27 Jan 24

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

4.0°C > 6.0°C: Medium / high overcast with a few early breaks. Light southerly wind. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 08:01 GMT

* = a species photographed today: running out of time today so a select few with less text than usual.

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 06:40 – 09:30

(26th visit of the year)

New Bird Species
A fly-over Lesser Redpoll was new for the year here. Bird species #59.

Other bird notes:
- It was a quartet of Mute Swans that made a fleeting visit this morning, also circling low and returning to the East rather than face the threatening resident cob. They all seemed to be adults / sub-adults with no obvious first winter bird.
- Nine Song Thrushes were in voice today.
- Three Mistle Thrushes were noisily disputing around the Teece Drive gate.

Counts of birds noted flying over:
- 52 Canada Geese: outbound in seven groups
- 10 Greylag Geese: outbound in three groups
- 4 Mute Swans
- 2 Stock Doves
- 27 Wood Pigeons
- 24 Herring Gulls
- 72 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 14 Jackdaws
- 7 Rooks
- 1 Raven
- 1 Lesser Redpoll

Birds seen leaving roosts around the lake:
- 5 Redwings

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 2 Mute Swans
- 5 Canada Geese: two pairs and a single arrived; only one pair remained
- 7 (5♂) Mallard
- 14 (7♂) Tufted Duck
- 1 (0♂) Goosander
- 12 Moorhens
- 74 Coots
- 54 Black-headed Gulls:
- 18 Herring Gulls
- 8 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Cormorant: arrived
- 1 Grey Heron

Noted on or around the street lamp poles pre-dawn:

Moths:
- 1 female Northern Winter Moth Operophtera fagata

Flies:
- 1 barkfly Ectopsocus sp.

Other insects:
- 1 springtail Tomocerus vulgaris
- 1 globular springtail

Noted later:
- leaves of Italian Lords and Ladies Arum italicum (also known as Large Cuckoo Pint): garden escape?

 Not quite sure why the camera produced a rather mauve tone to the sunrise.

The four Mute Swans that thought better about dropping in.

Compare and contrast: on the left a first winter Herring Gull; on the right a first winter Lesser Black-backed Gull.

A closer view of a first winter Herring Gull...

...about to be jumped by an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull.

My second female Northern Winter Moth Operophtera fagata this year.

A barkfly Ectopsocus sp. with a globular springtail.

Obsidentify told me these are leaves of Italian Lords and Ladies Arum italicum (also known as Large Cuckoo Pint). NatureSpot tells me there are four cryptic species involved and they are usually garden escapes though I found these some way from any gardens.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:35– 10:55

(25th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- a different Great Crested Grebe noted: a bird with extensive head-plumes.
- a probable Yellow-legged Gull: to be confirmed when I have had more time to critically examine my photos.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 9 Greylag Geese: together
- 1 Herring Gull
- 22 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Common Buzzard

Noted on / around the water:
- 8 Canada Geese
- 3 Greylag Geese
- 2 + 4 Mute Swans
- 2 (1♂) Gadwall
- 40 (27♂) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) all-white feral duck
- 5 (3♂) Pochard
- 54 (33♂) Tufted Duck
- 2 (1♂) Goosander
- 15 Moorhens
- 47 Coots
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- 37 Black-headed Gulls
- 5 Herring Gulls
- 1 Yellow-legged Gull: see notes
- 3 Lesser Black-backed Gull: two adults and one second year

Noted on or around the street lamp poles:
- 1 Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni

Two drake Pochard asleep.

A duck Pochard spreads a wing.

A pair of Tufted Duck.

Two drake and a duck Tufted Duck.

Another Mrs. Angry Tufty.

The Great Crested Grebe with extensive, albeit soggy, head plumes.

I still need to do some work on more photos to be sure. The bird on the right I think is the bird that when I noted it on the water I thought was smart-enough to be a Yellow-legged Gull. This photo clearly shows it has pink legs. But there is a hint of dark immature plumage so perhaps it is a different bird. An immature Herring Gull on the left, first winter I think though the bill looks rather pale.

This shows the dark in the plumage.

The legs are not as pink as the feet...

A first winter Herring Gull.

Another same aged bird. More dark on the bill.

A few speckles of brown age this as a third winter Herring Gull.

This was a caution. Obsidentify gave me choices, in order of likelihood, of Herring, Caspian and Yellow-legged Gulls. The tone of the back clearly shows it to be a Lesser Black-backed Gull!

A distant passing Common Buzzard.

I have not seen any of these Alder Leaf Beetles Agelastica alni for a while.

(Ed Wilson)

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Sightings from previous years

2014
Priorslee Lake
Velvet Scoter
2 Scaup
(Martin and Ian Grant)

2013
Priorslee Lake
39 Wigeon
8 Gadwall
24 Pochard
74 Tufted Ducks
1 Greater Scaup
173 Coots
169 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
18 Herring Gulls
1 Great Black-backed Gull
(Ed Wilson)

2008
Priorslee Lake
Iceland Gull
(Observer Unknown)