23 Apr 24

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

6.0°C > 8.0°C: Again an overcast start apart from a sliver of clear sky to the East. More un-forecast sprinkles c.06:00. Cleared after c.08:15. Light / moderate northerly breeze. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 05:54 BST

* = a species photographed today

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:20 – 06:15 // 07:15 – 09:45

(89th visit of the year)

New Bird Species
Two additions to my 2024 bird list from here:
- three Reed Warblers were noted singing from different reed beds.
- a Lesser Whitethroat was heard singing from a dense thicket in the south-west area. This species has bred here in the past though breeding is very hard to prove. As soon as birds are paired the male stops singing, though he may briefly do so again between broods. They always stay well hidden. This bird was just as likely only passing through.
These bring my bird species total to #87 here this year.

Other bird notes:
- I have not been able to sort out all the Mute Swan sighting from here. The resident cob was kept very busy. One first year was almost certainly the last of the quartet from The Flash not yet chased away. A trio landed with one clearly a first year and the other two older immatures. A seventh bird was then noted. One was chased away but I have no idea which one.
- another sighting of a Great Crested Grebe enjoying a large Perch Perca fluviatilis. Too far away for a photo.

Counts of birds noted flying over:
- 2 Canada Geese: a pair outbound
- 2 Greylag Geese: a pair inbound
- 2 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Collared Dove
- 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 2 Jackdaws

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 2 Swifts
- 8 Barn Swallows
- 1 House Martin

Warblers noted (the figure in brackets relates to birds heard singing):
- 1 (1) Cetti's Warbler
- 4 (4) Willow Warblers
- 15 (13) Chiffchaffs
- 3 (3) Reed Warblers
- 16 (13) Blackcaps
- 1 (1) Lesser Whitethroat
- 1 (1) Common Whitethroat
'nominal' warbler:
- 4 (4) Goldcrest

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 Canada Geese: the resident pair throughout
- *7 Mute Swans: see notes
- 2 (2♂) Mallard
- 11 (6♂) Tufted Duck
- 1 Moorhen
- 24 Coots
- 3 Great Crested Grebes
- 1 Common Sandpiper
- 2 Black-headed Gulls: first years, together, briefly
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: (near?) adults, together, briefly

Noted on the street lamps poles pre-dawn:

Moths:
- *1 Small Phoenix Ecliptopera silaceata: probably the same individual as seen Sunday.

Flies:
- 1 cranefly, probably Limonia nubeculosa

Springtails:
- *1 Orchesella sp.
- *1 Tomocerus vulgaris

Spiders:
- 1 Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp.

Noted later:

Bees:
- Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum
- Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris

Hoverflies:
- *Spring Epistrophe Epistrophe elegans [Spring Smoothtail]
- Chequered Hoverfly Melanostoma scalare [Long-winged Duskyface]

Other flies:
- plumed midge Chironomus plumosus
- *cranefly Tipula rufina
- Alder Fly Sialis lutaria

Beetles:
- Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni

Slugs/snails:
- many unidentified slugs and snails on the sailing club HQ around dawn.

Spiders:
- *Missing Sector Orb-web Spider Zygiella x-notata [also called Silver-sided Sector Spider]

Flowers:
- *Crab Apple Malus sylvestris
correction:
The bluebells I noted here are almost certainly *Hybrid Bluebell Hyacinthoides x massartiana and neither 'our' Bluebell H. non-scripta (as I originally thought) or Spanish Bluebell H. hispanica. The latter is apparently rare.

The trio of Mute Swans fly in to annoy the resident cob. Two show orange on their bill and are therefore not first years. The tone of these bills is not bright-enough for them to be breeding adults and they must be immatures. A first year is at the back still showing brown in its wings.

One of these immatures with the first year about to splash down.

Here are the two immatures.

This Mute Swan was chased by the resident cob and departed. It does not look like any of the trio that I photographed arriving. Neither is it one of the first year birds from The Flash. So a seventh: the resident pair; the trio that arrived; the single from The Flash and now this one.

Probably the same juvenile Robin I photographed some 10 days ago. Note it has lost its gape line and was at least attempting to feed for itself.

This Small Phoenix moth Ecliptopera silaceata was tucked further up the same street lamp pole as I found one on Sunday. It is likely the same specimen now sheltered from the rain by the overhanging part of the lamp.

Its relatively small size and wholly pale front legs help identify this hoverfly as a Spring Epistrophe Epistrophe elegans. Obsidentify calls it Spring Smoothtail.

I think this cranefly with well-patterned wings is probably Limonia nubeculosa. I assume the orange mark is a parasite.

Another cranefly with well-patterned wings but larger and with a different thorax and head shape. It is Tipula rufina.

A small springtail with thin and slightly curved antennae is possibly one of the Orchesella species.

A larger springtail with the pale band across the abdomen is likely Tomocerus vulgaris.

I found this Missing Sector Orb-web Spider Zygiella x-notata on the wall of the sailing club HQ. It is also called Silver-sided Sector Spider. The strange colour cast is due to my LED torch illuminating it.

These flowers are of a Crab Apple Malus sylvestris, one of several I noted in bloom today.

It is clear that these are not, as I initially thought, 'English' Bluebells Hyacinthoides non-scripta as this has flowers along one side of the spike only, causing the stem to curve over under their weight. I would have reidentified them as Spanish Bluebell H. hispanica but the NatureSpot web site notes this species as "rare" and suggests that most are in fact Hybrid Bluebell H. x massartiana.

An interesting (to me anyway) aircraft. It is a Boeing 777 200 series of Eastern Airlines flying from Dallas-Forth Worth, Texas to Fiumicino Airport in Rome. This is (at least) the third incarnation of Eastern Airlines that during the 1970s and 1980s was one of the big four US Airlines, regularly seen in the UK. It met its demise in 1991. The current Eastern Airlines is based at Greensboro, North Carolina. It has 17 aircraft, with just six operational. This particular airframe was operated by Singapore Airlines from 2002 to 2015 and did very little else before Eastern acquired it in 2020. This operator is often contracted by the US Department of Defense for troop movements. Not today and I have no idea as to the purpose of this non-scheduled flight.

Here is the FlightRadar24 data for the flight.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Flies:
- *1 small male plumed midge
- *1 cranefly Tipula vittata

Arthropods:
- 1 White-legged Snake Millipede Tachypodoiulus niger

Spiders:
- 1 Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp.

Note two friendly male plumed midges but "me and my shadow". I cannot find an identity for this narrow-bodied species with noticeably long front legs.

The markings in the wings of this cranefly identify it as Tipula vittata. A larger species than many and one of the few that not only flies in Spring but throughout Summer and Autumn as well.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:20 – 07:10

(91st visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- one immature Mute Swan was likely one of last year's birds returned after being chased back from the Balancing Lake.
- no sign of the drake Shoveler from yesterday.
- no duck Mallard seen.
- I am not sure about any Garden Warbler today. A very brief snatch of song was inconclusive with a definite Blackcap in the same area. Unless I had seen and heard the bird yesterday I would not be thinking about this species from the snatch of song I heard.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:

None

Warblers noted (the figure in brackets relates to birds heard singing):
- 3 (3) Willow Warblers
- 8 (7) Chiffchaffs
- 9 (8) Blackcaps
'nominal' warbler:
- 1 (1) Goldcrest

Noted on / around the water:
- 36 Canada Geese
- 7 Greylag Geese
- 3 Mute Swans
- 16 (16♂) Mallard
- 9 (6♂) Tufted Duck
- 5 Moorhens
- 21 Coots
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: adults: departed

Noted elsewhere around The Flash on different lamp poles:

Flies:
- plumed midge Chironomus plumosus

Beetles:
- Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni

(Ed Wilson)

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Sightings from previous years

2013
Priorslee Lake
2 Great Crested Grebes
3 Greylag Geese
1 Grasshopper Warbler
2 Reed Warblers
8 Blackcaps
9 Chiffchaffs
4 Willow Warblers
(Ed Wilson)

The Flash
1 Richardson's-type Canada Goose
8 Tufted Duck
1 Blackcap
2 Chiffchaffs
6 Willow Warblers
(Ed Wilson)

Nedge Hill
6 Swallows
8 Meadow Pipits
1 Fieldfare
3 Blackcaps
3 Willow Warbler
4 Chiffchaffs
1 Whinchat
1 Lesser Whitethroat
29 Wheatear
1 Lapwing
(John Isherwood, Ed Wilson)

2012
Priorslee Lake
Green Woodpecker
5 Great Crested Grebes
4 Tufted Duck
12 Blackcaps
2 Willow Warblers
14 Chiffchaffs
1 Sedge Warbler
(Ed Wilson, John Isherwood)

In the lane / fields to the E
5 Skylarks
2 Whitethroats
2 Blackcaps
3 Chiffchaffs
9 Linnets
5 Yellowhammers
(Ed Wilson)

Priorslee Flash
5 Great Crested Grebes
23 Tufted Duck
1 Common Sandpiper
5 Blackcaps
1 Willow Warblers
4 Chiffchaffs
(Ed Wilson / John Isherwood)

Nedge Hill
1 Raven
(John Isherwood)

2011
Priorslee Lake
1 Common Sandpiper
2 Lesser Whitethroat
(John Isherwood)

Nedge Hill
3 Yellow Wagtail
6 Wheatear
(John Isherwood)

2008
Priorslee Lake
2 Sedge Warblers
2 Lesser Whitethroats
(Ed Wilson)

The Flash
Common Sandpiper
(Ed Wilson)

Nedge Hill
2 Common Whitethroat
3 Wheatears
(Ed Wilson)

The Wrekin
1 Pied Flycatcher
(Mike)

Ercall Woods
3 Pied Flycatcher
Buzzards
2 Ravens
(Mike)

2007
Priorslee Flash
2 Common Sandpipers
Garden Warbler
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
6 Great Crested Grebes
6 Tufted Ducks
2 Ruddy Duck
5 Common Sandpipers
100+ Sand Martin
5 Swallow
1 House Martin
23 Wrens
19 Robins
19 Blackbirds
1 Sedge Warbler
1 Reed Warbler
1 Lesser Whitethroat
2 Garden Warblers
7 Blackcaps
5 Chiffchaffs
3 Willow Warblers
1 Willow Tit
3 Greenfinches
2 Reed Buntings
(Ed Wilson)