The Flash: 09:25 – 10:30
11.0°C > 13.0°C: Another murky morning, overcast at low level. Moderate south-easterly wind. Moderate visibility.
Sunrise: 07:55 BST
* = a photo to be uploaded later: watch the blog for information,
Not much wanting to move in the gloomy conditions
Priorslee Balancing Lake:
(227th visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- There was no early arrival of Black-headed Gulls. The first gull arrivals were c.40 Lesser Black-backs at 07:15. The first 15 Black-heads arrived c.07:25 though eventually there were at least 400 present after large groups arrived from both the South and West. Among the first Lesser Black-backs were a few Herring Gulls - these have typically arrived later in recent days. Two immature Yellow-legged Gulls were noted later. There was much swirling around of departing gulls. I could not convince myself there were any true fly-overs.
- Again I saw no large groups of Jackdaws. Unusually it was Rooks that predominated in the mixed parties passing over.
- A tight group of c.60 Starlings flew West over me while I was along the South side. I could not be sure whether these emanated from the south-east vegetation or from just across Castle Farm Way. Immediately after c.125 more left reeds at the West end in three groups.
Counts of birds noted flying over:
- 2 Greylag Geese: outbound
- 45 Wood Pigeons: of these just 17 were noted flying South as a migrant party
- 84 Jackdaws
- 133 Rooks
- 1 Pied Wagtail
Birds seen leaving roost around the lake:
- c.185 Starlings: see notes
Counts from the lake area:
- 5 Canada Goose: of these a duo arrived
- 19 Mute Swans
- 12 (9♂) Mallard
- 4 Moorhens
- 212 Coots
- 3 Great Crested Grebes
- c.400 Black-headed Gulls
- c.30 Herring Gulls
- 2 Yellow-legged Gull
- c.200 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Grey Heron: arrived and departed
Noted on the street lamps poles pre-dawn:
Moths:
- 1 November Moth-type Epirrita dilutata agg.
Flies:
- *1 Spotted-winged Drosophila Drosophila suzukii
- *1 Muscid fly of the Hebecnema group
- *1 Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly, Moth Fly or Owl Fly]
- *1 wood gnat Sylvicola sp.
- *1 female cranefly Tipula pagana
Lacewing:
- *1 Common Green Lacewing Chrysoperia carnea
Springtails:
- *1 unidentified springtail sp.
Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- *3 Bridge Orb-web Spiders Larinioides sclopetarius
- 1 harvestman Paroligolophus agrestis
Around the outside of the Telford Sailing Club HQ pre-dawn:
Flies:
- *1 male plumed midge, probably Chironomus plumosus
- 7 craneflies, not specifically identified apart from...
- *1 female Tipula pagana
- 7 other midges/gnats, also not specifically identified
Lacewing:
- *3 Common Green Lacewings Chrysoperia carnea
Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 20 spiders of several species, not specifically identified
Noted later:
Beetles:
- 1 Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni
In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:
Woodlice:
- 2 Common Shiny Woodlice Oniscus asellus
Arthropods:
- 1 White-legged Snake Millipede Tachypodoiulus niger
Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 4 spiders of several species
The Flash:
(230th visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- a Chaffinch was heard calling from the island. It is several weeks since I recorded one here.
- the group of c.40 Goldfinches were over and in trees on the island again.
Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 10 Jackdaws
Noted on / around the water:
- 36 Canada Geese: of these 29 arrived together
- 1 Greylag Goose: arrived
- 6 + 3 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 44 (27♂) Mallard
- 107 (?♂) Tufted Duck
- 15 Moorhens
- 135 Coots
- 1 Great Crested Grebe
- 2 Black-headed Gulls
Noted around The Flash:
Flies:
- *1 wood gnat, almost certainly Sylvicola fenestralis
- 1 cranefly Tipula pagana
(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
Little Grebe
5 Lapwings
1487 Fieldfare logged, mostly flying W. 7 of the flocks estimated at between 110 and 130 birds
25 Redwings
Raven
56 Goldfinch
(Ed Wilson)
2009
Priorslee Lake
62 Swans
5 Wigeon
14 Pochard
22 Tufted Ducks
231 Coots
Great Black-backed Gull
3 Buzzards
1 Kestrel
27 Redwings
Chiffchaff
c.250 Starlings
8 Siskins
c.15 Goldfinches
(Ed Wilson)
2006
Priorslee Lake
1 Cormorant
25 Pochard
72 Tufted Ducks
1 Kestrel
1 Kingfisher
20 Robins
17 Blackbirds
15 Song Thrushes
59 Redwing
3 Mistle Thrushes
1 Chiffchaff
1 Blackcap
5 Goldcrests
(Martin Adlam)