Priorslee Balancing Lake: 06:15 – 09:25
The Flash: 09:30 – 10:30
10.0°C > 12.0°C: Mostly overcast at low level. A few breaks in the cloud never led to an improvement. Moderate / fresh south-easterly wind. Good visibility.
Sunrise: 07:53 BST
* = a photo to be uploaded later: watch the blog for information,
A small passage of things this morning, mainly Wood Pigeons again. Also a few Starlings and Redwings.
Priorslee Balancing Lake:
(226th visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- there were >100 Black-headed Gulls circling over the lake by 07:05 with c.200 by 07:15 when the first Lesser Black-backed Gulls started to arrive. The latter soon started to settle on the water with a few false starts when the local Buzzard made several passes over. Another 150 Black-headed Gulls arrived low from the South at c.07:30. There seemed to be very few gulls over-flying though it was hard to be sure as they were swirling around in the wind as they departed after their wash and drink.
- I saw no large groups of Jackdaws. A steady stream of mixed parties of Jackdaws and Rooks passed over somewhat later than usual and also further to the West than is typical.
Counts of birds noted flying over:
- 8 Canada Geese: a quintet flew South; and a trio inbound
- 1 Greylag Goose: outbound
- >1230 Wood Pigeons: of these c.1200 were noted flying South in 14 migrant parties
- 22 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 14 Cormorants: flew South together
- 113 Jackdaws
- 114 Rooks
- 37 Redwings in four groups
- 1 Pied Wagtail
- 1 Siskin
Counts from the lake area:
- 19 Canada Goose: of these a duo departed
- 19 Mute Swans
- 8 (6♂) Mallard
- 5 (0♂?) Tufted Duck
- 2 Moorhens
- 203 Coots
- 3 Great Crested Grebes
- >350 Black-headed Gulls
- c.15 Herring Gulls
- 1 Yellow-legged Gull
- c.250 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Cormorant: arrived and stayed
- 1 Grey Heron
Noted on the street lamps poles pre-dawn:
Moths:
- *3 November Moth-types Epirrita dilutata agg.
The three moths noted bring my total number of individual moths this year to over 500 – of 88 different species. Had I been inclined to search out and identify all the many grass moths in June and July the total number of moths (but not species) would have been much higher.
Flies:
- *1 female plumed midge Chironomus plumosus
- 1 Spotted-winged Drosophila Drosophila suzukii
- *2 Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly, Moth Fly or Owl Fly]
- *1 green midge probably Stenochironomus gibbus
Lacewing:
- *1 Common Green Lacewing Chrysoperia carnea
Springtails:
- *1 springtail Pogonognathellus longicornis
Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- *1 spider Metellina sp.
- 2 male harvestman Leiobunum blackwalli
- *1 harvestman Paroligolophus agrestis
Around the outside of the Telford Sailing Club HQ pre-dawn:
Flies:
- 9 craneflies, not specifically identified
- 1 wood gnat, perhaps Sylvicola fenestralis
Lacewing:
- *1 Common Green Lacewing Chrysoperia carnea
Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 18 spiders of several species, not specifically identified
Noted later:
Beetles:
- 1 Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni
In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:
Flies:
- *1 Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly, Moth Fly or Owl Fly]
Woodlice:
- 4 Common Shiny Woodlice Oniscus asellus (presumed all this species: I did not check)
Arthropods:
- 2 White-legged Snake Millipede Tachypodoiulus niger
Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 3 spiders of several species
The Flash:
(229th visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- a Pied Wagtail was present for a few minutes. This species has not been common this year.
- *at least 40 Goldfinches were flying around between trees on the island and those at the top of squirrel. Why is it some days I see very few and then another day there will be a large group. I am sure they know what they are doing.
- a few Siskins calling from the trees seemed to be entirely separate from the Goldfinches.
Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- *c.275 Wood Pigeons in five migrant groups
- 1 Herring Gull
- 1 Sky Lark
- 9 Starlings: together
- 4 Redwings: tow duos
- 1 Greenfinch
Noted on / around the water:
- 10 Canada Geese
- 2 Greylag Geese
- 6 + 3 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 34 (23♂) Mallard
- 108 (?♂) Tufted Duck
- 10 Moorhens
- 133 Coots
- 1 Great Crested Grebe
- 2 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: adult, briefly
- 1 Grey Heron
Noted around The Flash:
Moths:
- 1 November Moth-type Epirrita dilutata agg.
Bees, wasps etc.:
- 1 Common Wasp Paravespula vulgaris
(Ed Wilson)
Note:
As you can see, Ed's sightings are unformatted and without photos. Hopefully this will only be for a short period of time, and will be rectified after I return from a short break. (Martin Adlam)
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Sightings from previous years
2010
Priorslee Lake
733 Wood Pigeons
11 Skylarks
151 Fieldfare
20 Redwings
2 Brambling
2 Linnets
2 Redpolls
(Ed Wilson)
2009
Priorslee Lake
5 Wigeon
1 Little Grebe
(John Isherwood)
The Flash
1 Shoveler
1 Teal (female)
1 Common Gull
(John Isherwood)