13 Oct 24

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

6.0°C > 7.0°C: Clear early with a good sunrise. Medium level cloud soon spread from the West followed by a spell of low cloud. Light westerly wind. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 07:33 BST

* = a species photographed today.

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 06:00 – 09:15

(216th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- perhaps the most unexpected record today was a Mistle Thrush giving its rattling call notes and then heard singing quietly from near the Telford Sailing Club HQ. Is it thinking about setting up its 2025 breeding territory already?
- my first Siskins of the Autumn were a tight group of five flying West. This is almost a month later than last year, though that was exceptionally early.

Counts of birds noted flying over:
- 1 Greylag Goose: inbound
- 2 Stock Doves: together
- 197 Wood Pigeons: of these 176 were noted in seven migrant flocks heading South, all to the East
- 31 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Cormorant
- 196 Jackdaws
- 93 Rooks
- 8 Redwings: three small groups, none calling
- 5 Pied Wagtails
- 5 Siskins: together

Birds seen leaving roost around the lake:

None

Warblers noted (the figure in brackets relates to birds heard singing):
- 1 (1) Cetti's Warbler
- 1 Chiffchaff

Counts from the lake area:
- 24 Canada Goose: 17 when I arrived; singles / small groups drifted in
- 19 Mute Swans
- 20 (13♂) Mallard
- 10 (4♂+) Tufted Duck
- 5 Moorhens
- 18 Coots
- 3 Great Crested Grebes
- 89 Black-headed Gulls
- 17 Herring Gulls
- 138 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Cormorant: arrived
- 1 Grey Heron

Noted on the street lamps poles pre-dawn:

Moths
- *3 November Moth agg. Epirrita dilutata agg. [Autumnal, November, Pale November Moths]

Flies:
- 1 male Spotted-winged Drosophila Drosophila suzukii
- *1 Muscid fly of the Hebecnema group
- *1 Phaonia subventa
- 1 wood gnat Sylvicola sp.

Hoverflies:
- *1 Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus

Springtails:
- 1 springtail Tomocerus vulgaris
- *1 globular springtail

Spiders, harvestmen etc.
- 1 unidentified spider
- *1 female harvestmen Leiobunum rotundum
- *3 male harvestmen Leiobunum rotundum/blackwalli

Sailing Club
Around the outside of the Telford Sailing Club HQ pre-dawn:

Bees, wasps etc.:
- *1 female ichneumon Pimpla rufipes

Flies:
- *1 unknown cranefly
- 8 midges of several species

Spiders, harvestmen etc.
- 17 spiders of several species

Noted later:
- 2 Alder Leaf Beetles Agelastica alni
- 1 harvestman Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus on the Teece Drive fence

Early dawn. Clear to the East. A few of the Canada Geese that had likely spent the night here are in the foreground.

 Colouring up.

Cloud approaching from the West.

One of three individuals of the November Moth group Epirrita dilutata agg. comprising Autumnal, November and Pale November Moths. Reference to the West Midlands Moths internet site shows that most specimens that have been specifically identified by genitalia examination at this date are November Moths E. dilutata.

I found this female ichneumon Pimpla rufipes one wall of the Telford Sailing Club HQ pre-dawn. The short and thick ovipositor and the rufous legs identify this species.

Another example of what is probably a Muscid fly of the Hebecnema group with the brown shaded wings. Included here are because at the bottom of the photo is a tiny globular springtail.

 Resting on a street lamp pole pre-dawn was this fly, a Phaonia subventa.

This cranefly was also on one wall of the Telford Sailing Club HQ pre-dawn. It has eluded identification. There are very few craneflies illustrated with antennae as long as this specimen and those that are shown have very different wing patterning.

Also at rest pre-dawn was this Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus.

Three male harvestmen Leiobunum rotundum/blackwalli: there is not enough detail in the photo to get a positive identity.

Female harvestmen of the Leiobunum rotundum/blackwalli group are easier to separate using the shape of the dark area on their abdomen. The parallel-sided area indicates it is L. rotundum.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

The wall of the tunnel had been repainted since my last visit to (temporarily) obliterate the messages of undying love scrawled on it.

Flies:
- 5 midges of various species
- 1 fungus gnat

Spiders, harvestmen etc.
- *1 spider, probably Metellina merianae
2 other unidentified spiders

This spider is very probably Metellina merianae.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:20 – 10:40

(219th visit of the year)

Bird notes
There was a new bird species for me at this site when I espied a Great (White) Egret flying over. It becomes bird species #78 for me here this year. A few minutes later I was asked about a "big white heron" that had been seen here a few days previously. It is tempting to ascribe these sightings, as well as those recently noted at the Balancing Lake, to a single bird. However later today there were three of this species seen together at Venus Pool, just South of Shrewsbury. Incidentally there were also more than 200 Greylag Geese at Venus Pool along with six feral 'white' geese that looked suspiciously like those seen here some 10 days ago. So perhaps we know where 'our' Greylags have gone.

Other bird notes:
- another slight decline in the number of Tufted Duck. The adult drakes, at least, are showing much white on their flanks perhaps indicating that their moult is almost complete and this is allowing birds to move around to other locations.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 29 Redwings: together

Warblers noted

None

Noted on / around the water:
- 2 Canada Geese
- 6 + 3 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 35 (25♂) Mallard
- 81 (?♂) Tufted Duck
- 14 Moorhens
- 130 Coots
- 4 Great Crested Grebes
- 16 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Cormorant

Noted around The Flash:

Moths
- 1 November Moth agg. Epirrita dilutata agg. [Autumnal, November, Pale November Moths]: moth species #42 for me here this year.

Bees, wasps etc.:
- *2 Common Wasps Paravespula vulgaris

Bugs:
- 1 Common Green Shieldbug Palomena prasina: adult
- *2 Leafhoppers: not reliably identifiable from photos; just possibly Ribautiana tenerrima or similar

Spiders, harvestmen etc.
- *1 spider, probably Metellina merianae
- *1 Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp.
- 4 harvestmen Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus
- *1 male and 1 female harvestmen Leiobunum blackwalli

Fungus:
- Dark Honey Fungus Armillaria ostoyae: reduced to a soggy mess

A Common Wasp Paravespula vulgaris tucks in.

At just 2mm [0.075"] leafhoppers are tricky to photograph without special close-up attachments. And most species are not reliably identifiable from photos. This one is just possibly Ribautiana tenerrima or similar.

Most of the photos from here were of things on the street lamp poles. This is another Metellina merianae spider. It was sitting half in deep shade and the camera flash did not produce an acceptable result. So this was taken using my LED torch which has produced a strange colour cast. In reality the abdomen has rufous brown markings.

This is a Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp.

Detail of a male harvestmen Leiobunum blackwalli. This can be identified as the surround to the two black eyes is pale. It is black on L. rotundum.

And here is the detail of a female. The dark area on the abdomen widens posteriorly and then ends abruptly. Same pale surround to the eyes.

Plane of the day. This is a Van's RV-7A, an aircraft built from a kit of parts and first registered in 2007. Its current owner lives in Liverpool and keeps the aircraft in a hangar at Liverpool's John Lennon International Airport bravely competing with big jets from the likes of Ryanair, easyJet and Jet2 for runway space.

(Ed Wilson)

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Sightings from previous years

2011
Nedge Hill
1 Fieldfare
100+ Redwing
(John Isherwood)

2010
Priorslee Lake
10 Cormorants
3 Wigeon
15 Pochard
84 Tufted Ducks
Snipe
Kingfisher
8 Redwings
5 Jays
Siskins
(Ed Wilson)

2009
Priorslee Lake
7 Wigeon
500+ Lesser Black-backed Gull
52 Mute Swan
1 Little Grebe
(Mike Cooper)

2007
Priorslee Lake
3 Pochard
42 Tufted Duck
Treecreepers
19 Blackbirds
57 Robins
7 Song Thrushes
5 Redwings
2 Chiffchaffs
Siskins
3 Reed Buntings
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
Skylarks
Several Redwings
3 Pochard
46 Tufted Ducks
50 Robins
9 Song Thrushes
8 Redwings
1 Treecreeper
(Ed Wilson)