1 Feb 24

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

4.0°C > 6.0°C: Fine and clear start with a touch of frost in sheltered areas. Increasing mainly high cloud. Light / moderate westerly wind. Good visibility.

Sunrise: 07:53 GMT

* = a species photographed today

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 06:40 – 09:20

(30th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- as yesterday most of the large gulls came and went before there was enough light to critically examine them.

Counts of birds noted flying over:
- 5 Canada Geese: outbound together
- 1 Goosander: sex not determined
- 4 Feral Pigeons: together
- 23 Wood Pigeons
- 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 21 Jackdaws
- 17 Rooks
- 1 Pied Wagtail

Birds seen leaving roosts around the lake:

None

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 2 Mute Swans
- 2 Canada Geese: pair throughout
- 9 (6♂) Mallard
- 7 (4♂) Tufted Duck
- 1 (0♂) Goosander
- 6 Moorhens
- 62 Coots
- c.350 Black-headed Gulls:
- *25 Herring Gulls
- 1 Yellow-legged Gull
- *82 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Cormorant: arrived
- 1 Grey Heron

Noted on or around the slightly frosted street lamp poles pre-dawn

Moths:
- *1 Early Moth Theria primaria

Flies:
- *1 possible Scoliocentra villosa fly
- 1 wood gnat, perhaps Sylvicola fenestralis

Other insects
- *1 springtail Tomocerus vulgaris

More feedback: the Shropshire beetle recorder sent my photos of the recently seen weevils to the expert. The photos do not provide a conclusive identity. It is suggested they could be a different species Parathelcus pollinarius which is also associated with nettles (but not street lamp poles!). Apparently I have to look at them from the rear: this species has small white circles are the tip of its abdomen.

Later:

Nothing of note

Still waning: the Wolf Moon.

A colourful sunrise again today. Starting here.

A different perspective with three of the Mute Swans asleep on the water.

Maximum colour. All four Mute Swans and a Coot crash the view.

Just the one area of cloud to catch the colour.

And here faded away.

Another gull where I beg to differ with Obsidentify. Its primary suggestion was firstly a Yellow-legged Gull with Caspian Gull as the next ranked result. To my eyes it is a first winter Herring Gull...

...here showing the typical well-marked upper tail ahead of a black tail-band that is not cleanly delineated.

Two such first winter Herring Gulls.

A second winter Herring Gull has found something, probably not food, just to play with. A first winter Lesser Black-backed Gull would like to play.

And here is that first winter Lesser Black-backed Gull. Again I disagree with Obsidentify that again suggested Yellow-legged Gull. The shoulder area, where the adult-like plumage first appears on this species, is far too dark. Note that the upper tail is much cleaner than on the first winter Herring Gull.

This moth is not resting at a helpful angle. The pale sub-terminal line and dark spot in the wing help identify it as an Early Moth Theria primaria.

This fly with red eyes, grey thorax and orange abdomen is possibly a Scoliocentra villosa.

This springtail is probably Tomocerus vulgaris. I read that scales on these insects soon wear off which is why they can look very different even when the same species is involved. This makes positive identification of several similar species a challenge.

"Plane and trail" of the day. The aircraft is a Bombardier Global 7500 Canadian-built executive jet (think $78 million). The '7500' refers to the operational range of the aircraft in miles. Here it was on a non-stop flight from Los Angeles to Malta. The aircraft sleeps eight and comes with a shower. Here it is flying at 45,000' (>8 miles). The wider trail was left a few minutes earlier by an Embraer Legacy, a Brazilian-built executive jet, flying from Toronto to Dijon in France. Both aircraft are owned by Vistajet operating through a typically complex set of subsidiaries primarily in Malta, Germany and the US.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:25– 10:25

(29th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- fewer Mallard than normal and some of those were hiding inside the island.
- I noted five Pochard (three drakes). These have probably been present for a week even though I don't always find them all. They sometimes hide beneath overhanging vegetation.
- three singing Song Thrushes here.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:

None

Noted on / around the water:
- 18 Canada Geese
- *2 + 4 Mute Swans
- 2 (1♂) Gadwall
- 28 (20♂) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) all-white feral duck
- 5 (3♂) Pochard
- 61 (37♂) Tufted Duck: see notes
- 16 Moorhens
- 43 Coots
- 1 Great Crested Grebe
- 28 Black-headed Gulls
- 2 Herring Gulls: one second and one third winters
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: adult

Of note.

Nothing

An interesting cloud formation noted here.

Not quite sure what is going on here with all four Mute Swan cygnets lined up in display (or threat) posture. The adults do not seem impressed. I assume it is the pen on the far right with a slim neck.

(Ed Wilson)

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Sightings from previous years

2013
Priorslee Lake
Drake Scaup still showing well off dam
1 adult Yellow-legged Gull
21 Great Black-backed Gulls
(John Isherwood and Rob Stokes)

2011
Priorslee Lake
Tawny Owl heard - 2nd ever record
(Ed Wilson)

2010
Priorslee Lake
About 30% ice.
Best bird remains the Black-necked Grebe.
Big gull roost:
c.3000 Black-headed Gulls
c.1000 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
1 adult Yellow-legged Gull
1 3rd winter Great Black-backed Gull
(Ed Wilson and John Isherwood)