20 Apr 24

Priorslee Balancing Lake The Flash

2.0°C > 8.0°C: Fine and clear with early frost. A calm start with a light northerly breeze later. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 06:00 BST

* = a species photographed today

Most of the Willow Warblers seemed to have moved on during the clear night.

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:20 – 06:15 // 07:20 – 09:30

(86th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- a drake Gadwall was present again
- another late Siskin record: one flew West at 06:15.

Counts of birds noted flying over:
- 11 Canada Geese: a quartet flew outbound; a pair and a quintet flew inbound
- 2 Greylag Geese: a pair outbound
- 1 Feral Pigeon
- 6 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Kestrel
- 1 Herring Gull
- 2 Grey Herons: together
- 11 Jackdaws
- 1 Siskin

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 1 Barn Swallow

Warblers noted (the figure in brackets relates to birds heard singing):
- 1 (1) Cetti's Warbler
- 2 (2) Willow Warblers
- 12 (10) Chiffchaffs
- *18 (14) Blackcaps
- *3 (3) Common Whitethroats
'nominal' warbler:
- 3 (3) Goldcrest

Counts from the lake area:
- 6 Canada Geese: the resident pair throughout; two different pairs visited until chased away
- 2 Mute Swans
- 1 (1♂) Gadwall
- 2 (2♂) Mallard
- 18 (12♂) Tufted Duck
- 3 Moorhens
- 25 Coots
- *3 Great Crested Grebes
- 2 Common Sandpipers
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls

Noted on the street lamps poles pre-dawn:
Frost-covered.

Spiders:
- unidentified spider covered in frost.

Noted later:

Bees:
- *Orange-tailed Mining Bee Andrena haemorrhoa aka Early Mining Bee
- *Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum

Hoverflies:
- Short Melanostoma Melanostoma mellinum aka Variable Duskyface
- Chequered Hoverfly Melanostoma scalare aka Long-winged Duskyface
- *Gold-spotted Meligramma Meligramma euchromum aka Gold-spotted Smoothtail

Flies:
- *unidentified midge sp.
- Alder Fly Sialis lutaria

Beetles:
- 7 Spot Ladybird Coccinella 7-punctata
- Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni

Spiders:
- Larinioides cornutus

A clear morning. Frosty!

I mentioned yesterday that Great Crested Grebes were depleting the stock of Perch Perca fluviatilis. Here we go again.

The fish is sideways in the grebe's mouth here. It needs to be manoeuvred to that it can be swallowed head first to avoid the spines along the back of the fish.

 Difficult to do without hands.

 Part way there.

That's it. Now to swallow it...

It is a large fish, old-enough to have dark banding.

 Will it really fit?

 It doesn't seem so sure.

 That's it. Straight down.

Just the tail to go.

A Common Sandpiper in flight. It is not often you get to appreciate the under-wing pattern as it flies low over the water on flickering wings.

 "I can see you". The brown cap of a female Blackcap.

Making the harsh 'chack' alarm and contact call.

This male singing away shows why the species is called a Whitethroat. The Merlin app calls this species Greater Whitethroat which seems not unreasonable as there is a Lesser Whitethroat. However it is usually known as Common Whitethroat or often just Whitethroat.

This hoverfly was definitely my find of the morning. My first ever Gold-spotted Meligramma Meligramma euchromum aka Gold-spotted Smoothtail. I was puzzled by the Gold-spotted Smoothtail name given to it by Obsidentify: the scientific name Obsidentify provided did not match any of my reference books or anything on Steven Falk's web site. It turns this species was reassigned from the genus Epistrophella and as the new genus name of Meligramma is a different sex then the second part of the scientific binomial had to be changed from euchroma to euchromum. Which is why I had trouble finding any reference. It is an uncommon species with a southerly distribution.

A somewhat better photo of a fly on the 'boxing ring'. This seems to be a non-biting midge and not one of the possible 'dance flies' I photographed here yesterday.

The Ramsons Allium ursinum flowers are now fully open.

An illustration of why mining bees are extra hard. This is a male Orange-tailed Mining Bee Andrena haemorrhoa.

This is the larger and more colourful female of the species. At least she has the decency to show her orange tail.

A delightfully scruffy-looking Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Nothing noted

(Ed Wilson)

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Between the Balancing Lake and The Flash:

Moths:
- *1 Flame Carpet

Next to the street lamp that seems to attract moths I found this individual on the academy railings. It is a rather pale and rather early example of the first generation of a Flame Carpet Xanthorhoe designata.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:20 – 07:15

(88th visit of the year)

New Bird Species
Best here was a *Common Sandpiper. A bird I see here most, but not all years, either on Spring or Autumn passage. My #60th bird species here this year.

Other bird notes:

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
None

Warblers noted (the figure in brackets relates to birds heard singing):
- 3 (3) Willow Warblers
- 8 (8) Chiffchaffs
- 11 (8) Blackcaps
'nominal' warbler:
- 3 (3) Goldcrests

Noted on / around the water:
- 25 Canada Geese: of these a pair flew off
- 3 Greylag Geese: of these a pair flew off
- 2 + 4 Mute Swans
- 10 (9♂) Mallard
- 16 (11♂) Tufted Duck
- 6 Moorhens
- 21 Coots
- no Great Crested Grebe
- *1 Common Sandpiper
- *2 Herring Gulls: adults
- *1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: second year

Noted elsewhere around The Flash:

Beetles:
- 1 Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni on street lamp poles

At best a record shot of a Common Sandpiper. A Starling-sized bird across the width of the water is not easy to photograph.

Two adult Herring Gulls were here again.

A second year Lesser Black-backed Gull sitting on a roof in Derwent Drive. Only full adults have the yellow legs.

In this view you could not tell what colour its legs are.

(Ed Wilson)

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Sightings from previous years

2014
Priorslee Lake
2 Great Crested Grebe
7 Tufted Duck
1 Cormorant
40 Swifts
2 Jays
4 Chiffchaff
1 Great Spotted Woodpecker
(Tony Beckett)

2013
Priorslee Lake
2 Little Ringed Plovers
(John Isherwood)

Nedge Hill
1 White Wagtail
1 Common Redstart
41 Wheatear
1 Fieldfare
1 Raven
(John Isherwood)

The Wrekin
1 Wheatear
11+ Tree Pipit
7 Common Redstart
6 Pied Flycatchers
(JW Reeves)

2012
Priorslee Lake
2 Common Sandpiper
(John Isherwood)

Nedge Hill
2 Wheatear
(John Isherwood)

The Wrekin
2 Ring Ouzel
2 Pied Flycatchers
(J W Reeves)

2010
Wrekin
2 Wood Warblers
3+ Common Redstarts
4+ Pied Flycatchers
2+ Tree Pipits
Tawny Owl
4 Green Woodpecker
1 Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
(J Reeves)

2008
Priorslee Lake
1 Little Grebe
5 Great Crested Grebes
4 Common Sandpipers
20 Sand Martins
4 Swallows
2 Grey Wagtails
1 Wheatear
1 Redwing singing
8 Willow Warblers
9 Chiffchaffs
1 Willow Tit
(Ed Wilson)

2007
Priorslee Lake
1 Common Sandpiper
Grey Wagtail
4 Sand Martin
House Martins
Chiffchaff
1 Lesser Whitethroat
(Ed Wilson, Martin Adlam)

2006
Priorslee Lake
6 Great Crested Grebes
3 Greylag Geese
3 Tufted Ducks
2 Ruddy Ducks
2 Sand Martins
15 Swallows
House Martins
2 Stock Doves
26 Wrens
19 Robins
20 Blackbirds
10 Song Thrushes
1 Redwing
9 Blackcaps
9 Chiffchaffs
7 Willow Warblers
2 Sedge Warbler
10 Greenfinches
5 Reed Buntings
(Ed Wilson, Martin Adlam)

Lanes to east of Priorslee Lake
1 Skylark
1 Meadow Pipit
4 Blackcaps
3 Chiffchaffs
1 Willow Warbler
2 Greenfinch
2 Linnets
2 Reed Buntings
8 Yellowhammers
(Ed Wilson)

Nedge Hill
2 Skylark
2 Meadow Pipit
1 Fieldfare
2 Wheatear
1 Blackcap
2 Willow Warbler
2 Chiffchaff
2 Linnet
(Martin Adlam)

Priorslee Flash
1 Common Sandpiper
(Ed Wilson)