26 Apr 24

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

1.0°C > 7.0°C: Clear with an early frost. Some light cloud developing later. Still chilly with a light easterly breeze. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 05:47 BST

* = a species photographed today

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:15 – 06:10 // 07:15 – 09:30

(92nd visit of the year)

New Bird Species
Two new bird species for my year list from here:
- an Oystercatcher flew high East calling at 08:30 – too high for the camera to pick it up.
- a Garden Warbler was singing in the hedge between the South side of the water and the M54. This completes all likely species of warbler for here this year.
This year's bird species total moved on to #89.

Other bird notes:

Counts of birds noted flying over:
- 10 Canada Geese: a sextet outbound; two pairs inbound
- 2 Greylag Geese: a pair inbound
- 3 Feral Pigeons: together
- 9 Racing Pigeons: together
- 6 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Oystercatcher
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
- 1 Cormorant
- 1 Jackdaw

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 8 Sand Martins
- *4 Barn Swallows

Warblers noted (the figure in brackets relates to birds heard singing):
- 1 (1) Cetti's Warbler
- 1 (1) Willow Warbler
- 13 (10) Chiffchaffs
- 5 (5) Reed Warblers
- 17 (13) Blackcaps
- 1 (1) Garden Warbler
- 1 (1) Common Whitethroat
'nominal' warbler:
- 3 (3) Goldcrests

Counts from the lake area:
- 8 Canada Geese: the resident pair throughout: three other pairs visited
- 2 Mute Swans
- 4 (4♂) Mallard
- 4 (3♂) Tufted Duck
- 4 Moorhen
- 29 Coots
- 4 Great Crested Grebes
- 1 Grey Heron

Noted on the street lamps poles pre-dawn:

Frosted!

Beetles:
- Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni

Noted later:

The sun was not strong enough to tempt anything much to show and anyway the easterly wind was blowing on to any sunlit vegetation:

Flies:
- Alder Fly Sialis lutaria

Beetles:
- Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni

At last: a clear dawn.

A few clouds to the South. These did not interfere with the local area.

A few Barn Swallows were flying around. The best I could do.

(Ed Wilson)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Flies:
- 3 various midges
- *1 cranefly Dicranomyia chorea
- 1 owl midge Psychodidae sp.

Arthropods:
- *1 White-legged Snake Millipede Tachypodoiulus niger

I cannot identify this non-biting midge that I see most days. There is a species with similarly long legs on the NatureSpot web site but that has a dusky band across the wings which this lacks.

Another small cranefly: the 'M' (or 'W') shaped mark on the folded wings identifies it as Dicranomyia chorea. It is missing two legs.

Yet another White-legged Snake Millipede Tachypodoiulus niger

(Ed Wilson)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Flash: 06:15 – 07:10

(95th visit of the year)

New Bird Species
Also two new bird species for 2024 here:
- a Pied Wagtail flushed off Derwent Drive as I arrived was very surprisingly my first here this year.
- a Lesser Whitethroat was giving its rattling song from bushes at the very top of the water before flying off towards the A5. I do not record this species here every year.
This year's bird species total moved on to #62.

Other bird notes:
- still three immature Mute Swans: where is the fourth?
- a new brood of Mallard ducklings: about seven? They scurried for cover when a Lesser Black-backed Gulls arrived.
- after a larger number of Coots yesterday I recorded a smaller number today. Why? Juvenile(s) were out from one of the nests and were heard calling from the cover of reeds. I could not determine how many.

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

Warblers noted (the figure in brackets relates to birds heard singing):
- 3 (3) Willow Warblers
- 7 (7) Chiffchaffs
- 8 (7) Blackcaps
- 1 (1) Lesser Whitethroat
'nominal' warbler:
- no Goldcrest

Noted on / around the water:
- 34 Canada Geese
- 4 Greylag Geese
- 5 Mute Swans
- 17 (13♂) + 7? (1 brood) Mallard
- 11 (8♂) Tufted Duck
- 8 Moorhens
- 19 Coots
- 1 Great Crested Grebe
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: immature

Noted elsewhere around The Flash on different lamp poles:

Moths:
- *1 Red-green Carpet Chloroclysta siterata

Flies:
- 1 female plumed midge
- *1 wood gnat Sylvicola fenestralis

High up on a street lamp pole I found this Red-green Carpet moth Chloroclysta siterata. A species that over-winters as an adult and flies briefly in the Spring.

This is a Sylvicola wood gnat trying to hide against the lichen on a street lamp pole. The three dark lines on the thorax identify this as S. fenestralis, just about the only member of the family that can be identified from a photo.

(Ed Wilson)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sightings from previous years

2014
Priorslee Lake
3 Cranes
(Observer Unknown)

The Wrekin
3 Wood Warbler
(Damon H, Jim A, Yvonne C)

2013
Priorslee Lake
1 Cormorant
1 Dunlin
1 Common Sandpipers
1 Yellow Wagtail
1 Wheatear
3 Reed Warblers
12 Blackcaps
7 Chiffchaffs
2 Willow Warblers
(Ed Wilson)

The Flash
3 Greylag Goose
1 Richardson's / Cackling-type Canada Goose
3 Pochard
7 Tufted Duck
4 Blackcaps
2 Chiffchaffs
4 Willow Warblers
2 Swallows
1 Redpoll
(Ed Wilson)

Trench Middle Pool
3 Great Crested Grebes
28 Greylag Geese
1 Tufted Duck
1 Blackcap
3 Chiffchaffs
3 Willow Warblers
(Ed Wilson)

Trench Lock Pool
3 Great Crested Grebes
6 Tufted Duck
2 Swifts
c.5 Sand Martins
c.30 Swallows
c.40 House Martins
1 Blackcap
1 Chiffchaff
1 Willow Warbler
Sparrowhawk
(Ed Wilson)

Nedge Hill
19 Wheatear
Swallows
(Richard Camp)

Long Lane, Wellington
c10 Ringed Plover
c10 Dunlin
Spotted Redshank
(JV Reeves)

2012
Priorslee Lake
1 Swift
12 House Martin
7 Swallow
(Martin Grant)

2011
The Wrekin
3 Pied Flycatcher
1 Common Redstart
2 Marsh Tit
1 Wood Warbler
(Ed Wilson)

2008
Priorslee Lake
Swift
3 Common Sandpipers
1 Sedge Warbler
6 Reed Warblers
9 Chiffchaffs
(Ed Wilson)

East of Priorslee Lake
6 Whitethroats
2 Skylarks
1 Yellowhammer
(Ed Wilson)

2007
Priorslee Lake
4 Great Crested Grebes
7 Greylag Geese
1 Tufted Duck
3 Swallows
3 Blackcaps
1 Chiffchaff
2 Jays
28 Magpies
(Ed Wilson)

Nedge Hill
1 Ring Ouzel
(Peter Nickless)

Priorslee Flash
1 Cormorant
Swallows
34 Blackbirds
6 Willow Warbler
1 Reed Bunting
(Ed Wilson)

Lanes to the east of Priorslee Flash
5 Mallard
1 Buzzard
1 Heron
Skylarks
Blackcaps
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
5 Great Crested Grebes
1 Heron
7 Tufted Ducks
2 Ruddy Ducks
1 Kestrel
1 Common Sandpiper
6 Stock Doves
1 Swift
2 Sand Martins
2 Swallows
1 Yellow Wagtail
2 Grey Wagtails
26 Wrens
26 Blackbirds
1 Sedge Warbler
3 Reed Warblers
1 Lesser Whitethroat
7 Blackcaps
6 Chiffchaffs
2 Willow Warblers
17 Magpies
1 Raven
7 Greenfinches
5 Reed Buntings.
(Ed Wilson)