18 Oct 24

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

7.0°C > 8.0°C: Mist / low cloud / fog. Light southerly wind. Poor / very poor visibility.

Sunrise: 07:42 BST

All bird numbers badly affected by the often very poor visibility.

* = a species photographed today.

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 06:00 – 09:25

(221st visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- my only sighting of note was a Water Rail flushed from the North side. My first of the second winter period here.

Counts of birds noted flying over:

None other than a few Jackdaws and Redwings heard. None seen

Birds seen leaving roost around the lake:

None

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

Counts from the lake area:
- 24 Canada Goose: of these 10 departed in two groups; three arrived together; 11 throughout
- 19 Mute Swans
- 9 (7♂) Mallard
- 1 (0♂) Tufted Duck
- 1 Water Rail
- 9 Moorhens
- Coots not counted
- 4 Great Crested Grebes
- c.55 Black-headed Gulls
- 8 Herring Gulls
- c.85 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Grey Heron
- 1 Kingfisher

Noted on the street lamps poles pre-dawn:

Flies:
- 6 Spotted-winged Drosophila Drosophila suzukii
- 1 plumed midge

Springtails:
- *1 globular springtail, possibly Dicyrtomina saundersi

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp.
- 2 male harvestmen Leiobunum blackwalli
- 1 harvestman Paroligolophus agrestis

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

Flies:
- *11 midges / craneflies

Beetles:
- *1 7 Spot Ladybird Coccinella 7-punctata

Slugs, snails etc.:
- 1 unidentified slug
- 1 White-lipped Snail Cepaea hortensis

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 21 spiders of several species

Noted later:

Bees, wasps etc.:
- *1 Common Wasp Paravespula vulgaris

Odd mist effect early. The lake is clear with just a strip of sky visible between layers on mist.

From the dam the moon was visible.

Here a photo of that almost full moon. It was full at 12:26 yesterday lunchtime so almost none of the craters are being cross-lit. Apparently this Harvest Moon is the most super- of the super-moons this year and has nothing to do with Neil Young.

As it began to get light the mist descended. The 19 Mute Swans are just about visible.

The only later sighting here was this Common Wasp Paravespula vulgaris here cleaning one of its antennae. Note how hairy wasps are when seen close-up.

One of several midges and craneflies that were on the walls of the Telford Sailing Club HQ pre-dawn. Almost all unidentified. This, with obvious halteres, is a cranefly.

As is this. A larger species that might be a male Tipula pagana. He has lost a leg somewhere.

This I think is a male T. pagana.

Another female cranefly. I cannot find a species with a dark abdomen and thin pale bands. Another 5-legged individual.

Look: a cranefly with six legs. Looks to be one of the unidentified species with brown-tinged wings. Only when I looked at the photo did I notice the 7 Spot Ladybird Coccinella 7-punctata.

This is one of the so-called globular springtails. It is possibly Dicyrtomina saundersi but at 2mm [0.075"] my camera struggles to get enough detail for a positive identification.

Keeping a grip on its web is this Missing Sector Orb-web Spider Zygiella x-notata, also known as Silver-sided Sector Spider.

A large group of capsules on a Spindle-tree Euonymus europaea with a few rose-hips for good measure.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Flies:
- *1 cranefly Tipula pagana

Arthropods:
- 1 White-legged Snake Millipede Tachypodoiulus niger

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
3 unidentified spiders

Well: this makes identification easier. A cranefly with vestigial wings must be a female Tipula pagana. The pointed end to the abdomen – the ovipositor – confirms it is a female. The question arises as to how it got on the wall of the tunnel. Obviously crawled. From where? Note the tiny bug next to the middle left leg. No ideas about that.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:30 – 10:25

(224th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- *a brownhead Goosander dropped in directly in front of me as I was about to leave.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:

None

Warblers noted

None

Noted on / around the water:
***all numbers affected by very limited visibility
- 10 Canada Geese
- 6 + 3 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 29 (18♂) Mallard
- 91 (?♂) Tufted Duck
- *1 (0♂) Goosander
- 12 Moorhens
- 102 Coots
- 1 Great Crested Grebe
- 1 Black-headed Gull

Noted around The Flash:

Moths:
- 1 November Moth-type Epirrita dilutata agg.

Flies:
- *1 unidentified fly.

Beetles:
- *1 Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni

Bugs:
- *1 adult Common Green Shieldbug Palomena prasina

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

A brownhead Goosander dropped in just as I was about to stow the camera.

An unidentified fly amongst the water droplets deposited by the mist.

This Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni is mistaken. It is on Common (or Stinging) Nettle Urtica dioica.

An adult Common Green Shieldbug Palomena prasina beginning to show the darker shade it acquires as Winter camouflage.

Another Missing Sector Orb-web Spider Zygiella x-notata. This small one was, for some reason, stationary eight feet up a street lamp pole.

A few hints of Autumn colours are beginning to show.

(Ed Wilson)

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Sightings from previous years

2008
Priorslee Lake
992 Redwings
203 Fieldfare
Siskins
Redpolls
6 Pochard
c.150 Tufted Duck
Water Rail
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
18 Pochard
98 Tufted Ducks
1 duck Goldeneye
1 drake Ruddy Duck
1 Kingfisher
20 Pied Wagtails
18 Wrens
46 Robin
20 Blackbirds
6 Song Thrushes
42 Redwings
1 Chiffchaff
12 Starlings
52 Greenfinches
9 Goldfinches
2 Siskins
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
4 Wigeon
1 Shoveler
8 Pochard
64 Tufted Ducks
30 Robins
(Ed Wilson)