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Botanical Report

Species Records

31 Aug 24

No sightings in today

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Sightings from previous years

2013
Priorslee Lake
Possible Little Ringed Plover
Raven
(John Isherwood)

2012
Priorslee Lake
Hobby
Common Tern
(Ed Wilson)

2011
Nedge Hill
Wheatear
(John Isherwood)

2010
Priorslee Lake
Yellow Wagtail
Little Grebe
Shoveler
(Ed Wilson)
The Flash
58 Tufted Duck
(Ed Wilson)

30 Aug 24

No sightings in today

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Sightings from previous years

2012
Priorslee Lake
Black Tern
(Arthur Harper)

2010
Priorslee Lake
Yellow Wagtail
Kingfisher
(Ed Wilson)

29 Aug 24

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

11.0°C > 15.0°C: A clear start. A large area of high and then medium-level cloud spread from the West after 07:30 with blue skies only returning after I left. Almost calm start with light / moderate westerly breeze developing. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 06:16 BST

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

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:105 – 06:40 // 07:50 – 09:45

(188th visit of the year)

Bird Notes
Highlights today was a Redshank present until 08:00 at least. Not new for the year here – one was seen on 11 July.

Other bird notes:
- there were no Black-headed Gulls again on the football field at c.06:25 and only six noted altogether: where are they all? Four of these were juveniles / first winters.
- I did not note the juvenile Great Crested Grebe.
- counts of the roost-dispersing Jackdaws and Rooks were incomplete while I snuck up on, what at the time was, the not positively identified Redshank.

Counts of birds noted flying over:
- 68 Canada Geese: 59 outbound in nine groups; nine inbound together
- 40 Greylag Geese: all outbound in three groups
- 1 Feral Pigeon
- 19 Racing Pigeons: together
- 3 Stock Doves: single and duo
- 89 Wood Pigeons
- 27 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 71 Jackdaws: see notes
- 49 Rooks: see notes

Hirundines etc. noted:
- House Martins heard only

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

Counts from the lake area:
- 69 Canada Geese: arrived in at least nine groups
- 2 Mute Swans
- 15 (?♂) Mallard
- 8 Moorhens
- 99 Coots
- 3 Great Crested Grebes
- *1 Redshank
- 6 Black-headed Gulls
- *7 Herring Gulls
- 1 Yellow-legged Gull
- *61 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Grey Heron: arrived and departed
- 1 Kingfisher

Noted on the street lamps poles pre-dawn:

Moths:
1 Common Grass-moth Agriphila tristella [was Common Grass-veneer]

Springtails:
- 2 springtails Pogonognathellus longicornis-type

Beetles:
- 1 Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis var. succinea: dead? - same place for four days

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

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

Molluscs:
- *1 Tawny Soil Slug Arion owenii

Spiders:
- 13 spiders: including but not exhaustively
- *Bridge Orb-web Spiders Larinioides sclopetarius
- Missing Sector Orb-web Spider Zygiella x-notata [Silver-sided Sector Spider]

Noted later:
Not much in cloudy conditions.

Bees, wasps etc.:
- *Honey Bee Apis mellifera
- Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum

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.
- *Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax

Other flies:
- *long-legged fly Dolichopus ungulatus or similar
- *European Crane-fly Tipula paludosa
- other unidentified flies

Molluscs:
- White-lipped Snail Cepaea hortensis

Fruits:
- *Snowberry Symphoricarpos sp. probably S. albus

Mammals:
- Brown Rat Rattus norvegicus

A clear start. As so often this 'summer' it did not stay that way.

While trying to get a better angle on the Lesser Black-backed Gull (see below) I nearly trod on this Redshank which jumped in to the water to bathe.

Despite looking in to what light there was at 05:45 I eventually managed a couple of decent shots. Here is one.

And the other. The pale edging to the feathers indicate this is a juvenile. Perhaps why I was able to get so close. Juvenile waders are often raised on remote and desolate tundra and have never seen humans to become fearful of them.

The first bird that greeted me when I reached the lake at 05:20. It was standing at the bottom of the concrete slipway, silhouetted against the water. The size of the bird and the decurved bill, kinking downwards point to Whimbrel which would be a new species for me at the lake. But somehow it did not look right.

I crept up on the bird and using 'spot metering' against the dawn light achieved this result. A Lesser Black-backed Gull with an odd looking bill. Is the bill deformed or has it swallowed, say, fishing tackle which is stuck in its mouth?

This shows that it is a deformed bill. What looks to be adult would normally be moulting at this date and looking rather scruffy. This seems particularly so, likely because it is in poor condition due to extreme difficulty in feeding. That said it is an adult and the deformity is unlikely to be recent.

From head-on it is clear that the deformed and extended mandibles also do not meet properly.

Much later I noted an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull walking around the grass on top of the dam – unusual behaviour. So was it the same bird? Clearly not! Slightly less scruffy.

While with Lesser Black-backed Gulls here is a first winter. At this age shows two rows of dark-centred feathers along the trailing edge of the wing. The underside of the spread left wing does show some pale but only on the inner webs of the feathers. On a Herring Gull the inner primaries would be paler overall.

Three gulls having a dispute. The lack of strong underwing markings on the flying bird makes it an immature Herring Gull. The other birds are rather obscured but I think they are pale-enough to also be immature Herring Gulls.

This Common Buzzard was moving from street lamp to street lamp around the football field, harried by a group of Magpies. Probably the same bird that has recently been sitting on the railings atop the academy building on some mornings.

A Honey Bee Apis mellifera visiting Greater Bindweed Convolvulus sylvaticus and getting covered in pollen as a result.

Going back for more. Note the pollen load on the bee's pollen sacs. Seems it has visited a good few bindweed flowers.

Just before the sun went it I found my only hoverfly of the day: a female Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax.

It is some weeks since I last noted one of these long-legged flies, Dolichopus ungulatus or similar.

Not many other insects flying so I photographed another European Crane-fly Tipula paludosa.

What I think to be a Tawny Soil Slug Arion owenii on one wall of the sailing club HQ. Slugs are very difficult to positively identify as 'black' species can be red and 'red' species can be black and markings are variable.

Sorry: another Bridge Orb-web Spiders Larinioides sclopetarius. Yesterday I commented on an individual with a reddish triangular area at the base of the cephalothorax. On this individual that area loos to be bordered white.

Don't even think about eating these Snowberries Symphoricarpos sp. probably S. albus. Probably won't kill you but will make you unwell.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Moths:
- *1 !White-shouldered House Moth Endrosis sarcitrella

Centipedes & Millipedes:
- 6 White-legged Snake Millipedes Tachypodoiulus niger

My first White-shouldered House Moth Endrosis sarcitrella was here today.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:45 – 07:45

(191st visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- a Grey Heron was sitting on one of the footbridge handrails daring anyone to walk by.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 2 Jackdaws
- 1 Grey Wagtail

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 3 House Martins

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

Noted on / around the water:
- 5 Canada Geese: of these two singles flew in
- *39 Greylag Goose: of these 34 flew in together with...
- *1 Greylag x Canada Goose
- 4 + 3 (1 brood) Mute Swan
- 28 (?♂) Mallard
- 53 (?♂) Tufted Duck
- 5 + 4 (4 broods) Moorhens
- 87 + 8 (4 dependent brood) Coots
- 4 Great Crested Grebes
- 24 Black-headed Gulls
- 2 Cormorants
- 1 Grey Heron: departed? hid?
- 1 Kingfisher

Noted elsewhere around The Flash:

Moths:
- *1 Flame Carpet Xanthorhoe designata

Flies:
- 1 owl midge Psychodidae sp.
- *1 possible aphid sp.

Beetles:
- 1 Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni: adult

Spiders, harvestmen etc.
- 1 harvestman Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus
- *1 male harvestman Leiobunum blackwalli

The hybrid goose in the foreground flew in with Greylag Geese, as it had done yesterday. It is not the same as the bird that was here during the time all the geese were moulting: that had an orange, Greylag-type bill. This one looks to be 90% Canada.

This strikes me as unusual. A Flame Carpet moth Xanthorhoe designata sitting in full sun at the very top of a street lamp pole.

I have no idea what this tiny insect is. Here on a lichen-covered street lamp pole. I suspect a species of aphid.

This is a male harvestman Leiobunum blackwalli. It is too 'round' to be a female and to be able to use the saddle markings to separate it from the similar L. rotundum. The separation feature of males is the ocular ring – white for L. blackwalli and black for L. rotundum. I'll pass on the other feature - the genitalia.

(Ed Wilson)

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Sightings from previous years

2013
Priorslee Lake
Whinchat
(John Isherwood)

2011
Nedge Hill
Peregrine
(John Isherwood)

28 Aug 24

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

15.0°C > 17.0°C: Barely broken medium-level cloud with several light showers. Almost calm. Humid. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 06:15 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 – 06:40 // 07:45 – 09:55

(187th visit of the year)

Bird Notes
*Highlight today was a VERY distant Great (White) Egret flying south-east a long way to the south-west at 08:25.

Other bird notes:
- three Gadwall were flying around, low over the water c.06:00 and I was able to confirm two drakes and a duck. I have no idea where they came from or where they went.
- there were no Black-headed Gulls again on the football field at c.06:25. Today there were 17 Wood Pigeons at this time. At c.09:45 there were four Starlings and 17 Pied Wagtails along with a few Wood Pigeons and Magpies.
- most of the large gulls, almost all adult Lesser Black-backs, dropped in for a wash and drink before continuing South.
- a group of at least 25 Goldfinches were in the Ricoh hedge area. Many of them were juveniles.

Counts of birds noted flying over:
- 21 Canada Geese: nine outbound in two groups; 12 inbound together
- 87 Greylag Geese: 35 outbound in four groups; 52 inbound together
- 2 Stock Doves: together
- 89 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Herring Gull
- 24 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Great Egret: as highlighted
- 86 Jackdaws
- 61 Rooks

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 6 House Martins

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

Counts from the lake area:
- 96 Canada Geese: arrived in at least 11 groups
- 1 Greylag Goose: arrived with a group of Canadas
- 2 Mute Swans
- 3 (2♂) Gadwall: briefly
- 11 (?♂) Mallard
- 5 Moorhens
- 101 Coots
- 4 + 1 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 4 Black-headed Gulls on the lake by c.05:45: none on the football field at c.06:25 or later
- 6 Herring Gulls
- 101 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Grey Heron: departed

Noted on the street lamps poles pre-dawn:

Moths:
- *1 !Common Masoner Blastobasis adustella [was Dingy Dowd]
1 Common Grass-moth Agriphila tristella [was Common Grass-veneer]
- *1 Small Phoenix Ecliptopera silaceata

Beetle:
- 1 Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis var. succinea: same place as last two days: dead?

Spiders, harvestmen etc.
- *6 Bridge Orb-web Spiders Larinioides sclopetarius
- 3 harvestmen Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus

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

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

Grasshoppers, Crickets etc.:
- *1 !!Oak Bush-cricket Meconema thalassinum

Spiders:
- 26 spiders: nothing unusual

Noted later:

Butterflies:
- Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria

Moths:
- *!!Common Purple & Gold Pyrausta purpuralis

Bees, wasps etc.:
- Honey Bee Apis mellifera
- Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum

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]
- *Twin-spot Boxer Platycheirus rosarum [Fourspot Sedgesitter Pyrophaena rosarum]

Other flies:
- *European Crane-fly Tipula paludosa

Bugs:
- *Dock Bug Coreus marginatus

Molluscs:
- White-lipped Snail Cepaea hortensis

No colourful sunrise this morning. A time exposure: the Castle Farm Way street lights illuminating the trees; and the car headlights streaking by.

There were a few breaks before the rain.

Yes well. Just about classifies as a record shot of the VERY distant Great (White) Egret. It is mainly the size of the wing that separates this from a Little Egret at this range. It does have proportionally larger feet and bill though this is hard to judge here.

 These birds can be confusing. The brown patches each side of the breast are the best clue here.

Easier from this angle with yellow in the wing and a distinctly pointed and rather pale bill. Usually in a flock with adults which also helps. A juvenile Goldfinch. It will be in to November before the red face is fully developed on this year's youngsters.

All the Feral Pigeons that I have previously noted on the roofs in Teece Drive have been the "standard" blue morph birds, looking much like their Rock Dove ancestors. This was the first of the many birds with variable amounts of white in their plumage that I have noted here. Such individuals are often to be seen in the groups wheeling over the houses near The Flash.

A new moth for the year. It is now called a Common Masoner Blastobasis adustella. I am not sure that is an improvement over its previous name of Dingy Dowd but perhaps the PC police won't permit calling anything 'dingy' any more.

This is a rather faded Common Purple & Gold moth Pyrausta purpuralis. I usually see its close relative, the Mint Moth P. aurata, in June. Not this year. The larvae of both species feed on mints (Mentha sp.) and there is abundant Water Mint M. aquatica around the lake.

Another Small Phoenix moth Ecliptopera silaceata. This is a different individual to the one I photographed on the same street lamp pole yesterday. That one showed more irregular edging to the wide cross band and was more typical of the species.

For the last three days the Copper Underwing-type moths have been lurking more-or-less out of sight under the guttering of the sailing club HQ. This was the only one I could see this morning, just about sitting in the open.

Steven Falk calls this hoverfly Twin-spot Boxer Platycheirus rosarum. Quite how and why it got the alternative name, used by Obsidentify, of Fourspot Sedgesitter is unclear. They even give it a slightly different scientific name Pyrophaena rosarum.

As Autumn approaches so does Daddy Long-legs time. This is a European Crane-fly Tipula paludosa and will be one of the most common species over the next few weeks.

Find of the morning was my first-ever Oak Bush-cricket Meconema thalassinum. A cricket and not a grasshopper because it has long antennae. This one is a female – the curved ovipositor indicates that. This I found on the wall of the sailing club HQ before dawn.

An easy bug: the Dock Bug Coreus marginatus.

Yes I know we have seen a lot of these Bridge Orb-web Spiders Larinioides sclopetarius but this angle shows the species has a reddish triangular mark at the base of its cephalothorax. I do not recall noticing this previously. How do they remember which leg is holding which strand of their web?

Another sailing club HQ find was this well-positioned Missing Sector Orb-web Spider Zygiella x-notata. Here it is easy to see why the alternative name is "Silver-sided" Sector Spider – the name used by Obsidentify.

Plane of the day. It is a McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F-15E Strike Eagle of the United States Air Force's 494 Fighter Squadron, one of four squadrons forming the 48 Fighter Wing. It is based at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk and making an unusually low transit to the famous "Mach Loop" low-flying area in Wales.

Here is the (minimal) FlightRadar24 data, possibly for this aircraft. There were two Strike Eagles flying in close formation and as is usual only one activates its transponder to avoid giving Air Traffic Control a heart attack when they see two aircraft much too close-together. The '00' part of its identity refers to the US Fiscal Year in which the aircraft was procured – 2000 in this case. The second part ('3000' here) used to be issued sequentially with each year restarting at '0001'. The relatively small number of aircraft purchased each year these days meant that aircraft of the same type could have the same sequence number in different years. A new system was devised. It is complex and I am sure someone (else) knows.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Moths:
- *1 Red Underwing Catocala nupta

Isopods:
- *1 Common Shiny Woodlouse Oniscus asellus

Centipedes & Millipedes:
- 14 White-legged Snake Millipedes Tachypodoiulus niger

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

If only all moths were as well-behaved as this Red Underwing Catocala nupta, sitting neatly on the wall of the tunnel.

Also well-behaved was this Common Shiny Woodlouse Oniscus asellus.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:45 – 07:40

(190th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- just one of the two 'extra' Mute Swans flew a circuit and returned.

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

Hirundines etc. noted:
None

Warblers noted (the figure in brackets relates to birds heard singing):
- 5 (1) Chiffchaffs
'nominal' warbler:
- 2 (1) Goldcrests

Noted on / around the water:
- 4 Canada Geese
- 1 Greylag Goose
- *4 + 3 (1 brood) Mute Swan
- 27 (?♂) Mallard
- 43 (?♂) Tufted Duck
- 6 Moorhens
- 78 + 6 (3 dependent brood) Coots
- 4 Great Crested Grebes
- 33 Black-headed Gulls
- *4 Cormorants
- 1 Grey Heron

Noted elsewhere around The Flash:

Moths:
- *2 Single-dotted Waves Idaea dimidiata

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

The action is "nearly" frozen. One of the two extra near(?) adult Mute Swans made an apparent unforced circuit.

All four Cormorants took to the water and were diving in to what seemed to be a shoal of small fish, often emerging triumphant – as here.

Down the hatch it goes.

There must have been another 'hatch' of these Single-dotted Wave moths Idaea dimidiata. This is one of two this morning, both in a different location to the two I noted yesterday.

(Ed Wilson)

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Sightings from previous years

2013
Priorslee Lake
2 Teal
(Ed Wilson)

2010
Priorslee Lake
Turtle Dove
(Ed Wilson)

2007
Priorslee Lake
Pair Ruddy Duck
(Malcolm Thompson)

27 Aug 24

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

14.0°C > 17.0°C: A good sunrise. Afterwards mostly cloudy. Moderate southerly wind, gusting fresh at times. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 06:13 BST

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

After the good sunrise it was mostly a fruitless trudge around.

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:05 – 06:40 // 07:55 – 09:40

(186th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- the number of Black-headed Gulls remains at a very low level. There was none on the football field again and today, strangely, there were no Wood Pigeons either at c.06:25. There were however 18 Pied Wagtails at c.09:30 so there must be food to eat.
- in addition to the Kingfisher calling and then leaving its West end roost pre-sunrise I saw it, or another, fly along the dam c.08:40.
- very few warblers heard or seen.

Counts of birds noted flying over:
- 27 Canada Geese: 25 outbound in five groups; a single inbound; and a single flew South
- 38 Greylag Geese: all outbound in three groups
- 5 Feral Pigeons: together
- 102 Wood Pigeons
- 2 Herring Gulls
- 59 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Cormorant
- 1 Common Buzzard
- 144 Jackdaws
- 51 Rooks [yesterday's total should have read 111 and not 11]

Hirundines etc. noted:
- House Martin(s) heard calling high and / or distantly: not located

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

Counts from the lake area:
- 54 Canada Geese: arrived in at least seven groups
- 1 Greylag Goose: arrived with a group of Canadas
- 2 Mute Swans
- 10 (?♂) Mallard
- 6 adult and juvenile Moorhens
- 86 adult and juvenile Coots
- 3 + 1 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 7 Black-headed Gulls on the lake by c.05:45: none on the football field at c.06:20 or later
- 5 Herring Gulls
- 64 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Kingfisher

Noted on the street lamps poles pre-dawn:

Moths:
- *1 Common Grass-moth Agriphila tristella [was Common Grass-veneer]
- *1 Small Phoenix Ecliptopera silaceata

Springtails:
- *1 springtail Pogonognathellus longicornis-type

Beetle:
- 1 Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis var. succinea: same place as yesterday

Spiders, harvestmen etc.
- *3 Bridge Orb-web Spiders Larinioides sclopetarius

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

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

Flies:
- *1 male plumed midge

Spiders:
- *1 or more Walnut Orb Weaver spider Nuctenea umbratica
- 15 other spiders of at least two other species

Noted later:

Bees, wasps etc.:
- Honey Bee Apis mellifera
- Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum

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

Other flies:
- Yellow Dung Fly Scathophaga stercoraria

Molluscs:
- White-lipped Snail Cepaea hortensis

Less than half a moon now. I doubt, even if it is clear tomorrow morning, I will be able to persuade the camera to focus on the sliver remaining.

The sunrise beginning to colour.

About as good as it got with the brightest part...

...highlighted here.

 Maximum spread across the sky.

The Common Grass-moth Agriphila tristella on one of the street lamp poles pre-dawn.

A Small Phoenix moth Ecliptopera silaceata also on a street lamp pole pre-dawn.

The wall of the sailing club HQ makes a good background to this male plumed midge.

The banding on the abdomen suggests that this springtail is not just a "Pogonognathellus longicornis-type" but actually the real deal.

Chomp: today a Bridge Orb-web Spider Larinioides sclopetarius has breakfast. No idea what it is eating though.

Another creature contrasted against the sailing club HQ was this Walnut Orb Weaver spider Nuctenea umbratica, one of 16 spiders I counted on the walls.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Moths:
- *1 Flame Carpet Xanthorhoe designata

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

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

Yet another Flame Carpet moth Xanthorhoe designata. My best year for this species.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:45 – 07:50

(189th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- the two 'extra' Mute Swans flew a circuit, apparently not responding to the resident cob's intermittent chases. They returned.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 1 Herring Gull
- 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls

Hirundines etc. noted:
None

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

Noted on / around the water:
- *27 Canada Geese: of these 22 flew in together and another in with the Greylags
- 59 Greylag Geese: 58 of these arrived together with one Canada Goose and...
- 1 Greylag x Canada Goose
- 4 + 3 (1 brood) Mute Swan
- 33 (?♂) Mallard
- 42 (?♂) Tufted Duck
- 4 + 3 (3 broods) Moorhens
- 81 + 4 (2 dependent brood) Coots
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- *23 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Herring Gull: briefly
- *1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: also briefly
- 1 Cormorant
- 1 Grey Heron

Noted elsewhere around The Flash:

Moths:
- *1 Chevron Grass Moth Agriphila geniculea [was Elbow-stripe Grass-veneer]
- *2 Single-dotted Waves Idaea dimidiata
- *1 Brimstone Moth Opisthograptis luteolata

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

After yesterday's miscount of the Greylag Geese it is now camera 2: Mk. 1 eye-ball 0. I thought 21 Canada Geese in this group. The camera clearly(?) shows 22.

A first winter Black-headed Gull. It has finished its post-fledging moult and will look like this until it moults in to first summer plumage starting in late March next year.

A juvenile / first-winter Lesser Black-backed Gull seems to be taking ballet lessons.

In the circumstance not bad. A Treecreeper climbing up (always up for this species) a very shady tree trunk looking against the light.

My first Chevron Grass Moth Agriphila geniculea at this site this year.

One of two Single-dotted Wave moths Idaea dimidiata I found. This one was on the fencing surrounding the academy here.

And the other one was lying in the vegetation at the base of a street lamp.

A rather washed-out Brimstone Moth Opisthograptis luteolata likely because I had to use flash to get any picture at all. It too was lying in the vegetation at the base of the same street lamp/ Indeed the same lamp as I photographed, perhaps this individual, at the top of the pole yesterday.

(Ed Wilson)

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Sightings from previous years

2013
Priorslee Lake
Green Sandpiper
3 eclipse Teal
(Ed Wilson)

2010
Priorslee Lake
Greenshank
(Ed Wilson)

2005
Priorslee Lake
Black Swan flew over
233 Canada Geese over
11 Greylag Geese over
123 Jackdaws
234 Rooks
143 Greenfinches
1 Willow Warbler
2 Blackcaps
Cormorant flew over
(Ed Wilson)