The Flash: 08:55 – 10:15
6.0°C > 10.0°C: Clear skies! Light south-westerly breeze. Very good visibility.
Sunrise: 06:58 GMT – all times now GMT for the rest of the year
* = a photo to be uploaded later: watch the blog for information,
Priorslee Balancing Lake:
(229th visit of the year)
Three highlights today:
- a Red-legged Partridge flushed from the south-west at c.08:20. This makes I have recorded 101 bird species while at the lake. My previous record here was when one ran unscathed across Castle Farm Way on 15 July 2021.
- a Water Rail was heard calling from the north-west area c.06:30. What was presumably a different bird was heard in the north-east area at c.08:10.
- I saw my first Fieldfare of the Winter when a group of c.120 flew over
Bird notes:
- a number of Wood Pigeons in 1s, 2s and very small groups were seen heading off South. Frequently these are local birds setting off chasing to catch-up with large groups already passed over. Today that seemed not true: I could not usually find and relevant large groups.
Counts of birds noted flying over:
- 10 Greylag Geese: an octet flew North; a duo flew South
- c.1040 Wood Pigeons: of these c.1015 were noted flying South in 16 migrant parties: see also notes
- 2 Herring Gulls
- 45 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 354 Jackdaws
- 115 Rooks
- 2 Sky Larks: together
- 15 Starlings: together
- c.120 Fieldfare: together
- 10 Redwings: singles / small groups
- 2 Siskins
No birds seen leaving roost around the lake but several Redwings heard calling from trees pre-dawn:
Counts from the lake area:
- 22 Canada Geese: throughout
- 19 Mute Swans
- 4 (3♂) Gadwall
- 9 (6♂) Mallard
- 5 (?♂) Tufted Duck
- 4 Moorhens
- 198 Coots
- 3 Great Crested Grebes
- *>425 Black-headed Gulls
- 19 Herring Gulls
- c.175 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Cormorant: arrived
- 1 Grey Heron
- 1 Kingfisher
Noted on the street lamps poles pre-dawn:
Moths:
- 2 November Moth-types Epirrita dilutata agg.
Flies:
- *1 male plumed midge Chironomus plumosus
- 2 Spotted-winged Drosophila Drosophila suzukii
- 2 wood gnats Sylvicola sp.
- *1 cranefly Tipula confusa
- 2 craneflies, male and *female Tipula pagana.
Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- *2 Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp.
- 1 harvestman Paroligolophus agrestis
Around the outside of the Telford Sailing Club HQ pre-dawn:
I did not check here today
Nothing noted later:
In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:
Flies:
- 11 midges/gnats, not specifically identified
Woodlice:
- 2 Common Shiny Woodlice Oniscus asellus
Arthropods:
- 2 White-legged Snake Millipedes Tachypodoiulus niger
Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 4 spiders of several species, not specifically identified
The Flash:
(232nd visit of the year)
Bird notes:
Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- *1 Sparrowhawk
- 4 Jackdaws
Noted on / around the water:
- 9 Canada Geese
- 37 Greylag Geese: all of these arrived
- 6 + 3 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 45 (29♂) Mallard
- 106 (?♂) Tufted Duck
- 17 Moorhens
- 122 Coots
- 1 Great Crested Grebe
- 16 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
- *1 Cormorant: departed
Noted around The Flash:
Amazing what a little sun can do. There was a distinct hum around the Ivy bank this morning. All totals minima.
Moths:
- 1 Pale Birch Tortrix Acleris logiana.: same place as yesterday
Bees, wasps etc.:
- *2 Honey Bees Apis mellifera
- >25 Common Wasps Paravespula vulgaris
- *1 German Wasp Vespula germanica
Hoverflies:
- *1 Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus
- *>5 Tapered Dronefly Eristalis pertinax [Tapered Drone Fly]
- *>10 Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax [Common Drone Fly]
- 2 Chequered Hoverfly Melanostoma scalare [Long-winged Duskyface]
- *2 Humming Syrphus Syrphus ribesii
Bugs:
- >5 Nettle Groundbugs Heterogaster urticae
- 1 adult Common Green Shieldbug Palomena prasina
Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 harvestman Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus
- 1 harvestman Leiobunum rotundum
(Ed Wilson)
Note:
As you can see, Ed's sightings are still unformatted and without photos. Hopefully it won't be that long before I can get things back to normal. (Martin Adlam)
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2011
Priorslee Lake
1 Adult Great Black-backed Gull
1000+ large gulls
(John Isherwood)
2010
Priorslee Lake
Great Black-backed Gull
11 Golden Plover
2 Kingfishers
16 Reed Buntings
5 Skylarks
8 Meadow Pipits
71 Redwings
457 Fieldfare
31 Siskins
1 Linnet
4 Redpolls
(Ed Wilson)
2005
Priorslee Lake
40 Tufted Duck
16 Pochard
2 Ruddy Duck
Common Buzzard
Sparrowhawk
c.2500 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
1 Kingfisher
2 Goldcrest
42 Fieldfare
Willow Tit
14 Long-tailed Tits
(Martin Adlam)