Friends of Priorslee Lake Wildlife Site: 1 Jun 24

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

11.0°C > 14.0°C: A mostly sunny start. Gradually clouded. Moderate northerly breeze. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 04:52 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 – 06:40 // 07:45 – 08:35

(116th visit of the year)

I needed to leave early today and only made one complete circuit. This will have affected some numbers.

Bird notes:
- the Mute Swans do have only a single cygnet.
- seven Great Crested Grebes were present when I arrived: another bird flew in.
- a Lesser Whitethroat sang once from the hedge along the West end. Could there be two birds breeding here?

Counts of birds noted flying over:
- 2 Greylag Geese: a pair outbound
- 16 Wood Pigeons
- 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Jackdaw

Hirundines etc. noted: see notes
- 10 Swifts
- 2 Barn Swallows
- 4 House Martins

Warblers noted (the figure in brackets relates to birds heard singing):
- 1 (1) Cetti's Warbler
- 12 (11) Chiffchaffs
- 10 (10) Reed Warblers
- 1 (1) Lesser Whitethroat
- *10 (10) Blackcaps
'nominal' warbler:
- 3 (3) Goldcrests

Counts from the lake area:
- 4+ 4 (1 brood) Canada Geese: an additional pair throughout
- 2 + 1 (1 brood) Greylag Geese
- 2 + 1 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 1 (1♂) Mallard
- 2 (1♂) Tufted Duck
- 4 Moorhens
- 17 + 3 (2 broods) Coots: count take early and probably incomplete
- 8 Great Crested Grebes

Seen on the street lamps poles pre-dawn:

Flies:
- many various midges

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

Noted later:

Moths:
- *Common Marble Celypha lacunana
- *!Drinker Euthrix potatoria: caterpillars

Bees, wasps etc.:
- *Tree Bumblebee Bombus hypnorum
- Early Bumblebee Bombus pratorum
- Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris

Hoverflies:
- Buttercup Blacklet Cheilosia albitarsus [Late Buttercup Cheilosia]

Damsel-/dragon-flies:
- Common Blue Damselfly Enallagma cyathigerum
- Blue-tailed Damselfly Ischnura elegans

Other flies:
- Black Snipefly Chrysopilus cristatus: males
- Scorpion Fly Panorpa sp.
- *Downlooker Snipefly Rhagio scolopaceus
- Yellow Dung Fly Scathophaga stercoraria
*many other unidentified species

Bugs etc.:
- *plant bug Deraeocoris flavilinea: nymph

Beetles:
- Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni
- 7 Spot Ladybird Coccinella 7-punctata
- *Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis var. spectabilis
- *Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis var. succinea

Molluscs:
- White-lipped Snail Cepaea hortensis
- Girdled Snail Hygromia cinctella

Spiders:
- *spider Dictyna sp.

New flowers:
- *Snowberry Symphoricarpos sp. probably S. albus

It is unusual for Blackcaps to sing in the open once all the leaves are on the trees.

He is probably between broods and proclaiming his territory.

A Common Marble moth Celypha lacunana.

A caterpillar of a Drinker moth Euthrix potatoria. I recorded one here last year on 30 May.

Perhaps this one wants its tummy scratched. I did not oblige – with all those irritant hairs.

A while since I saw one of these Tree Bumblebees Bombus hypnorum.

And another.

A Downlooker Snipefly Rhagio scolopaceus looking the wrong way.

Wonderful ugly fly #1. No time to research them today I am afraid.

And #2.

A Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis of the form spectabilis.

This one of the form succinea.

Some are more orange and on some the spots can be faded almost away. This is both. The white on the face is consistent.

This is a nymph of a plant bug, probably Deraeocoris flavilinea though many nymphs look similar.

At the top a spider Dictyna sp. Seems to have taken on a fly much larger.

The Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp. I found on one of the street lamp poles around dawn. A male with large palps.

New flower today. This is Snowberry Symphoricarpos sp. probably S. albus.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Flies:
- 1 unidentified cranefly
and the usual midges of several species

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:45 – 07:40

(118th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- still 12 (near) adult Mute Swans! Still three cygnets.
- no sign of yesterday's feral Mallard.
- a Great Spotted Woodpecker was heard drumming. Presumably between broods though I cannot recall hearing drumming later in the year than March previously.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:

None

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 2 Swifts
- 2 House Martins

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

Noted on / around the water:
- 55 Canada Geese
- 7 Greylag Geese
- 12 + 3 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 11 (9♂) Mallard
- 2 (1♂) Tufted Duck
- 7 Moorhens
- 21+ 4 (3 broods) Coots
- 2 Great Crested Grebes

Noted elsewhere around The Flash:

Moths:
- *Brimstone Moth Opisthograptis luteolata

Bees etc.:
- Early Bumblebee Bombus pratorum
- *Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris
- *Common Wasp Paravespula vulgaris

Hoverflies:
- Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus
- *Grey-spotted Boxer Platycheirus albimanus [Grey-spotted Sedgesitter or White-footed Hoverfly]

Damsel-/dragon-flies:
- *Common Blue Damselfly Enallagma cyathigerum

Other flies:
- long-legged fly Argyra diaphana
- caddisfly Tinodes waeneri

Bugs:
- *!Common Nettle Bug Liocoris tripustulatus

Beetles:
- Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni
- Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis var. succinea

A Brimstone Moth Opisthograptis luteolata.

This seems to be a Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris though I cannot explain why it has two pale bands at the tip of its abdomen.

When you get close to a Common Wasp Paravespula vulgaris you realise how hairy they are.

When I first saw this hoverfly it was resting on a leaf with its wings closed obscuring the markings. Luckily it went for a hover, revealing it as a Grey-spotted Boxer Platycheirus albimanus.