29 Jul 24

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

12.0°C > 21.0°C: Clear and almost calm. A few thin high clouds. Excellent visibility.

Sunrise: 05:25 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 – 06:10 // 07:05 – 09:45

(164th visit of the year)

Overall quit with very few insects about. Too warm?

Bird notes:
- all four Mute Swans remain with minimal chasing. The two (pair?) that are spending most of the time near the dam are unringed and are therefore arrivals. The other two, perhaps the residents though I have been unable to see whether they are ringed, spend considerable amounts of time apart.
- the Great Crested Grebe with the juvenile seems to be in its own with the other birds (loosely) paired.

Counts of birds noted flying over:
- 16 Canada Geese: inbound together
- 48 Greylag Geese: outbound in four groups
- 3 Feral Pigeons
- 192 Wood Pigeons
- 3 Herring Gulls
- 17 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 96 Jackdaws
- 64 Rooks

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 2 Barn Swallows
- 1 House Martin: others heard?

Warblers noted (the figure in brackets relates to birds heard singing):
- 12 (0) Chiffchaffs
- 9 (0) Reed Warblers
- 3 (1) Blackcaps
- 1 (1) Common Whitethroat
'nominal' warbler:
- no Goldcrests

Counts from the lake area:
- *36 Canada Geese: two remained from yesterday; seven then 27 more arrived in groups
- 2 Greylag Geese: arrived
- 4 Mute Swans
- 15 (?♂) Mallard
- 5 adult and juvenile Moorhens
- 51 adult and juvenile Coots: yesterday's very new brood not seen
- 5 + 1 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 7 Black-headed Gulls at most on the lake. jut 34 (1 juvenile) were on the football field at 05:50
- 2 Grey Herons: a second bird arrived but was not seen again
- 1 Kingfisher: briefly

Noted on the street lamps poles pre-dawn:

Nothing at all

Noted later:

Butterflies:
- Large White Pieris brassicae
- Green-veined White Pieris napi
- Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria
- Meadow Brown Maniola jurtina
- Gatekeeper Pyronia tithonus

Moths:
- *Straw Grass-moth Agriphila straminella [was Straw Grass-veneer]
- at least nine of these grass moths: many went unidentified
- Mother of Pearl Patania ruralis

Bees, wasps etc.:
- *Honey Bee Apis mellifera
- Garden Bumblebee Bombus hortorum
- Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum
- *presumed Willughby's Leafcutter Bee Megachile willughbiella

Hoverflies:

The first name is that used by Stephen Falk. The name in square brackets is that given by Obsidentify or other sources if different. Scientific names are normally common. The species are presented in alphabetic order of those scientific names.
- *Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus
- *Plain-faced Dronefly Eristalis arbustorum
- Tapered Dronefly Eristalis pertinax
- *Chequered Hoverfly Melanostoma scalare [Long-winged Duskyface]
- *Dead-head Hoverfly Myathropa florea [Common Batman Fly]
- *Common Twist-tail Sphaerophoria scripta [Long Hoverfly; Common Globetail]
- *Pellucid Fly Volucella pellucens [Pied Plumehorn]

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

Other flies:
- *Common Green Bottle Fly Lucilia cuprina
- flesh fly Sarcophaga sp.
- *cranefly Tipula oleracea
**otherwise only unidentified flies noted

Bugs etc.:
- *probable Plagiognathus arbustorum

Beetles:
- *Rough-haired Lagria Beetle Lagria hirta
- Common Red Soldier Beetle Rhagonycha fulva

Molluscs:
- White-lipped Snail Cepaea hortensis

Spiders:
- *possible Furrow Orbweaver Larinioides cornutus

Some general views to start. Mist over the water just about at sunrise.

A different perspective

Setting the trees on fire?

Could you get a more perfect view of the lake?

Very strange. A group of five Canada Geese on top of the dam seemed entirely unfazed by Sever-Trent contractors in Hi-viz jackets using industrial-sized mowers to cut down their food. A few minutes later someone walked along the path across the dam top and the geese scurried in to the water.

Another Blue Tit looking slightly worse for wear after a busy breeding season. During the next few weeks these will be far less obvious as they undertake a complete moult to get a new set of feathers to insulate them for the winter.

One of at least nine Straw Grass-moth Agriphila straminella I noted. Many others went unidentified. With staring blue eyes this group of moths looks permanently surprised.

I do like Honey Bees Apis mellifera. They get on with the task in hand and ignore you peering at them from close range.

Well this is a Leafcutter Bee. From reading my Bee field guide it is most likely a Willughby's Leafcutter Bee Megachile willughbiella based on location and date.

However this view suggests it could be a Patchwork Leafcutter Bee M. centuncularis. I'll ask the Shropshire bee recorder for her thoughts.

If only all species of hoverfly were as obliging as many of the Marmalade Hoverflies Episyrphus balteatus and would sit with wings akimbo allowing the abdomen markings to be seen clearly.

Would you believe a Plain-faced Dronefly Eristalis arbustorum?

What I believe to be a Chequered Hoverfly Melanostoma scalare deep within the bowels of a Greater Bindweed Convolvulus sylvaticus flower. For some reason Obsidentify thought it a Short Melanostoma M. mellinum but with the wings extending beyond the tip of the abdomen it cannot be. That's AI for you. Be very afraid about the mistakes AI could make if unchecked.

A Dead-head Hoverfly Myathropa florea.

This is a Common Twist-tail Sphaerophoria scripta. Its alternative name of "Long Hoverfly" would perhaps be better as "Thin Hoverfly". It is "long" only in the sense it is for a very small insect.

A Pellucid Fly Volucella pellucens. I am seeing this species in small numbers every day at the moment.

Perhaps a Common Green Bottle Fly Lucilia cuprina. This was the identity suggested by Google Lens. Obsidentify was only prepared to go as far as Lucilia sp.

This cranefly is most likely Tipula oleracea. Another species, T. paludosa, shares the feature of the dark line down the centre of the abdomen but is much less likely to be flying before the Autumn infestation of craneflies.

Crawling down a street lamp pole well after dawn was my first Rough-haired Lagria Beetle Lagria hirta of the year.

This bug is most likely Plagiognathus arbustorum. It has no vernacular name. It is crawling across a petal of a Greater Bindweed Convolvulus sylvaticus flower.

There is tiny and then there is really tiny. This spider is in a very small part of the palm of my hand. It seems most likely that it is a recently hatched spiderling of Furrow Orbweaver Larinioides cornutus. I have seen adults of this species on the boxing ring which is where I found this.

Plane of the day: you do have to look hard as the haze layer made viewing the aircraft difficult. Even with considerable photo-editing it is none too clear. It is a US Air Force Lockheed U-2S Dragon climbing out of RAF Fairford where several are currently detached. One was in the static park at RIAT the weekend before last. This is a much-updated version of the famous Gary Powers spy-plane shot down over the Soviet Union in 1960. Modern technology allows snooping from well outside Russian airspace.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Moths:
- 1 Single-dotted Wave Idaea dimidiata

Other things:

- 11 White-legged Snake Millipedes Tachypodoiulus niger

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:15 – 07:00

(167th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- even more Mallard were presumably hiding inside the island.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 2 Jackdaws

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 3 House Martins

Warblers noted (the figure in brackets relates to birds heard singing):
- 3 (0) Chiffchaffs

Noted on / around the water:
- 48 Canada Geese
- 1 Greylag Goose
- 2 + 3 (1 brood) Mute Swan
- 3 (?♂) Mallard only
- 30 (?♂) Tufted Duck
- 4 + 4 (2 broods) Moorhens
- 47 + 4 (4 broods) Coots
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- 1 Black-headed Gull
- 1 Grey Heron

Noted elsewhere around The Flash:

Flies:
- *1 unidentified mayfly sp.

Beetles:
- 1 Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni larva

Spiders:
- 1 Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp.
- *1 Comb-footed Spider, probably Theridion varians

Another "won't win any prizes" photo. Amongst the debris high up on a street is what is clearly a mayfly but which species I have no idea. Only my second-ever log of a mayfly here – and the other was just about two weeks ago.

A tiny spider I found, also on one of the street lamp poles. It is probably the Comb-footed Spider Theridion varians. As the scientific name implies this is a very variably-marked species that can resemble others in the family.

(Ed Wilson)

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Sightings from previous years

2006
Priorslee Lake
1 Common Tern
(Ed Wilson)