19 May 24

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

10.0°C > 18.0°C: Wall to wall blue skies. Light northerly breeze. Good visibility.

Sunrise: 05:11 BST

*** apologies: I have run out of time to do research on some of the insects and the Obsidentify app is not responding to allow me to verify some of the other insects etc. I will provide a selection of photos tomorrow
! = a new species for me here this year
!! = a new species for me in Shropshire

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:05 – 06:10 // 07:10 – 09:35

(108th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- the resident Canada Geese still have six goslings.
- the resident Greylag Geese still have the one goslings.
- the Mute swans appear to have but two small cygnets.
- it seems that despite being quiet for many days a Common Whitethroat is nesting at the West end.

Counts of birds noted flying over:
- 4 Canada Geese: two pairs outbound
- 1 Greylag Goose: outbound
- 2 (1) Mallard
- 13 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
- 3 Jackdaws
- 2 Rooks

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 1 Barn Swallow
- 2 House Martins

Warblers noted (the figure in brackets relates to birds heard singing):
- 1 (1) Cetti's Warbler
- 13 (11) Chiffchaffs
- 10 (9) Reed Warblers
- 16 (14) Blackcaps
- 1 (0) Common Whitethroat
'nominal' warbler:
- 2 (2) Goldcrests

Counts from the lake area:
- 7 + 6 (1 brood) Canada Geese: an additional two pairs and a single at various times
- 2 + 1 (1 brood) Greylag Geese
- 2 + 2 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 5 (5♂) Mallard
- 4 (2♂) Tufted Duck
- 3 Moorhens
- 23 + 5 (2 broods) Coots
- 5 Great Crested Grebes

Seen on the street lamps poles pre-dawn:

Arthropod:
- 1 Blunt-tailed Snake Millipede Cylindroiulus punctatus

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

Noted later:

Moths:
- !Silver Y Autographa gamma

Bees, wasps etc.:
- Chocolate Mining Bee Andrena scotica
- Early Bumblebee Bombus pratorum
- Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris
- !nomad bee sp.: a smaller species than seen previously

Hoverflies:
- Buttercup Blacklet Cheilosia albitarsus [Late Buttercup Cheilosia]
- Spring Epistrophe Epistrophe elegans [Spring Smoothtail]
- Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus
- Tiger Hoverfly Helophilus pendulus
- Chequered Hoverfly Melanostoma scalare [Long-winged Duskyface]
- !!possible Orthonevra sp. (straight-veined marsh hoverflies) to be investigated
- Syrphus sp. S. ribesii / S. vitripennis
- Tooth-thighed Hoverfly Tropidia scita [Swamp Thickleg]

Damsel-/dragon-flies:
- Azure Damselfly Coenagrion puella
- Common Blue Damselfly Enallagma cyathigerum
- !Red-eyed Damselfly Erythromma najas
- Blue-tailed Damselfly Ischnura elegans

Other flies:
- dagger fly Empis trigramma
- Scorpion Fly Panorpa sp.

Bugs:
- Red-and-Black Froghopper Cercopis vulnerata

Beetles:
- soldier beetle Cantharis sp.
- Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis var. succinea
- !!longhorn beetle possibly Leiopus nebulosus
- False blister Beetle: Oedemera lurida/virescens
- !Swollen-thighed Beetle Oedemera nobilis [False Oil Beetle or Thick-legged Flower Beetle]

Molluscs:
- White-lipped Snail Cepaea hortensis

Spiders:
- Nursery Web Spider Pisaura mirabilis
- Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp.

Plants photographed:
- !Southern Marsh Orchid Dactylorhiza praetermissa
- !another orchid sp.
- !Nipplewort Lapsana communis
- !Common Sorrel Rumex acetosa

It has been a poor breeding year for the Mute Swans here and at The Flash. Just two extant cygnets here (I was not around when they first emerged and there may have been more: a few are usually lost quickly). At The Flash it seems five eggs hatched with only three extant cygnets. Perhaps due to the recent cold and wet weather?

The cygnets look perky-enough.

So the Common Whitethroat is still around. This is a male with the grey head.

The head does not look so grey from this angle but it is the same bird.

Again.

New for the year is this Silver Y moth Autographa gamma. Named from the marking in the wing. Mainly a migrant from Southern Europe that breeds in the UK to produce later native generations. Recently it has been confirmed as over-wintering along the South Coast.

A robust moth that likes to stay hidden in the vegetation.

I did not manage to identify this in the written blog. It is a rather worn Tree Bumblebee Bombus hypnorum. My excuse is that this is a relatively new species to the UK (this century) and not all the literature covers it.

Many more bumblebees around at last. One of half a dozen or so Early Bumblebees Bombus pratorum

Another with a lot more 'fur'. This is a male and the previous example was a worker.

This nomad bee seemed to be a smaller species than those I have seen previously this year and also with more extensive brown markings between the yellow band. Does not help with specific identification though.

I misidentified this for the blog as a mining bee. It is far too robust and the antennae too short. It is a Red Mason Bee Osmia bicornis.

 A Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax.

A hoverfly I struggled with in the absence of Obsidentify. And I think, using Steven Falk's web pages, Obsidentify got the genus correct but the species wrong. My vote would be for a Common Pipiza Pipiza noctiluca. I noted this species for the first time on 24 May last year. It is certainly not an Orthonevra sp. (straight-veined marsh hoverflies) as I wrote in the blog.

A female Common Blue Damselfly Enallagma cyathigerum.

Another female. When freshly emerged (the teneral stage) all damselflies lack colour. In this species some females retain this colouration even when mature.

My first Red-eyed Damselfly Erythromma najas of the year. Not too difficult to separate by eye from the other blue damselflies by the solidly dark top to the thorax.

A Blue-tailed Damselfly Ischnura elegans . This is the only species of blue damselfly likely to be seen here whose pterostigma (the mark toward the tip of the outer edge of the wing) are black and white. Other species are all dark.

With Obsidentify working again for me this "soldier beetle Cantharis sp." can be identified as C. nigricans.

I did not manage to identify this for the log. It is a Common Malachite Beetle Malachius bipustulatus.

My first Swollen-thighed Beetle Oedemera nobilis of this year. It is a female so does not have swollen thighs!

This species characteristically rests with the elytra (wing cases) held slightly open.

I cannot identify this remarkable-looking longhorn beetle. It photo-bombed a shot of a hoverfly and I did not notice it until I looked at the photo so this is the only chance to identify it. Obsidentify suggested, not very enthusiastically, Small Black Longhorn Beetle Stenurella nigra but that species looks to have a much slimmer abdomen than is apparent in the photo. Bother!

 A well-marked Nursery Web Spider Pisaura mirabilis laying in wait.

And a not-so-well-marked individual.

Now the flowers have opened more identification of this orchid is easier. It is almost certainly a Southern Marsh Orchid Dactylorhiza praetermissa. Orchids freely hybridise and positive identification is not always possible.

I was not able to get an identification for this only partly open orchid. It is on (relatively) dry land and I suspect it will turn out to be a Common Spotted-orchid Dactylorhiza fuchsii even though I could see no spots on the leaves as yet.

Another one of the many confusing yellow flowers. This is Nipplewort Lapsana communis.

Not the most exciting of flowers. This is Common Sorrel Rumex acetosa, as the scientific genus indicates it is part of the dock family.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Moths:
- 2 !Common Pugs Eupithecia vulgata

Flies:
- plus the usual midges of several species

One of two Common Pug moths Eupithecia vulgata on the ceiling of the tunnel. Pug moths seem to like it here.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:15 – 07:05

(110th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- a Stock Dove was calling along the East side.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:

None

Hirundines etc. noted:

None

Warblers noted (the figure in brackets relates to birds heard singing):
- 5 (5) Chiffchaffs
- 2 (2) Blackcaps
'nominal' warbler:
- 2 (2) Goldcrests

Noted on / around the water:
- 14 Canada Geese
- 1 Greylag Goose
- 9 + 3 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 15 (11♂) Mallard
- 2 (1♂) Tufted Duck
- 8 Moorhens
- 20 + 6 (3 broods) Coots
- 1 Great Crested Grebe

Noted elsewhere around The Flash:

Moths:
- !Figure of Eighty Tethea ocularis

A Figure of Eighty moth Tethea ocularis. Do I really need to explain why?

(Ed Wilson)

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Sightings from previous years

2013
Priorslee Lake
Curlew
Grasshopper Warbler
(Ed Wilson)

Wrekin
5 Tree Pipits
2 Common Redstart
2 Spotted Flycatchers
5 Pied Flycatcher
5 Wood Warblers
Tawny Owl
(Ed Wilson)

2012
Priorslee Lake
Grasshopper Warbler
(Ed Wilson)

Wrekin
21 Crossbill
4 Wood Warbler
Pied Flycatcher
Common Redstart
Tree Pipit
(Glenn Bishton)

2006
Priorslee Lake
2 Ruddy Ducks
(Ed Wilson)