28 Jan 24

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

5.0°C > 7.0°C: High overcast with yet again significant low cloud from the Telford microclimate. Light south-easterly wind. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 07:59 GMT: hooray – before 08:00 at last

* = a species photographed today

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 06:40 – 09:20

(27th visit of the year)

New Bird Species
One and a half new bird species for the year here:
- a lone Fieldfare flew over calling. Bird species #60.
- at 07:15 I glimpsed an owl flying around the small copse between the dam and the M54. It then flew over and back across Castle Farm Way, out toward the interchange island and then was lost from view. I cannot say what species it was. It did not look ghostly-enough for a Barn Owl yet Tawny Owls rarely stray far from cover. I have heard no owls calling recently and never any in this area. So it remains a mystery.

Other bird notes:
- Four Tufted Ducks (three ♂♂) were noted on the water near the dam at 07:45. I had not checked the other end. At 08:10 I noted seven birds flying around gaining height before leaving to the East. None was on the water later and I assume all seven were birds from here.

Counts of birds noted flying over:
- 23 Canada Geese: outbound in three groups
- 2 Greylag Geese: outbound together
- 3 Stock Doves: a single and duo (also one displaying over the North side)
- 26 Wood Pigeons
- 2 Herring Gulls
- 1 Cormorant
- 1 Grey Heron
- 47 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 42 Jackdaws
- 13 Rooks
- 1 Fieldfare

Birds seen leaving roosts around the lake:
- 1 Redwing

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 2 Mute Swans
- 2 Canada Geese: pair throughout
- 13 (9♂) Mallard
- 7 (4?♂) Tufted Duck: see notes
- 1 (0♂) Goosander
- 12 Moorhens
- 70 Coots
- c.350 Black-headed Gulls:
- 7 Herring Gulls
- 1 Yellow-legged Gull: adult
- 9 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 3 Cormorants: arrived together but did not stay
- 2 Grey Herons

On or around the street lamp poles pre-dawn or of note later:
Nothing noted

Just one from here. The Telford 'hat' of cloud managed to result in the only colour in the sky around dawn being to the West! Looking from the dam here.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:25– 10:30

(26th visit of the year)

While I still ponder whether a near adult gull I saw yesterday was a Yellow-legged Gull I now have *a first year gull that seems possibly a Yellow-legged Gull.

Bird notes:
- yesterday's Great Crested Grebe with extensive head-plumes not noted.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 2 Lesser Redpoll

Noted on / around the water:
- 13 Canada Geese: eight of these flew off together
- 4 Greylag Geese
- 2 + 4 Mute Swans
- 2 (1♂) Gadwall
- 42 (27♂) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) all-white feral duck
- *5 (3♂) Pochard
- 65 (39♂) Tufted Duck
- *2 (1♂) Goosander
- 16 Moorhens
- 46 Coots
- 1 Great Crested Grebe
- 49 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Herring Gull: first winter
- *1 Yellow-legged Gull: first winter
- *1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: adult
- 1 Kingfisher

Of note
Nothing else

A very smart drake Mallard flies by.

And the pair.

A drake Pochard.

And now a duck Pochard throwing some water around.

A drake Pochard showing its wing markings. In flight it looks uniformly pale...

...despite the darker central bar and feather-tips.

I have mixed views about taking this drake Goosander photo. It was coming unusually close and while sneaking up on it a hitherto unseen Kingfisher dropped off a branch just in front of me!

Drakes in breeding plumage are really smart.

Well now: a gull with a large all-black bill and a very scaly appearance. First thought: a first winter Great Black-backed Gull. But is it bulky-enough? Is the head pale-enough?

Here it comes. The wings do not look broad-enough.

The upper view. The strength of the tail-band suggests it cannot be a Great Black-backed Gull. The pale inner primaries suggest it could be a first winter Yellow-legged Gull. I have not seen, or at least recognised, this aged Yellow-legged Gull often. It still seems a rather dark individual.

For over two weeks there has been an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull here. The same one all the while?

(Ed Wilson)

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Sightings from previous years

2014
Priorslee Lake
12 Pochard
63 Tufted Duck
3 Greater Scaup
Velvet Scoter
3 Great Black-backed Gulls
16 Redwings over
555 Jackdaws
345 Rooks
(Ed Wilson, Gary Crowder)

The Flash
120 Tufted Ducks
(Ed Wilson)

Trench Lock Pool
3 Pochard
34 Tufted Duck
(Ed Wilson)

Trench Middle Pool
2 Goosanders
(Ed Wilson)

2013
Priorslee Lake
31 Wigeon
10 Gadwall
11 Pochard
44 Tufted Ducks
1 Greater Scaup
177 Coots again
38 Herring Gulls
1 Yellow-legged Gull
9 Redwings
52 Magpies
3 Reed Buntings
(Ed Wilson)

The Flash
2 Shoveler
4 Pochard
57 Tufted Duck
1 Goosander
(Ed Wilson)

2012
Priorslee Lake
5 Great Crested Grebes
21 Pochard
38 Tufted Duck
150 Wood Pigeons
57 Redwings
(Ed Wilson)

Priorslee Flash
36 Tufted Ducks
(Ed Wilson)

Trench Lock Pool
7 Pochard
33 Tufted Ducks
(Ed Wilson)