20 May 24

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

10.0°C > 13.0°C: Cloudy to East otherwise a clear start. Low cloud soon developed, leaving it dull and cheerless. Light easterly breeze. Good visibility in haze.

Sunrise: 05:05 BST

* = a species photographed today
! = a new species for me here this year
!! = a new species for me in Shropshire

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

(109th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- all goslings and cygnets as yesterday.
- a trio of Stock Doves was together amongst c.30 Wood Pigeons on the football field c.06:15.
- a Little Grebe was a surprise. It skittered in to the reeds when it saw me, never to reappear.
- at least 50 Starlings, adults and juveniles, were careering about and feeding mainly on the football field.

Counts of birds noted flying over:
- 30 Wood Pigeons
- 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
That's all

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 6 Swifts
- 4 Barn Swallows
- 1 House Martin

Warblers noted (the figure in brackets relates to birds heard singing):
- 1 (1) Cetti's Warbler
- 13 (11) Chiffchaffs
- 6 (6) Reed Warblers
- 11 (9) Blackcaps
- no Common Whitethroat
'nominal' warbler:
- 3 (3) Goldcrests

Counts from the lake area:
- 6 + 6 (1 brood) Canada Geese: an additional pair throughout; another pair flew in
- 2 + 1 (1 brood) Greylag Geese
- 2 + 2 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 7 (5♂) Mallard
- 2 (1♂) Tufted Duck
- 2 Moorhens
- 18 + 6 (4 broods) Coots
- 1 Little Grebe
- 3 Great Crested Grebes
- 1 Grey Heron: departed

Seen on the street lamps poles pre-dawn:

Flies:
- 1 male plumed midge Chironomus plumosus

Spiders:
- 2 Stout Sac Spider Clubiona sp.

Noted later:

Moths:
- Silver-ground Carpet Xanthorhoe montanata

Bees, wasps etc.:
- Early Bumblebee Bombus pratorum

Hoverflies:
- Buttercup Blacklet Cheilosia albitarsus [Late Buttercup Cheilosia]
- Chequered Hoverfly Melanostoma scalare [Long-winged Duskyface]

Damsel-/dragon-flies:
- *exuvia only

Other flies:
- *long-legged fly Argyra sp.
- dagger fly Empis tessellata
- *!Grouse Wing caddis fly Mystacides longicornis
- caddisfly Phryganea grandis
- Yellow Dung Fly Scathophaga stercoraria
- caddisfly Tinodes waeneri

Beetles:
***a bit of a beetle drive this morning
- Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni
- Raspberry Beetle Byturus tomentosus
- *soldier beetle Cantharis decipiens
- *!Wasp Beetle Clytus arietis
- *Common Malachite Beetle Malachius bipustulatus
- *Nettle Weevil Phyllobius pomaceus
- !14 Spot Ladybird Propylea quattuordecimpunctata
- *Common or Red-headed Cardinal Beetle Pyrochroa serraticornis
- *False blister Beetle: Oedemera lurida/virescens
- *!!Leaf beetle Plateumaris sericea

Molluscs:
- White-lipped Snail Cepaea hortensis

Spiders:
- *Furrow Orbweaver Larinioides cornutus
- Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp.

Fungus:
- *Rust Fungus Puccinia urticata

Plants photographed:
- *Ground-ivy Glechoma hederacea
- *(Common) Bird's-foot Trefoil Lotus corniculatus

This was about as good as it got, the cloud staying ahead of the sun and lowering significantly.

With no sun there were no damselflies around this morning. Here are three exuvia from where the adults emerged. I counted 31 on the boxing ring this morning.

An unusual fly with white banding. It is one of the long-legged fly Argyra sp. but which is impossible to say from a photo.

This seems to be my first Grouse Wing caddis fly Mystacides longicornis of the year. A puzzle is that this species has very long and banded antennae. Try as I might I can only see short banded antennae here. As far as I know there are no confusion species.

Unmistakeably the wings of Alder Flies Sialis lutaria. I assume the bodies were eaten by the spider in whose web they are.

This first of many beetles this morning: it is the soldier beetle Cantharis decipiens.

A Wasp Beetle Clytus arietis. It may look fierce but is quite harmless to man. Its colouration means it is less likely to be eaten though as with many beetles it probably tastes nasty anyway.

Sort of "burying its head in the sand" and hoping not to be seen is a Common Malachite Beetle Malachius bipustulatus.

A close-up of a Nettle Weevil Phyllobius pomaceus.

No mistaking a Common or Red-headed Cardinal Beetle Pyrochroa serraticornis

This is the Leaf beetle Plateumaris sericea. It comes in several different brightly-coloured forms all with the distinctively punctate elytra.

Anyone out there an arachnophobe? A Furrow Orbweaver Larinioides cornutus .

This is Rust Fungus Puccinia urticata. It is very common and occurs in numerous forms of swellings and contortions on Common or Stinging Nettle Urtica dioica.

The delicate flowers of Ground-ivy Glechoma hederacea. You need to get down on the ground to see these.

My first flowers of (Common) Bird's-foot Trefoil Lotus corniculatus this year.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Moths:
- *2 Common Marbled Carpet Chloroclysta truncata

Flies:
- plus the usual midges of several species

Some moths are very consistent in their appearance and then there is the Common Marbled Carpet Chloroclysta truncata which isn't. This is perhaps the commonest form with red-brown markings.

This is an unusually pale form. Both these were in the Priorslee Avenue tunnel.

While this mainly dark form was on a street lamp pole in squirrel alley at The Flash.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:25 – 07:15

(111th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- the two Great Crested Grebes stayed resolutely at opposite ends of the water.
- the trio of Starlings overhead contained at least one juvenile on calls heard.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
- 3 Starlings

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 3 Swifts

Warblers noted (the figure in brackets relates to birds heard singing):
- 6 (6) Chiffchaffs
- 4 (3) Blackcaps
'nominal' warbler:
- 1 (1) Goldcrest

Noted on / around the water:
- 17 Canada Geese
- 1 Greylag Goose
- 9 + 3 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 17 (14♂) Mallard
- 2 (1♂) Tufted Duck
- 4 Moorhens
- 26 + 6 (3 broods) Coots
- 2 Great Crested Grebes

Noted elsewhere around The Flash:

Moths:
- *Figure of Eighty Tethea ocularis
- *Common Marbled Carpet Chloroclysta truncata

Probably the same Figure of Eighty moth Tethea ocularis as yesterday, on the same street lamp pole at the top end. It had shuffled around a bit.

(Ed Wilson)

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Sightings from previous years

2012
Priorslee Lake
Black Tern
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
2 Ruddy Ducks
(Ed Wilson)