German/Polish border origin).
8 Yellow-legged Gulls
80+ Great Black-backed Gulls
c.1000 Herring Gulls
2000+ Lesser Black-backed Gulls.
1st w Viking Gull (hybrid Glaucous x Herring Gull)
2 ad hybrid Herring x Lesser Black-backed Gulls
(Tom Lowe)

2012
Priorslee Lake
3 Gadwall
9 Pochard
44 Tufted Ducks
176 Coots
c.200 Black-headed Gulls
c.650 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
c.20 Herring Gulls
2 Great Black-backed Gulls.
5 Redwings
2 Fieldfares
234 Jackdaws
(Ed Wilson)

Trench Lock Pool
1 Little Grebe
1 Cormorant
35 Mute Swans
2 Shoveler
48 Tufted Duck
3 Goosander
162 Coots
228 Black-headed Gulls
(Ed Wilson)

Little Wenlock, Candles Landfill
Caspian Gull
7 Yellow-legged Gulls
3500 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
500 Herring Gulls
Common Gull.
(Tom Lowe)

Buildwas
3 Yellow-legged Gulls
500 Lapwings
(Tom Lowe)

2006
Priorslee Lake
5 Pochard
52 Tufted Ducks
1 eclipse drake Ruddy Ducks
9 Golden Plover
>2000 Black-headed Gulls
>2526 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
3 Herring Gulls
1 Great Black-backed Gull
22 Robins
24 Blackbirds
c.45 Fieldfares
4 Song Thrushes
10 Redwings
348 Jackdaws
132 Rooks
(Ed Wilson)

2005
Priorslee Lake
2 Ravens
1 Cormorant
c.400 Black-headed Gulls
4 Pochard
39 Tufted Duck
1 Little Grebes
233 Coot
14 Redpolls
17 Siskins
24 Pied Wagtails
9 Redwings
12 Fieldfares
7 Reed Buntings
(Ed Wilson)