26 Aug 24

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

12.0°C > 15.0°C: Mostly clear though rather hazy. Light / moderate south-westerly breeze. Good visibility.

Sunrise: 06:11 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 – 06:35 // 07:40 – 09:00

(185th visit of the year)

Other things to do today so away earlier than usual. Mostly affected the insect numbers.

Bird notes:
- when I arrived there were 13 Canada Geese on the lake. These departed outbound in two groups. Later 81 arrived inbound in at least 11 groups. Whether these included any or all of the original 13 I cannot speculate.

Counts of birds noted flying over:
- 46 Canada Geese: 28 outbound as eight singles / small groups; 20 inbound in three groups
- 42 Greylag Geese: all outbound in three groups
- 24 Wood Pigeons
- 73 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 2 Cormorants: together
- 168 Jackdaws
- 11 Rooks

Hirundines etc. noted:

None

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

Counts from the lake area:
- 81 Canada Geese: at least: see notes
- 2 Mute Swans
- 26 (?♂) Mallard: of these nine flew off together
- 6 adult and juvenile Moorhens
- 95 adult and juvenile Coots
- 4 + 1 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 9 Black-headed Gulls on the lake c.05:45: none on the football field at c.06:20 or later
- 10 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 2 Grey Heron: the second only briefly
- 1 Kingfisher

Noted on the street lamps poles pre-dawn:

Moths:
- *1 !!possible Spindle Ermine Yponomeuta cagnagella
- 1 Common Grass-moth Agriphila tristella [was Common Grass-veneer]
- *1 Square-spot Rustic Xestia xanthographa

Flies:
- *1 !!Minettia longipennis

Beetle:
- *1 Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis var. succinea

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

***thanks to Martin Adlam I am reminded that yesterday's frustrating small fly with two black and white bands on its wings which I photographed on a street lamp pole is the dance fly Tachydromia umbrarum. My previous record this year was August 10th. I also have a record of this species from 22 October 2022.

Sailing Club HQ
I again prowled around the outside of the sailing club HQ pre-dawn:

Moths:
- 3 Copper Underwing agg. Amphipyra pyramidea agg.: same place for five days but a third noted tucked up: perhaps there always has been?

Spiders:
- 2 Missing Sector Orb-web Spiders Zygiella x-notata [Silver-sided Sector Spider]

Noted later:

Butterflies:
- *Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria

Bees, wasps etc.:
- *Honey Bee Apis mellifera
- *Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum
- 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.
- *Tapered Dronefly Eristalis pertinax
- *Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax
- Chequered Hoverfly Melanostoma scalare [Long-winged Duskyface]
- *Common Copperback Ferdinandea cuprea [Bronze Sap Hoverfly; Eurasian Copperback]
- *Pellucid Fly Volucella pellucens [Pied Plumehorn]

Damsel- / Dragon-flies:
- *Common Darter Sympetrum striolatum

Other flies:
- only unidentified flies

Beetles:
- none

Bugs:
- none

Spiders:
- none

Molluscs:
- White-lipped Snail Cepaea hortensis

It is really half-moon now. The moon really was canted at this angle – I checked the "spirit level" on the camera.

The hazy dawn.

A male Blackbird rooting about for food around a drain in Teece Drive.

A slightly battered Speckled Wood butterfly Pararge aegeria. Today I probably saw the largest number of butterflies I have noted on any one day this year. Pity they were all this species!

I cannot get a positive identification for this moth, high up a street lamp pole and at an awkward angle. I suspect it is a Spindle Ermine Yponomeuta cagnagella. The West Midlands Moths internet site shows that around this date it the most common of a number of very similar species. There are several Spindle-trees Euonymus europaea very close-by. If confirmed it would be a new species of moth for me.

A Square-spot Rustic moth Xestia xanthographa. Another individual without the typical dark 'square spot' between the oval and the kidney markings on each forewing.

There were a few Honey Bees Apis mellifera around.

Just one Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum today.

A Tapered Dronefly Eristalis pertinax.

A Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax feeds on one of the few buttercup flowers extant.

 My second Common Copperback hoverfly Ferdinandea cuprea of the year.

A Pellucid Fly Volucella pellucens. My first for some weeks. Several insects were using the few remnant Butterfly-bush flowers.

Almost succeeding in camouflaging itself on soil (actually a mole hill) is a male Common Darter Sympetrum striolatum.

An an immature male looking for prey visiting the Butterfly-bush.

A close-up of the head showing the jaws, capable of dealing with prey at least the size of the dragonfly.

The last thing a victim sees!

And here is a female – pale brown.

This fly is Minettia longipennis. The family it belongs to - the Lauxaniidae - does not have a generic description. The flies in the family are all small, they have wings significantly longer than their body and many have patterning in the wing. This species is characterised by the brown wings fading toward the tip and no spotting.

An unusual location, way up one of the taller street lamp poles pre-dawn, was this Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis var. succinea.

Yet another Bridge Orb-web Spiders Larinioides sclopetarius!

(Ed Wilson)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Moths:
- none

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

Spiders:
- *2 Missing Sector Orb-web Spider Zygiella x-notata [Silver-sided Sector Spider]

Molluscs:
- *1 !!Slippery Snail Cochlicopa lubrica [Slippery Moss Snail]

One of two Missing Sector Orb-web Spider Zygiella x-notata, clearly a male.

This is a Slippery Snail Cochlicopa lubrica, also known as a Slippery Moss Snail. Not a species I have seen before.

(Ed Wilson)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Flash: 06:40 – 07:35

(188th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- while searching for the distant calling House Martins I located a Swift with them. Upon checking my records I see I recorded my last for 2023 on this same date.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 1 Jackdaw

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 1 Swift
- 2 House Martins

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

Noted on / around the water:
- 13 Canada Geese
- *42 Greylag Geese: 41 of these arrived in two groups
- 4 + 3 (1 brood) Mute Swan
- 25 (?♂) Mallard
- 46 (?♂) Tufted Duck
- 5 Moorhens
- 66 + 2 (1 dependent brood) Coots
- 3 Great Crested Grebes
- 42 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Grey Heron

Noted elsewhere around The Flash:

Moths:
- *1 Brimstone Moth Opisthograptis luteolata

Beetles:
- 1 Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni: adult

Spiders, harvestmen etc.
- 3 harvestmen Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus

I counted 32 Greylag Geese arriving: the camera begs to differ – 33. I need more toes to count with.

Unmistakeable: a Brimstone Moth Opisthograptis luteolata.

(Ed Wilson)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sightings from previous years

2013
Priorslee Lake
Yellow Wagtail
(Ed Wilson)