2 Jun 24

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

10.0°C > 16.0°C: Mist and low cloud to the East at dawn only; otherwise fine and clear. Moderate north-westerly breeze. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 04:51 BST

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

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:00 – 06:25 // 07:30 – 09:00

(117th visit of the year)

I again needed to leave earlier than usual. I also concentrated on some of the more shaded areas that I often overlook. Again numbers will be somewhat different.

Bird notes:
- no sign of any Greylag Geese. I assume they lost the last remaining gosling and departed.
- a pair of Tufted Ducks very briefly.
- a Common Whitethroat was heard alarm-calling at the West end and then a male was seen briefly. It seems they probably are breeding here but are uncharacteristically quiet.
- Blue Tits were heard and seen with recently fledged juveniles.

Counts of birds noted flying over:
- 2 Canada Geese: a pair outbound
- 2 Feral Pigeons: together
- 9 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Jackdaw

Hirundines etc. noted: see notes
- c.15 Swifts
- 2 Barn Swallows
- 4 House Martins

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

Counts from the lake area:
- 5+ 4 (1 brood) Canada Geese: an additional pair and single throughout
- 2 + 1 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 3 (2♂) Mallard
- 2 (1♂) Tufted Duck: very briefly
- 3 Moorhens
- 25 + 8 (5 broods) Coots
- 4 Great Crested Grebes
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: flew on to football field c.05:05 only
- 1 Grey Heron: early only

Seen on the street lamps poles pre-dawn:

Flies:
- many various midges

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

Noted later:

Bees, wasps etc.:
- Tree Bumblebee Bombus hypnorum
- *Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum
- Early Bumblebee Bombus pratorum
- *Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris
- *Red Mason Bee Osmia bicornis

Hoverflies:
- *Buttercup Blacklet Cheilosia albitarsus [Late Buttercup Cheilosia]
- Bumblebee Blacklet Cheilosia illustrata
- *Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus
- Tapered Dronefly Eristalis pertinax
- Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax
- Tiger Hoverfly Helophilus pendulus
- Chequered Hoverfly Melanostoma scalare [Long-winged Duskyface]
- Dead-head Hoverfly Myathropa florea [Batman Hoverfly]

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

Other flies:
- Black Snipefly Chrysopilus cristatus: males
- *long-legged fly Dolichopus ungulatus
- Spotted Cranefly Nephrotoma appendiculata
many other unidentified species

Bugs etc.:
- Mirid bug Calocoris alpestris

Beetles:
- Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni
- *False Blister Beetle: Oedemera lurida or O. virescens
- *!!Brassy Willow Beetle Phratora vitellinae
- *!!leaf beetle Plateumaris sericea
- *weevil Polydrusus formosus

Molluscs:
- White-lipped Snail Cepaea hortensis

Spiders:
- *Cucumber Green Orb Spider Araniella sp. possibly A. cucurbitina
- Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp.
- *a pair of unknown spiders

New flowers:
- *Giant Hogweed Heracleum mantegazzianum

A Reed Warbler makes a rare appearance at the top of his favoured reeds which...

....did their best to obscure him.

An unusually small Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum.

A Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris. Although the tail looks white and might suggest a White-tailed Bumblebee B. lucorum note the thin buff area between the white tail and black of the abdomen.

My best photo to date of a Red Mason Bee Osmia bicornis. This is the more colourful and larger female.

A Buttercup Blacklet Cheilosia albitarsus behaving as its name implies.

A Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus. These have been unusually scarce so far this year.

A pair of Common Blue Damselflies Enallagma cyathigerum the female being held by the claspers on the end of the male's abdomen. Not sure what the creature is on the grass stem: a beetle?

A long-legged fly Dolichopus ungulatus.

Beetle-mania again! These are all False Blister Beetles Oedemera lurida or O. virescens. Male and female it would seem.

This seems to be a Brassy Willow Beetle Phratora vitellinae.

This leaf beetle is almost certainly Plateumaris sericea . This species has many colour forms from blackish-blue to red, always with a pitted elytra. I have no idea what the tiny critter at the bottom of the photo is.

A weevil Polydrusus formosus.

This is a Cucumber Green Orb Spider Araniella sp. possibly A. cucurbitina. This small spider spins a web across the surface of a leaf and then suspends itself upside down awaiting prey to land within reach. Note the small red mark at the tip of the abdomen.

Obsidentify called this a cucumber spider as well. I am not convinced as it is the wrong colour (not yellowish-green) and lacks the red spot on the top of its abdomen. I cannot suggest an alternative.

A pair(?) of unknown spiders with the results of their handiwork. I cannot get an identity for these tine individuals.

The huge flower of a Giant Hogweed Heracleum mantegazzianum just beginning to open. In recent years Severn Trent has employed specialist contractors to remove this dangerous invasive plant. Dangerous as if the sap gets on your skin the sun will cause the skin to blister very painfully. Last year only one plant alongside the path was removed and strangely none of the others threw up any flower-heads.

Plane of the day. a rather uninspired photo of the Bombardier Global Express XRS of the Botswana Air Force, usually employed on presidential duties. Data on its flight is "not available" on FlightRadar24 so I have no idea as to its origin or destination. It was heading South.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Only the usual midges of several species

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:30 – 07:25

(119th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- no sign of yesterday's feral Mallard.

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

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

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

Noted on / around the water:
- 71 Canada Geese
- 10 Greylag Geese
- *12 + 3 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- *1 (0♂) Gadwall
- 11 (9♂) Mallard
- *1 (1♂) feral Mallard x ?
- 8 Moorhens
- 21+ 2 (2 broods) Coots
- *4 Great Crested Grebes

Noted elsewhere around The Flash:

Bees etc.:
- Tree Bumblebee Bombus hypnorum
- Early Bumblebee Bombus pratorum

Beetles:
- Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni
- *!!click beetle, most probably a Wireworm Click Beetle Agriotes obscurus

Emydidae:
- terrapin Yellow-bellied Slider Trachemys scripta scripta

While the cob Mute Swan is busy chasing the ten interlopers the pen looks after the three perky-looking cygnets. These did hatch earlier than the cygnets at the Balancing Lake: they have always looked healthier.

A surprise: a duck Gadwall identified by the white in the folded wing and the extensive orange-tone along the side of her bill.

This was with the Gadwall. The (faded) white neck ring and curled tail-feather identify it as being a drake with Mallard genes. To my eyes the flank feathers are too 'circular' for Mallard and the bill of drake Mallards are always wholly greenish-yellow or yellow. So what is it?

A Great Crested Grebe skitters across the water...

...as they do. A strange method of locomotion. Apparently effective.

This immature Cormorant seemed to be climbing...

 ...away but I don't think it had come from here. Just looking.

 This click beetle is most probably a Wireworm Click Beetle Agriotes obscurus. Although there are similar species none seems to have the lines of indentations in the elytra quite like this.

I am still getting the knack of photographing flowers. This is a Smooth Sow-thistle or Milk Thistle Sonchus oleraceus. The apparent spikes on the leaves are not at all 'spiky' like they are on the Prickly Sow-thistle S. asper.

(Ed Wilson)

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Sightings from previous years

2006
Priorslee Lake
Cuckoo
(Ed Wilson