11.0°C > 10.0°C: Overcast with cloud lowering and rain after 07:45. Almost calm start with a light westerly breeze developing. Very good visibility until the rain when moderate at times.
Sunrise: 04:55 BST
* = a species photographed today
! = a new species for me here this year
!! = a new species for me in Shropshire
Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:10 – 06:05 // 07:15 – 09:00
* = a species photographed today
! = a new species for me here this year
!! = a new species for me in Shropshire
Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:10 – 06:05 // 07:15 – 09:00
(146th visit of the year)
The rain meant I left without visiting all my usual haunts and the counts should be read with that in mind.
Bird notes:
Counts of birds noted flying over:
- 62 Wood Pigeons
- 17 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 4 Jackdaws
- 4 Rooks
Hirundines etc. noted:
- 21 Swifts
- 2 Barn Swallows
Warblers noted (the figure in brackets relates to birds heard singing):
- 13 (11) Chiffchaffs
- 5 (5) Reed Warblers
- 8 (5) Blackcaps
'nominal' warbler:
- no Goldcrests
Counts from the lake area:
- 2 Mute Swans
- 8 (?♂) Mallard
- 3 + 2 (1 brood) Moorhens
- 20 + 2 (2 broods) Coots
- 4 Great Crested Grebes
- 4 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Herring Gull
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Grey Heron throughout
Noted on the street lamps poles pre-dawn:
Moths:
- *!1 Common Wave Cabera exanthemata
Seen later:
This markings on this moth are too faded for me to be 100% certain as to its identity. I believe it is a Common Wave Cabera exanthemata. Note the antennae: the feathering indicates this is a male
(Ed Wilson)
In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:
(149th visit of the year)
I completed my circuit here ahead of the rain though it was rather dull at times.
Bird notes:
- a duck Gadwall seen again: perhaps it is always here lurking amongst the moulting Mallard?
- this will be the last day for several months when I attempt to sex the Tufted Duck. The drakes are more or less in full moult and very difficult to distinguish from ducks. We will soon get new juveniles to add to the confusion.
Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: singles
- 2 Jackdaws: together
Hirundines etc. noted:
- 4 Swifts
- 3 House Martins
Warblers noted (the figure in brackets relates to birds heard singing):
- 5 (4) Chiffchaffs
- 3 (3) Blackcaps
'nominal' warbler:
- no Goldcrests
Noted on / around the water:
- 216 Canada Geese
- 70 Greylag Geese
- 1 Canada x Greylag Goose
- 2 + 3 (1 brood) Mute Swan
- *1 (0♂) Gadwall
- 26 Mallard: sexes not determined
- 12 (9?♂) Tufted Duck: sexes hard to determine
- 6 + 2 (2 broods) Moorhens
- 43 + 8 (4 broods) Coots: two new broods noted
- 4 Great Crested Grebes
- *1 Grey Heron
- 1 Kingfisher
Noted elsewhere around The Flash:
I found this Common Marbled Carpet moth Chloroclysta truncata on a street lamp pole in squirrel alley. This is a very variable species, the most notable feature confirming the identity of this individual is the dark mark toward the outer edge of the white central area.
(Ed Wilson)
Sightings from previous years
2010
Priorslee Lake
2 Common Sandpiper
(Ed Wilson)
- *!1 Common Wave Cabera exanthemata
Seen later:
Nothing of note
(Ed Wilson)
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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:
Nothing of note
(Ed Wilson)
The Flash: 06:10 – 07:10
(Ed Wilson)
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The Flash: 06:10 – 07:10
(149th visit of the year)
I completed my circuit here ahead of the rain though it was rather dull at times.
Bird notes:
- a duck Gadwall seen again: perhaps it is always here lurking amongst the moulting Mallard?
- this will be the last day for several months when I attempt to sex the Tufted Duck. The drakes are more or less in full moult and very difficult to distinguish from ducks. We will soon get new juveniles to add to the confusion.
Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: singles
- 2 Jackdaws: together
Hirundines etc. noted:
- 4 Swifts
- 3 House Martins
Warblers noted (the figure in brackets relates to birds heard singing):
- 5 (4) Chiffchaffs
- 3 (3) Blackcaps
'nominal' warbler:
- no Goldcrests
Noted on / around the water:
- 216 Canada Geese
- 70 Greylag Geese
- 1 Canada x Greylag Goose
- 2 + 3 (1 brood) Mute Swan
- *1 (0♂) Gadwall
- 26 Mallard: sexes not determined
- 12 (9?♂) Tufted Duck: sexes hard to determine
- 6 + 2 (2 broods) Moorhens
- 43 + 8 (4 broods) Coots: two new broods noted
- 4 Great Crested Grebes
- *1 Grey Heron
- 1 Kingfisher
Noted elsewhere around The Flash:
Moths:
- *1 Tawny Grey Eudonia lacustrata
- *1 Common Marbled Carpet Chloroclysta truncata
- *1 Tawny Grey Eudonia lacustrata
- *1 Common Marbled Carpet Chloroclysta truncata
Harvestman:
- *!1 Dicranopalpus ramosus agg.
The duck Gadwall. Note the extensive orange-brown on the side of her bill; the pale fringes on the circular tipped feathers on the flanks; and the, mostly hidden, white speculum below the folded wing.
- *!1 Dicranopalpus ramosus agg.
Grey Herons have returned to the area now the breeding season is over and the heronries are vacated.
Yet another Tawny Grey moth Eudonia lacustrata I found on one of the street lamp poles.
This harvestman is best recorded as Dicranopalpus ramosus agg. 'Agg.' stands for 'aggregate': recently a new, as yet unnamed, species similar to D ramosus has been noted. As yet separation of the two species is not fully established. Neither has a vernacular name.
(Ed Wilson)
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Sightings from previous years
2010
Priorslee Lake
2 Common Sandpiper
(Ed Wilson)