4 Mar 24

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

0.0°C > 7.0°C: Clear with early frost. Encroaching high cloud from the south-west made the sun weaker after 09:30. A calm start with a light easterly breeze developing. Good visibility.

Sunrise: 06:49 GMT

* = a species photographed today

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:50 – 09:30

(46th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- perhaps the same pair of Canada Geese were hiding in the north-west reeds early – the potential nest location? They were in the middle of the water later.
- low number of Moorhens in part due to the frost on the grass. Probably also as they start nesting and become more secretive.
- I noted 55 Black-headed Gulls arriving from the West after 06:45 with most of them flying directly over and only 23 settling on the water.
- strangely the only Long-tailed Tit I saw was a single bird on its own. No others were heard either.

Counts of birds noted flying over:
- 76 Wood Pigeons
- 32 Black-headed Gulls: see notes
- 1 Herring Gull
- 14 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 64 Jackdaws
- 17 Rooks
- c.100 Starlings: together

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 Canada Geese
- 2 Mute Swans
- 5 (3♂) Mallard
- 18 (12♂) Tufted Duck
- *1 (0♂) Goosander
- 5 Moorhens
- 39 Coots
- 23 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Cormorant: arrived
- 1 Grey Heron

On the frosted street lamp poles pre-dawn.
Nothing

Of note:
Nothing else

The sky colouring up well before dawn.

The calm and frosty start with the colour already fading.

Making waves. The duck Goosander decides I am too close.

All the Cormorants that are visiting the lake seem to be immatures. Extensive white on the breast and belly suggest this is a first year bird.

Fewer Song Thrushes were singing this morning. This was one of three I noted hunting for food on the ground. Could they be nesting already.

Well that is not very nice. No mistaking it as a Wren though.

That's better.

Eyes closing with the effort of singing.

"Was that me making all that noise? I plead not guilty"

Show over.

A male Chaffinch. I heard song from three different places along the North side but as the song was always some 100 yards ahead of me it was probably the same bird moving ahead of me.

A smart male Greenfinch takes the morning sun. It makes a change not to have a real twig in the way – just the shadow of one!

And here he is singing his rasping song with the shadow looking like a zip on is belly.

Plane of the day: the two engines, painted red and mounted at the rear of the fuselage identify this as an Embraer ERJ-145EP of Loganair. Embraer is a Brazilian aircraft designer and builder, mainly of short- and medium-range airliners and smaller executive jets. This aircraft is flying from Glasgow to Southampton. It was built in 2002 and flew for 17 years with bmi regional until that company was declared bankrupt. Loganair took over the aircraft (and many of bmi regional's routes) a few months later.

The FR24 data for the flight.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:35– 10:50

(48th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- duck numbers 'best effort' as birds were very mobile.
- the pair of Gadwall not located.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 1 Jackdaw

Noted on / around the water:
- 13 Canada Geese
- *2 + 4 Mute Swans
- *27 (18♂) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) all-white feral duck
- *58 (31♂) Tufted Duck
- 10 Moorhens
- 38 Coots
- 1 Great Crested Grebe
- *3 Black-headed Gulls
- *4 Herring Gulls: one first, one second and one third year and a (near?) adult.
- *2 Lesser Black-backed Gull: adult and second year

Of note:
Nothing else

The cob Mute Swan chasing one of last year's cygnets. Both adults were intermittently chasing many different cygnets, though not very seriously so long as the cygnets moved out of their way.

A trio of Mallards preparing to splash down.

A drake looking to make a perfect touchdown.

And another. Note the angle of the light has caused part of the normal green gloss on the head to gloss blue.

A perfect approach by this duck Mallard.

Another instance of the angle of the light changing the appearance of a bird. It can show as either green or blue on drake Tufted Ducks.

A drake Tufted Duck with tuft blowing in the breeze as...

...he changes and catches up with a duck. Note that the duck's "arm-pits" (the axillaries) are dark.

A duck Tufted Duck. She may have something wrong with her eye as she never seemed to open it.

Another duck Tufted Duck with tail spread and feet out for landing. She does seem to be concentrating hard.

You can imagine her staring at her intended landing spot.

A duo of Tufted Ducks in flight. Both drakes.

And a quintet of Tufted Ducks in flight. Again all drakes.

A Black-headed Gull puzzle. There are no dark marks in the tail to suggest anything other than an adult yet there is no sign of the 'black head' developing when many birds are now more or less in breeding plumage.

Three of the four Herring Gulls that arrived. From the left a third year; a first year and a second year.

A second summer Lesser Black-backed Gull with a full 'black back' and the erstwhile neat black tail band looking rather scruffy.

This species has a much more patterned underwing than a similarly-aged Herring Gull.

Another Lesser Black-backed Gull. No sign of any black in the tail so perhaps an adult though there is still a little black on both mandibles as well as a small red spot.

Oops! A bit close.

(Ed Wilson)

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Sightings from previous years

2014
Priorslee Lake
3 Great Crested Grebes
13 Cormorants
4 Greylag Geese
22 Tufted Duck
5 Sand Martins
6 Redwings
8 Chiffchaffs
>500 Jackdaws
(Ed Wilson)

The Flash
50 Tufted Ducks
4 Chiffchaffs
4 Siskins
(Ed Wilson)

2013
Priorslee Lake
1 Little Grebe
6 Great Crested Grebes
1 Cormorant
7 Wigeon
2 Gadwall
1 Pochard
42 Tufted Ducks
1 Great Black-backed Gull
Mediterranean Gull.
Ring-billed x Lesser Black-backed Gull.
>1500 Black-headed Gulls
2 Redwings
65 Magpies
25 Siskins
2 Reed Buntings
(Ed Wilson)

The Flash
2 Great Crested Grebes
6 Swans
2 Pochard
85 Tufted Duck
(Ed Wilson)

2010
Priorslee Lake
3 Buzzards
1 Little Grebe
5 Great Crested Grebe
4 Gadwall
36 Tufted Duck
c.160 Jackdaws
(Ed Wilson)

The Flash
4 Great Crested Grebe
3 Greylag Geese
32 Tufted Duck

Trench
1 Cormorant
43 Tufted Ducks
(Ed Wilson)

2007
Priorslee Lake
Little Ringed Plover
1 Cormorant
1 Mallard x Pintail
18 Tufted Duck
1 Ruddy Duck
1 Little Ringed Plover
1 Kittiwake
33 Wren
29 Robin
24 Blackbird
3 Chiffchaff
39 Magpie
3 Greenfinch
6 Reed Bunting
(Ed Wilson)

The Flash
8 Great Crested Grebe
2 Pochard
27 Tufted Duck
1 Snipe
3 Chiffchaff
2 Reed Bunting
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
1 Barn Owl
1 Little Grebe
5 Great Crested Grebes
1 Shoveler
30 Tufted Ducks
2 Water Rails
321 Wood Pigeons
2 Skylarks
5 Meadow Pipits
33 Wrens
21 Robins
21 Blackbirds
1 Fieldfare
3 Redwings
1 Chiffchaff
1 Willow Tit
18 Greenfinches
8 Siskins
1 Linnet
6 Reed Buntings
1 Yellowhammer.
(Ed Wilson)