8 Jun 24

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

12.0°C > 14.0°C: Mainly cloudy. A light rain shower and then a brief sunny interval. Moderate / fresh south-westerly breeze. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 04:48 BST

Other things to do today: photos, if any when I have checked them, will come tomorrow.
! = a new species for me here this year
!! = a new species for me in Shropshire

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:00 – 06:30 // 07:30 – 08:25

(123rd visit of the year)

I only had time for one early lap around here. This will have affected some of the numbers with, especially, juvenile Coots likely remaining hidden in the reeds.

Bird notes:
- a trio of Grey Herons high overhead together was unusual.

Counts of birds noted flying over:
- 1 Canada Goose: outbound
- 4 Wood Pigeons only
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Cormorant
- 3 Grey Herons: together
- 5 Jackdaws

Hirundines etc. noted:
- >40 Swifts
- 4 Barn Swallows
- 4 House Martins

Warblers noted (the figure in brackets relates to birds heard singing):
- 1 (1) Cetti's Warbler
- 10 (9) Chiffchaffs
- 6 (6) Reed Warblers
- 15 (11) Blackcaps
'nominal' warbler:
- 4 (4) Goldcrest

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 Mute Swans
- 3 (2♂) Mallard
- 2 (1♂) Tufted Duck
- 1 Moorhen
- 27 + 7 (3 broods) Coots
- 2 Great Crested Grebes

Noted on the street lamps poles pre-dawn:

Nothing

Noted later:
Very strange: I was walking through a grassy area in dull conditions with almost no insects visible. A shaft of warm sun suddenly appeared and within less than a minute over 100 damselflies were dancing around as well as a few moths. Where were they all hiding? The sun went back in and all the damselflies disappeared!

Butterflies:
- none

Moths:
- Common Marble Celypha lacunana
- Straw Dot Rivula sericealis

Bees, wasps etc.:
- Early Bumblebee Bombus pratorum

Hoverflies:
- Tiger Hoverfly Helophilus pendulus

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

Other flies:
- Black Snipefly Chrysopilus cristatus: males only noted
- Grouse Wing caddis fly Mystacides longicornis : 100s
- Yellow Dung Fly Scathophaga stercoraria

Bugs etc.:
- none

Beetles:
- Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni
- 2 Spot Ladybird Adalia bipunctata

Molluscs:
- White-lipped Snail Cepaea hortensis

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

New flowers noted

None

Unusual: a trio of Grey Herons high overhead.

When the sun briefly broke through this Common Marble moth Celypha lacunana took to the air.

As did this Straw Dot moth Rivula sericealis.

Only when I checked my photos did I note I had seen this hoverfly: a Pellucid Fly or Pied Plumehorn Volucella pellucens.

A 2 Spot Ladybird Adalia bipunctata hiding away in the dull conditions.

One I forgot to put in the main log. A (Great) Black Slug Arion agg. A poorly understood complex of species here trying to find nourishment from the seeds of Cow Parsley Anthriscus sylvestris

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Once again only midges of several species apart from:

Arthropod:
- 1 White-legged Snake Millipede Tachypodoiulus niger

"Me and baby brother" also omitted from yesterday's blog narrative. What I think is a cranefly Tipula varipennis with a male plumed midge.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:35 – 07:25

(126th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- a Greenfinch was heard giving its rasping call-notes, my first here for some weeks. Now between broods?

Bird(s) noted flying over here:

None

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 1 House Martin

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

Noted on / around the water:
- 107 + 3 (1 brood) Canada Geese
- 1 Canada x Greylag Goose
- 9 + 3 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 1 (0♂) Gadwall
- 16 (11♂) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) feral Mallard
- 6 + 1 (1 brood) Moorhens
- 14+ 2 (2 broods) Coots: hiding from the cool conditions?
- 2 Great Crested Grebes

Noted elsewhere around The Flash:

Beetles:
- many Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni

New plants

Both likely garden escapes:
- !Fennel Foeniculum vulgare
- !Tutsan Hypericum androsaemum or a similar hybrid

The distinctive head of Fennel Foeniculum vulgare.

This seems to be a hybrid between Tutsan Hypericum androsaemum and Stinking Tutsan H. hircinum given the scientific name H. x inordum. Probably a garden escape though several species of the closely-related St John's-wort grow wild nearby.

(Ed Wilson)

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Sightings from previous years

2013
Priorslee Lake
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Reed Warbler
Willow Tit.
(John Isherwood)

Redhill
Kestrel
Linnet
Stock Dove
Yellowhammer.
(John Isherwood)

2009
Priorslee Lake
9 Swifts
4 Chiffchaffs
(Ed Wilson)

2007
Priorslee Lake
Raven
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
4 Great Crested Grebes
1 Tufted Duck
2 Ruddy Duck
1 Kestrel
3 Stock Doves
4 Swift
2 Swallow
12 House Martin
7 Reed Warbler
2 Lesser Whitethroat
1 Common Whitethroat
1 Garden Warbler
10 Blackcaps
5 Chiffchaffs
2 Willow Tit
19 Magpies
8 Greenfinch
6 Reed Bunting
(Ed Wilson)