14 Aug 24

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

13.0°C > 14.0°C: Overcast with occasional light drizzle after overnight rain. Somewhat clearer to the north-west without getting any closer. Light northerly wind. Mostly very good visibility.

Sunrise: 05:51 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 – 06:25 // 07:20 – 09:35

(176th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- a tight group of 65 gulls flew East at 05:35 with most of them stopping off. I determined 35 Black-headed Gulls, two Herring Gulls, 14 Lesser Black-backed Gulls with 14 unaccounted for and presumably flew on.
- at 06:10 there were 18 Black-headed Gulls (from the above?) and 73 Wood Pigeons on the football field. By 07:35 these had been replaced by just 1 Wood Pigeon, nine Starlings and 21 Pied Wagtails.
- no roost departure flights of Jackdaws or Rooks seen. They were either lost in the early light rain or were later than usual and I had departed for The Flash before they passed by.

Counts of birds noted flying over:
- 92 Canada Geese: 66 outbound in eight groups; 26 inbound in two groups
- 14 Greylag Geese: a single outbound; 13 inbound in four groups
- 2 (?♂) Mallard: together
- 1 Stock Dove
- 112 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Herring Gull
- 7 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 14 unidentified large gulls
- 1 Common Buzzard
- 5 Jackdaws
- no Rooks

Hirundines etc. noted:
- House Martin(s) heard over at 05:20 only

Warblers noted (the figure in brackets relates to birds heard singing):
- 8 (0) Chiffchaffs
- 7 (0) Reed Warblers
- 4 (1) Blackcaps
- 1 (0) Common Whitethroat
'nominal' warbler:
- 1 (0) Goldcrest

Counts from the lake area:
- 29 Canada Geese: arrived together
- 2 Mute Swans
- 10 (?♂) Mallard
- 5 adult and juvenile Moorhens
- 72 adult and juvenile Coots
- 5 + 1 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 35 Black-headed Gulls on the lake c.05:35
- 3 Herring Gulls
- 17 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Grey Heron
- 1 Kingfisher

Noted on the street lamps poles pre-dawn:

Moths:
- none

Flies:
- 1 unidentified caddis fly.

Springtails:
- 3 springtails Pogonognathellus longicornis-type

Beetles:
- !1 Orange Ladybird Halyzia sedecimguttata

Other things:
- 1 White-legged Snake Millipede Tachypodoiulus niger

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

Noted later:

Butterflies:
- none

Moths:
- none

Bees, wasps etc.:
- Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris

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.
- Chequered Hoverfly Melanostoma scalare [Long-winged Duskyface]

Damsel-/dragon-flies:
- none

Other flies:
- only unidentified flies noted

Bugs etc.:
- Common Green Shieldbug Palomena prasina: instar

Beetles:
- none

Molluscs:
- White-lipped Snail Cepaea hortensis

Spiders, harvestmen etc.
- Missing Sector Orb-web Spider Zygiella x-notata [Silver-sided Sector Spider]
- female harvestman Leiobunum rotundum

New flowers:
- none

A winner for the council contractors. They felled a number of trees alongside Teece Drive for reasons that they did not explain to me. The result was that this willow was left more exposed. It has now fallen over.

Two duck Mallard. It is particularly obvious on the leading bird that the wing feathers are still growing and a long way from covering the back when the bird is at rest.

I have only ever seen the extant juvenile Great Crested Grebe with one parent. This morning a second adult appeared...

 ...with an eye to the chance of a mating. And in front of the child too. Tut, tut.

Not a brilliant photo but it was at 05:30 on a dull morning... A recently-fledged Black-headed Gull still with much dark markings.

All the Chequered Hoverflies Melanostoma scalare I noted today were feeding on (and sheltering in) Greater Bindweed Convolvulus sylvaticus.

I was not surprised to fail to identify this caddis fly. There are many species and only a few are distinctive-enough to identify from photos. A group that I do not see that often.

Not the Orange-belted Leaf Licker Xylota segnis that Obsidentify suggested. However I have no idea what this fly is.

Neither can I say what this fly is.

One of three springtails, all probably Pogonognathellus longicornis, on the same street lamp pole pre-dawn. This was the best-marked of the trio.

While this one seems to have lost part of one antenna.

On a (grubby) street lamp pole pre-dawn I noted this Orange Ladybird Halyzia sedecimguttata.

One or other of us (or both) were saved from a nasty fate. This late instar Common Green Shieldbug Palomena prasina dropped off a blackberry just as I was about to pop the fruit in to my mouth!

A full size White-legged Snake Millipedes Tachypodoiulus niger here; after all the small individuals in the Priorslee avenue tunnel.

A Bridge Orb-web Spider Larinioides sclopetarius tackles breakfast.

An unusual daytime sighting of a female harvestman Leiobunum rotundum: one with its legs set for action and not, for a change, on a street lamp pole.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Moths:
- 2 Single-dotted Wave Idaea dimidiata

Flies:
- 1 female Banded Mosquito Culiseta annulata
- very many midges

Other things:
- 17 White-legged Snake Millipedes Tachypodoiulus niger

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

A Banded Mosquito Culiseta annulata, the long proboscis identifying it as a female.

One of many midges in the tunnel. A particularly well endowed male of unknown species.

Obsidentify told me this is a Garden Cross Spider Araneus diadematus. I am sure it isn't and believe it to be a Missing Sector Orb-web Spider Zygiella x-notata.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:30 – 07:15

(179th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- a Common Teal was a surprise at this early date for a returning bird. I think a drake (or an immature) still in moult.
- in some ways the Coot totals are even more unreliable today. Other than the birds still with dependent young they had not yet begun to disperse from their roost along the East side of the island and hideaway in the vegetation. But they were all jammed together and were very hard to separate – count the white shields!

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 2 Jackdaws

Hirundines etc. noted:
- c.25 House Martins

Warblers noted (the figure in brackets relates to birds heard singing):
- 7 (1) Chiffchaffs
'nominal' warbler:
- no Goldcrests

Noted on / around the water:
- 7 Canada Geese
- 1 Greylag Goose
- 2 + 3 (1 brood) Mute Swan
- 48 (?♂) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) Common Teal
- 29 (?♂) Tufted Duck
- 4 + 2 (2 broods) Moorhens
- 78 + 10 (5 broods) Coots
- 5 Great Crested Grebes
- 16 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Grey Heron: departed

Noted elsewhere around The Flash:

Moths:
- 2 Common Grass-moths Agriphila tristella [was Common Grass-veneer]

Beetles:
- 2 Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni

Spiders, harvestmen etc.
- 1 Missing Sector Orb-web Spider Zygiella x-notata [Silver-sided Sector Spider]
- 2 harvestmen Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus

On the left what I believe to be a moulting drake Common Teal. The duck Tufted Duck alongside gives size comparison. The while flash on the side of the teal's tail is typical of the duck of the species. However the pale area below this looks to be the area that will become the diagnostic yellow patch of adult drakes in breeding plumage.

One of two Common Grass-moths Agriphila tristella I noted. Both individuals had one wing folded over the markings on the closer wing preventing me confirming that the white streak splits in to four fingers. I think the edging to the white streak is sufficiently well-defined to rule out any other species.

Another spider I believe to be a Missing Sector Orb-web Spider. With long palps this must be a male.

(Ed Wilson)

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Sightings from previous years

2013
Priorslee Lake
1 Common Sandpiper
(Ed Wilson)

2007
Priorslee Lake
Common Sandpiper
Wheatear
(Ed Wilson)