8 Aug 24

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

12.0°C > 16.0°C: A clear start. Cloud soon spreading from the West with light drizzle starting by 09:30. Light / moderate south-easterly breeze. very good visibility.

Sunrise: 05:41 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 – 06:15 // 07:10 – 09:30

(170th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- *another sighting of an extra Mute Swan. Initially the residents seemed to ignore it. They eventually gave chase together. Result not known.
- at 05:40 three hirundines flew high South some distance from me and I was unable to determine the species. They were more widely-spaced that the usual family grouping of migrating Barn Swallow. Beyond I can only speculate.

Counts of birds noted flying over:
- 73 Canada Geese: 47 outbound in 12 groups; 26 inbound in three groups
- 34 Greylag Geese: 20 outbound in three groups; 14 inbound in two groups
- 1 Stock Dove
- 112 Wood Pigeons
- 3 Herring Gulls
- 36 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 62 Jackdaws
- 22 Rooks

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 7 House Martins
- 3 unidentified hirundines: see notes

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

Counts from the lake area:
- 44 Canada Geese: arrived in eight groups
- 3 Greylag Geese: arrived as a duo and then a single with one of groups of Canada Geese
- *3 Mute Swans: see notes
- 16 (?♂) Mallard
- 5 adult and juvenile Moorhens
- 52 adult and juvenile Coots
- *6 + 1 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 15 Black-headed Gulls (one juvenile) on the lake c.08:00: no gulls on the football field at 05:55
- 9 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Grey Heron

Noted on the street lamps poles pre-dawn:

Moths:
- none

Bees, wasps etc.:
- wasp sp.: either German Wasp Vespula germanica or Common Wasp V. vulgaris

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

Noted later:

Butterflies:
- Gatekeeper Pyronia tithonus

Moths:
- *Straw Grass-moth Agriphila straminella [was Straw Grass-veneer]
- *Pale Straw Pearl Udea lutealis

Bees, wasps etc.:
- *Garden Bumblebee Bombus hortorum
- *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.
- *Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus
- Chequered Hoverfly Melanostoma scalare [Long-winged Duskyface]
- *possible Twin-spot Boxer Platycheirus rosarum [Fourspot Sedgesitter Pyrophaena rosarum]

Damsel-/dragon-flies:
- none

Other flies:
- *Muscid fly of Helina sp., perhaps H. pertusa
- *Scorpion Fly Panorpa communis
- *other unidentified flies noted

Bugs etc.:
- none

Beetles:
- none

Molluscs:
- White-lipped Snail Cepaea hortensis

Spiders, harvestmen etc.
- none

New flowers:
- none

I was surprised to see this dinosaur flying past pre-dawn.

 Another "as good as it got" sunrise with clouds encroaching behind me.

The 'extra' Mute Swan. The bill colour indicates it is not a full adult. It has a very thin-looking neck. Just a young female or perhaps under-nourished?

The residents in pursuit, the cob with the larger swelling at the base of its bill on the right

Only one Great Crested Grebe juvenile (so far?) this year and the parent (there seems to be only one feeding it) has been keeping it well away from anywhere I could take a photo. Not this morning. Junior trying to persuade the adult not to eat it!

One of ten Chiffchaffs I noted here this morning. Mostly I just heard them calling. This one popped out briefly.

Goldfinches are still twittering away. Apart from the omnipresent Wren song they are the most vocal species at the moment.

A Straw Grass-moth Agriphila straminella in the usual head-down resting position.

Another Pale Straw Pearl moth Udea lutealis whose markings have faded somewhat.

This Garden Bumblebee Bombus hortorum is somewhat camouflaged among the Common Ragwort Jacobaea vulgaris flowers.

A Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum tucks in.

So does a Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris.

A Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus approaches a Greater Bindweed flower Convolvulus sylvaticus. Note both the thorax and the top of the abdomen look as if they may have been attacked by a parasite.

Not sure about this hoverfly. Obsidentify had no hesitation that it was a Twin-spot Boxer Platycheirus rosarum. The leg markings match but it seemed significantly too large for this group to me. Without seeing the abdomen marks I will have to list as a possible.

This Muscid fly has wing markings that indicate it is one of the Helina sp. But which? It is perhaps H. pertusa though identification from photos is "unreliable".

It is several weeks since I saw a Scorpion Fly Panorpa communis and I did not expect to see one on a dull morning. This is a female.

One where I can agree with Obsidentify. "Unidentified fly" it said. Unidentified it stays. Note the wear on the wing tips.

Another unknown fly.

And another.

And a row of them. These, probably from the long-legged fly family, were standing together on a leaf gently floating down the Wesley Brook.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Moths:
- none

Flies:
- *1 cranefly Tipula lateralis

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

The wing markings combined with the pale line down the abdomen identify this cranefly as another Tipula lateralis.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:20 – 07:05

(173rd visit of the year)

Bird notes:

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

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 1 Barn Swallow
- 3 House Martins

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

Noted on / around the water:
- 8 Canada Geese
- 2 Greylag Geese
- 2 + 3 (1 brood) Mute Swan
- 28 (?♂) Mallard
- 23 (?♂) Tufted Duck
- 5 + 4 (2 broods) Moorhens
- 59 + 5 (43 broods) Coots
- 3 Great Crested Grebes
- *24 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Grey Heron
- 1 Kingfisher

Noted elsewhere around The Flash:

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

One of this year's Black-headed Gulls. It has now lost the ginger tones it had when newly fledged and is now only showing the brown markings of its first winter garb.

(Ed Wilson)

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Sightings from previous years

2011
Priorslee Lake
Ruddy Duck
(Ed Wilson)

2008
Priorslee Lake
Wheatear
(Ed Wilson)