Friends of Priorslee Lake Wildlife Site: 6 Jun 24

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

10.0°C > 13.0°C: Early broken cloud cleared after 07:15 with wall-to-wall blue for a while. After c.08:15 increasing puffy clouds developed with very light spots of rain. Light / moderate north-westerly breeze. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 04:38 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 – 06:20 // 07:25 – 09:50

(121st visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- a Hobby flew high East at 05:30 scattering the 50 or so Swifts that were over the East end of the water. It did not stop.
- after the disappearance of the Starlings a few days ago at least 22 had returned this morning.

Counts of birds noted flying over:
- 5 Canada Geese: a singe and two pairs outbound
- 4 Feral Pigeons
- 3 Wood Pigeons only
- 1 Hobby
- 1 Grey Heron

Hirundines etc. noted: see notes
- *>40 Swifts
- 4 Barn Swallows
- 2 House Martin

Warblers noted (the figure in brackets relates to birds heard singing):
- 1 (1) Cetti's Warbler
- 11 (11) Chiffchaffs
- 7 (7) Reed Warblers
- 10 (10) Blackcaps
- no Common Whitethroat
'nominal' warbler:
- no Goldcrest

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 Mute Swans
- 3 (2♂) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) Tufted Duck
- 3 Moorhens
- 34 + 10 (7 broods) Coots
- 3 Great Crested Grebes
- *4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: one on the football field 06:05; three on the water 08:50

Noted on the street lamps poles pre-dawn:

Moths:
- *Silver-ground Carpet Xanthorhoe montanata
- *!Buff Ermine Spilosoma lutea

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

Noted later:

Butterflies:
- none

Moths:
- *!Yellow-barred Longhorn Nemophora degeerella
- !Timothy Tortrix Zelotherses paleana
- *!Common Grey Scoparia ambigualis
- *Silver-ground Carpet Xanthorhoe montanata
- *!Latticed Heath Chiasmia clathrata

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

Hoverflies:
- *!Snouted Duckfly Anasimyia lineata
- Buttercup Blacklet Cheilosia albitarsus [Late Buttercup Cheilosia]
- *Bumblebee Blacklet Cheilosia illustrata
- *!Plain-faced Dronefly Eristalis arbustorum
- Tapered Dronefly Eristalis pertinax
- *Tiger Hoverfly Helophilus pendulus
- *Bumblebee Plume-horned Hoverfly Volucella bombylans
- *Orange-belted Leafwalker Xylota segnis

Damsel-/dragon-flies:
- *Common Blue Damselfly Enallagma cyathigerum
- Red-eyed Damselfly Erythromma najas
- Blue-tailed Damselfly Ischnura elegans
- Broad-bodied Chaser Libellula depressa: female

Other flies:
- Black Snipefly Chrysopilus cristatus: males only noted
- *!Thick-headed Fly Sicus ferrugineus [Ferruginous Bee-grabber]
- Grouse Wing caddis fly Mystacides longicornis
- *Scorpion Fly Panorpa sp.
- *Downlooker Snipefly Rhagio scolopaceus
- Yellow Dung Fly Scathophaga stercoraria

Bugs etc.:
- Red-and-Black Froghopper Cercopis vulnerata

Beetles:
- Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni
- Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis var. succinea
- False Blister Beetle: Oedemera lurida or O. virescens
- Swollen-thighed Beetle Oedemera nobilis
- *!!Lesser Thorn-tipped Longhorn Beetle Pogonocherus hispidus

Molluscs:
- White-lipped Snail Cepaea hortensis

Spiders:
- *Furrow Orbweaver Larinioides cornutus
- *wolf spider sp. to be identified

New flowers noted:

None

Almost a sunrise.

One of the local Common Buzzards.

A Lesser Black-backed Gull. Despite first appearances it is an adult – a bleached specimen about to start its post-breeding moult.

Whose buoy is it anyway? Two adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls.

I am getting the hang of these Swifts!

Could be better.

This shows the long, narrow wings to good effect.

On my hand this is a Yellow-barred Longhorn moth Nemophora degeerella that I had just rescued from a spider's web. Since it was only in the web because I flushed it I was happy to deprive the spider of its breakfast. I see this moth species most years though not in 2023.

Rubbish photo. A Common Grey moth Scoparia ambigualis buried in the grass. I will try and do better.

A Silver-ground Carpet moth Xanthorhoe montanata on one of the street lamp poles at dawn.

A different Silver-ground Carpet moth I flushed from the grass showing the underside.

It may look like a butterfly but is in fact a moth: a Latticed Heath Chiasmia clathrata. The biological distinction between butterflies and moths is that the former have clubbed antennae and nothing to do with day and night.

My first Buff Ermine moth Spilosoma lutea of the year on the same street lamp pole at dawn.

A hoverfly species I do not see most years - only once in the last ten in fact. It is one of two Snouted Duckflies Anasimyia lineata I noted.

My what a long tongue you have. A Bumblebee Blacklet Cheilosia illustrata.

The white bands between the tergites (body segments) is the clue that this is not one of the most common dronefly species. It is a Plain-faced Dronefly Eristalis arbustorum.

There were many of the smart Tiger Hoverflies Helophilus pendulus this morning.

A Bumblebee Plume-horned Hoverfly Volucella bombylans. This species comes in two forms: the other has a rufous tail.

Just about visible is the orange belly of this Orange-belted Leafwalker hoverfly Xylota segnis.

A female Scorpion Fly Panorpa sp. trying to look camouflaged on a grass head.

'Best' fly of the day was this Thick-headed Fly Sicus ferrugineus , also known as a Ferruginous Bee-grabber. This group of flies rest with the tip of their abdomen tucked under.

A Downlooker Snipefly Rhagio scolopaceus doing what it should be doing: looking down.

We need at least one unknown species of fly for the day.

In very strong cross-lighting I am afraid. A new beetle species for me: a Lesser Thorn-tipped Longhorn Beetle Pogonocherus hispidus. Note the spikes on the end of the elytra (wing cases). Also the feathering on the antennae, noticeable on the shadow.

Death and destruction. A Furrow Orbweaver spider Larinioides cornutus with a male Common Blue Damselfly Enallagma cyathigerum for breakfast.

A wolf spider is all I can say about this. Note it is carrying an egg sac under its abdomen so I assume it is a female.

Plane of the day. And a surprise at 05:20. I assume it was leaving the grass strip at Shifnal. It is a Comco-Ikarus C42 FB UK, design from Germany usually built from a kit. According to the official records its owner lives in Gloucester!

(Ed Wilson)

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

In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Once again just a few midges of several species

(Ed Wilson)

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

The Flash: 06:25 – 07:20

(124th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- a quartet of Canada Goose goslings seen.
- one of the supernumerary Mute Swans not seen
- the duck Gadwall again.
- the two apparently well-grown juvenile Mallard seen together.
- a juvenile Pied Wagtail seen: only my second sighting of this species here this year.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:

None

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

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

Noted on / around the water:
- 133 + *4 (1 brood) Canada Geese
-* 2 Canada x Greylag Geese
- 9 + 3 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 1 (0♂) Gadwall
- 21 (17♂) + 2 (? broods) Mallard
- *1 (1♂) feral Mallard
- 6 Moorhens
- 21+ 8 (5 broods) Coots
- 1 Great Crested Grebe

Noted elsewhere around The Flash:

Moths:
- *1 Common Pug Eupithecia vulgata

Beetles:
- many Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni

New flowers:
- *Pineappleweed or Wild Chamomile Matricaria discoidea

A quartet of sleeping Canada Goose goslings with one of their parents.

One of two Canada x Greylag Geese that seemed to have arrived since yesterday.

A better view of this puzzle of a duck. The curly tail-feather indicates drake Mallard genes. The bill looks like a duck Mallard. The white collar a drake Mallard. The flank feathers are more reminiscent of a duck Gadwall. The vermiculations on the folded wings are more like a drake Gadwall. And what is the orange tone doing on the cheek? Pass!