13 Aug 24

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

11.0°C > 17.0°C: Mainly broken clouds, tending to increase. Some sunny spells. Light / moderate south-easterly wind. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 05:50 BST

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

Several warblers were singing today. A Willow Warbler was singing from a garden in Derwent Drive. Two Chiffchaffs, one Blackcap and a Common Whitethroat all sang briefly at the Balancing Lake. It is not unusual for Chiffchaffs to sing on warm sunny days through until late September. Less so the other species.

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:00 – 06:20 // 07:20 – 09:45

(175th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- no sign of yesterday's Gadwall or Pochard.
- a Coot was seen optimistically carrying more nesting material back to an already large mound.
- just nine Black-headed Gulls noted on the lake. None on the football field at 06:00 or 07:25.
- a tight group of 24 large gulls flew East at 05:05 with what I assume were 13 of the same flew West at 05:06!
- a sizeable number of House Martins seen here and at The Flash: some might have been logged at both sites. No juveniles were heard begging. There seems to be fewer around Newport these last few days. Could they be leaving already?
- at least two family parties of Reed Warblers were feeding young so it will be a while yet before these set out on the long trip to West Africa.
- Five Pied Wagtails flew over early. There were eight on the football field at 09:35 (along with five Starlings).
- one Linnet is still around.

Counts of birds noted flying over:
- 112 Canada Geese: 50 outbound in six groups; 62 inbound in five groups
- 26 Greylag Geese: 16 outbound together; 10 inbound in two groups
- 129 Wood Pigeons
- 3 Herring Gulls
- 31 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 34 unidentified large gulls
- 127 Jackdaws
- 54 Rooks
- 5 Pied Wagtails

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 3 Barn Swallows
- 16 House Martins

Warblers noted (the figure in brackets relates to birds heard singing):
- 12 (2) Chiffchaffs
- 9 (0) Reed Warblers
- 5 (1) Blackcaps
- 1 (1) Common Whitethroat
'nominal' warbler:
- 1 (0) Goldcrest

Counts from the lake area:
- 51 Canada Geese: arrived in at least six groups
- 2 Mute Swans
- 11 (?♂) Mallard
- 5 adult and juvenile Moorhens
- 57 adult and juvenile Coots
- 3 + 1 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 9 Black-headed Gulls on the lake c.05:45
- 1 Grey Heron
- 1 Kingfisher

Noted on the street lamps poles pre-dawn:

Moths:
- none

Hoverflies:
- *1 Parsley Blacklet Cheilosia pagana

Springtails:
- 1 springtail Pogonognathellus longicornis-type

Spiders, harvestmen etc.
- *1 Bridge Orb-web Spider Larinioides sclopetarius
- 1 harvestman Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus
- 1 female harvestman Leiobunum rotundum
- *1 harvestman Opilio saxatilis

Noted later:

**weak sunshine and the easterly breeze on what vegetation was sunlit reduced the number of insects about.

Butterflies:
- Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria

Moths:
- Straw Grass-moth Agriphila straminella [was Straw Grass-veneer]: at least five

Bees, wasps etc.:
- *Garden Bumblebee Bombus hortorum
- *Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum
- Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris
- *Common Wasp Paravespula vulgaris
- *!!Ectemnius wasp species, possibly Dark Fly Fox E. continuus

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 [Eurasian Drone Fly]
- *Tapered Dronefly Eristalis pertinax
- *Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax
- Chequered Hoverfly Melanostoma scalare [Long-winged Duskyface]

Damsel-/dragon-flies:
- !Common Darter Sympetrum striolatum
- unidentified hawker species in flight only

Other flies:
- *unlikely the Tachinid fly Sabre-tongued Parasite Fly Prosena siberita
- otherwise only unidentified flies noted

Bugs etc.:
- *Hawthorn Shieldbug Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale
- *Common Green Shieldbug Palomena prasina: instar

Beetles:
- none

Molluscs:
- White-lipped Snail Cepaea hortensis

Spiders, harvestmen etc.
- none

New flowers:
- none

Another day with a worthwhile sunrise. Good...

 ...better...

...best.

The Common Buzzard watches the Magpie. The Magpie watches the Common Buzzard. Both on the roof of the academy c.06:00.

Much of the action today was centred around the Greater Bindweed flowers Convolvulus sylvaticus. Here is a Garden Bumblebee Bombus hortorum covered in pollen and about to get more covered.

I hope that Common Carder Bees Bombus pascuorum are immune to the toxins in Bittersweet Solanum dulcamara (also known as Woody Nightshade).

This wasp stopped very briefly on the Teece Drive fence and this out-of-focus grab shot is good-enough to show that the yellow mark at the side of the thorax is parallel sided, thus confirming it as a Common Wasp Paravespula vulgaris.

This is an Ectemnius wasp species, possibly Dark Fly Fox E. continuus . Separation of the six UK species in this genus of digger wasps is not reliable from photos, this species being the most common. (There are nearly 200 species world-wide). This seems to be a female with the yellow base to each antennae. That feature is only shown on those noted as female in the pictures on Steven Falk's web site. There is no mention of this as a feature in his text.

A Parsley Blacklet hoverfly Cheilosia pagana asleep on one of the street lamp poles pre-dawn.

A Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus also at the Greater Bindweed.

This is a Plain-faced Dronefly Eristalis arbustorum...

...very obviously smaller than this similarly-shaped male Tapered Dronefly Eristalis pertinax...

 ...this female Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax.

Obsidentify's best suggestion for this was Sabre-tongued Parasite Fly Prosena siberita. This Tachinid fly is not mentioned in either NatureSpot or eakringbirds. The illustrations elsewhere on the internet are close, though the thorax marks are slightly different. I think I'll stick with "unknown Tachinid fly".

A Hawthorn Shieldbug Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale. Whoever gave it the species part of its scientific name obviously had a sense of humour.

A green dinner plate with ears. In fact a late instar Common Green Shieldbug Palomena prasina.

A Bridge Orb-web Spider Larinioides sclopetarius among the debris on a street lamp pole.

This is probably the harvestman Opilio saxatilis. There is another species in the genus that is larger but since it is not illustrated in NatureSpot I am assuming it is uncommon and I am unlikely to have seen it. Both are characterised by the pale line down the abdomen. I did not have my dividers with me to measure the length of this one.

Intriguing. What seem to be harvestman legs sticking out of a crack in a street lamp pole with no obvious owner.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Moths:
- *Flame Carpet Xanthorhoe designata

Flies:
- 1 cranefly Tipula lateralis

Other things:
- *27 White-legged Snake Millipedes Tachypodoiulus niger

Spiders, harvestmen etc.
- 1 Missing Sector Orb-web Spider Zygiella x-notata [Silver-sided Sector Spider]

A Flame Carpet moth Xanthorhoe designata happily at rest on the ceiling of the tunnel.

Three of the 27 White-legged Snake Millipedes Tachypodoiulus niger I noted today. It occurred to me that I have rather been assuming that the millipedes on the wall are this species even though many of them seem rather small. So I thought I ought to check. They are indeed White-legged Snake Millipedes.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:25 – 07:15

(177th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- a fly-over Raven was only my second record here this year.
- a Great Spotted Woodpecker was photographed on the roof of a house in Derwent Drive

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
- 1 Pied Wagtail

Hirundines etc. noted:
- c.20 House Martins

Warblers noted (the figure in brackets relates to birds heard singing):
- 1 (1) Willow Warbler
- 6 (0) Chiffchaffs
'nominal' warbler:
- 1 (0) Goldcrest

Noted on / around the water:
- 3 Canada Geese
- 1 Greylag Goose
- 2 + 3 (1 brood) Mute Swan
- 31 (?♂) Mallard
- 33 (?♂) Tufted Duck
- *4 + 3 (2 broods) Moorhens
- 72 + 3 (2 broods) Coots
- 4 Great Crested Grebes
- 9 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Grey Heron

Noted elsewhere around The Flash:

Moths:
- 1 Single-dotted Wave Idaea dimidiata

Spiders, harvestmen etc.
- 1 harvestman Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus

An adult Moorhen with two still-dependent juveniles, one begging.

A Great Spotted Woodpecker on the roof of a house in Derwent Drive. The red on its nape indicates it is a male.

(Ed Wilson)

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Sightings from previous years

2013
Priorslee Lake
2 Common Sandpipers
(Ed Wilson)

2011
Priorslee Lake
Ruddy Duck
1 Common Sandpiper
>50 Linnets
(Ed Wilson)

2007
Priorslee Lake
Little Egret
(Ed Wilson)