30 Oct 24

The Flash and Priorslee Balancing Lake

10.0°C > 11.0°C: Overcast and dull. Light north-westerly wind. Very good visibility.

[Sunrise: 07:04 GMT]

* = a species photographed today.

Another dull day with a late start. Firstly at The Flash first before checking the Balancing Lake from the dam-top area only.

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 10:45 – 11:27

(232nd visit of the year)

The model boat club were using the West end of the water. It did not seem to have much impact on numbers.

Bird notes:
- It seems odd that two first-winter Mute Swans should arrive on their own. If they were accompanied then where were their parents? They certainly not protecting their off-spring from being chased by the resident cob.
- All gull numbers an 'instant' count. Small numbers of birds were arriving and departing so there were more individuals than my totals suggest.

Birds of interest noted flying over:
- a loose group of 41 Wood Pigeons flew West

Counts from the lake area:
- 16 Canada Geese: of these 12 arrived together
- *19 + 2 Mute Swans: two first-winter birds new in
- 2 (1♂) Gadwall
- 8 (7♂) Mallard
- no Moorhens
- 208 Coots
- 5 Great Crested Grebes
- 97 Black-headed Gulls
- 7 Herring Gulls
- 62 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- *2 Cormorants
- 1 Grey Heron

The pair of resident Mute Swans gang up on the newly arrived first winter bird.

It is nothing to laugh at!

Just the resident pen Mute Swan missing from this group photo. 18 adults and two first winters here with the resident cob wings arched in the middle.

I don't think this Cormorant is the first bird to s(*)it on this buoy.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:21 – 10:40

(235th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- back to a more 'normal' number of Tufted Duck.
- a lone brownhead Goosander. I recall that four / five winters ago I recorded up to 140 here on one occasion. They must have eaten all the small fish: numbers have decreased each Winter since then.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:

None

Noted on / around the water:
- 7 Canada Geese
- 1 Greylag Goose
- 6 + 3 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- *37 (24♂) Mallard
- 122 (?♂) Tufted Duck
- 1 (0♂) Goosander
- 16 Moorhens
- 128 Coots
- 1 Great Crested Grebe
- 6 Black-headed Gulls
- *1 Herring Gull
- 1 Cormorant

Noted around The Flash:

Moths:
- 1 Pale Birch Tortrix Acleris logiana.: I defy anyone else to find this. It is so jammed in to a crack in the street lamp pole it is barely visible let alone identifiable.
- 1 Winter Moth Operophtera brumata
No other insects etc. found.

It is not just Coots that are flighting. Two drake Mallards having a dispute.

A handsome pair of Mallard.

The blurring of this flying drake Mallard is more to do with the poor light preventing the camera 'freezing' the action than the speed of the bird. So its the head really blue as well as green?

Only green in this view. The blue segment in the wing of this species is called the speculum. All species of dabbling duck show this feature, each species with its own variation.

On a duck Mallard the speculum looks mauve (purple? you judge I am slightly colour blind). I think this is due to the angle of the light and not a sex-difference.

"The fish was this big". I have told you a million times not to exaggerate.

Splat! A not very elegant splash-down.

What I still believe to be a first winter Herring Gull. It looks to be the same individual that I photographed several days ago with the unusual pale to tip to its bill. Usually it is the base of the bill that starts to go paler as this species ages. The extent of the pale on the inner primaries rules out any possibility of it being a Yellow-legged or Caspian Gull.

It is much too pale to be a Lesser Black-backed Gull and that species would also show a neater black tail-band.

From underneath the paler inner primaries are apparent.

Just as well I double-checked. I thought this moth looked slightly smaller than most November-type Moths. Indeed it should: it is my first Winter Moth Operophtera brumata of the year. It has a noticeably rounder wing-tips. My 44th species of moth at and around The Flash this year.

(Ed Wilson)

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2010
Priorslee Lake
10 Swans
c.60 Golden Plover
c.200 Starlings left a roost in the reeds at the W end
763 Wood Pigeons
3 Sky Larks
7 Meadow Pipits
165 Fieldfare
9 Redwings
4 Siskins
3 Linnets
1 Redpoll
(Ed Wilson)

2009
Priorslee Lake
8 Wigeon
20 Pochard
(John Isherwood)

The Flash
1 Goosander
1 Teal
(John Isherwood)

2006
Priorslee Lake
100 Jackdaw
130 Rooks
1 Buzzard
Kestrel
c.60 Golden Plover
(Martin Adlam)

2005
Priorslee Lake
450 to 500 Starlings left the roost
11 Pochard
47 Tufted Duck
Pair of Ruddy Duck
200+ Coot
1 Dunlin
104 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
100 Black-headed Gulls
Kingfisher
A Buzzard was seen feeding on earthworms and possibly beetles
2000+ Wood Pigeon
62 Redwing
54 Fieldfare
3 Song Thrushes
(Martin Adlam)