13 Mar 24

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

10.0°C > 11.0°C: More low cloud occasionally more broken under medium overcast. Moderate / fresh southerly wind. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 06:28 GMT
* = a species photographed today.

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:50 – 09:20

(52nd visit of the year)

Notable:
- another Woodcock sighting over the West end at 06:00
- now five singing Chiffchaffs.

Other bird notes:
- I could not find the Goosander.
- I noted 39 Black-headed Gulls arriving overhead where they circled for ages before mostly moving on. No more than four were seen on the water.
- 40 of the 67 Wood Pigeons noted flying over were flushed together out of trees to the North of the lake.

Counts of birds noted flying over:
- 3 Canada Geese: single and pair
- *2 Mute Swans: adults together
- 1 Feral Pigeon
- 69 Wood Pigeons: see notes
- 5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 6 Jackdaws
- 1 Rook
- 11 Redwings

Warblers noted (figure in brackets is singing birds):
- 1 (1) Cetti's Warbler
- 5 (5) Chiffchaffs

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 Canada Geese: pair throughout
- 2 Mute Swans
- 7 (5♂) Mallard
- *30 (21♂) Tufted Duck
- no Goosander
- 9 Moorhens
- 39 Coots
- *2 Little Grebes
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- 39 Black-headed Gulls: see notes
- 2 Cormorants: arrived separately
- 1 Grey Heron

Noted on the street lamp poles pre-dawn.

Bees, wasps, ants etc.
- *1 black ant Lasius sp.

Beetle:
- *1 possible Cabbage-stem Flea Beetle Psylliodes chrysocephala.

Springtails:
- 3 different unidentified species.

Arthropod:
- *1 White-legged Snake Millipede Tachypodoiulus niger.

Spiders:
- 1 Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp.
- *1 Wolf spider, perhaps Trochosa terricola.
- 1 unidentified money spider.

Noted later:
- *1 Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni on the Teece Drive fence.
- *1 Hairy Snail Trochulus hispidus on the sheltered wall of the sailing club HQ.

The two Mute Swans that flew over. They did not seem interested in challenging the locals which was perhaps just as well as the resident cob did not even raise his wings in threat. Possibly too tired as he had just finished a mating session.

 Record shot! Behind the drake Tufted Duck are two Little Grebes.

One of the local Buzzards flies over in the dull conditions.

The milder and, for a while, dry morning produced more inhabitants on the street lamp poles, including this black ant Lasius sp.

The swollen hind femurs identify this as a flea beetle. Those I usually see are likely Cabbage-stem Flea Beetles Psylliodes chrysocephala but this seems larger. There are many other species.

No mistaking this beetle: an Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni on the Teece Drive fence.

My second White-legged Snake Millipede Tachypodoiulus niger of the year.

This Hairy Snail Trochulus hispidus was on the sheltered wall of the sailing club HQ. The hairs that give this species its name soon wear away.

A Wolf spider, perhaps Trochosa terricola.

Plane of the day. This 2012-build six-passenger AgustaWestland AW109SP GrandNew is registered to Hadleigh Aviation LLP., with a London W1 address. We should be seeing many helicopters passing this week as they take jockeys (and rich clients) to the Cheltenham Gold Cup Festival.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:25– 10:20

(54th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- only one pair of Gadwall noted.
- *the nest-building Long-tailed Tits seen again.
- *two Goldcrests noted.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:

None

Noted on / around the water:
- 17 Canada Geese: of these one pair departed
- 2 + 4 Mute Swans
- 2 (1♂) Gadwall
- 19 (13♂) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) all-white feral duck
- 26 (13♂) Tufted Duck
- 9 Moorhens
- 39 Coots
- 1 Great Crested Grebe
- 3 Black-headed Gulls

Of note.

Nothing else

One of the nest-building Long-tailed Tits.

It seems to have a small amount of moss or lichen in its bill to line the nest. It will take many trips to build and line the nest at this rate.

I am being given the 'stare' again.

One of two Goldcrests that were being typically hyperactive in search of food. I took many, many shots, trying to keep up with them. It turned out that this, the second I took, was the sharpest of the bunch. Not easy in squirrel alley on a dull morning.

What the previous shot did not show was that much of the time the bird had its crest erect and was giving the impression of perhaps being a Firecrest. Not so: the similar Firecrest shows a dark stripe through its eye and a golden shoulder-patch. I have only seen two Firecrests at Priorslee, both birds on Autumn passage.

(Ed Wilson)

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Sightings from previous years

2014
Priorslee Lake
1st winter female Greater Scaup
20 Tufted Duck.
1 Kingfisher
(Gary Crowder)

2013
Priorslee Lake
3 Great Crested Grebe
37 Tufted Duck
27 Wigeon
2 Gadwall
1 Cormorant
24 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
4 Herring Gull
1 Great Black-backed Gull
(Martin Grant)

2012
Priorslee Lake
1 Water Rail
(John Isherwood)

Priorslee Flash
1 Chiffchaff
(John Isherwood)

Nedge Hill
30 Fieldfare
1 Redwing
7 Lapwing
2 Stock Dove
(John Isherwood)

2010
Priorslee Lake
5 Great Crested Grebes
1 Heron
6 Gadwall
4 Pochard
48 Tufted Ducks
1 Lapwing
>1100 Black-headed Gulls
c.30 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
5 Herring Gulls, all on the water
(Ed Wilson)

2007
Priorslee Lake
Woodcock
5 Cormorant
6 Grey Heron
19 Tufted Duck
4 Stock Dove
25 Robin
22 Blackbird
8 Redwing
3 Chiffchaff
47 Magpie
143 Jackdaw
5 Reed Bunting
(Ed Wilson, Martin Adlam)

2006
Priorslee Lake
1 Little Grebe
4 Great Crested Grebes
7 Pochard
45 Tufted Ducks
2 Ruddy Ducks
1 Lapwing
148 Jackdaws
34+ Siskins
6 Redwings
14 Greenfinches
2 Reed Buntings
(Ed Wilson)