Priorslee Balancing Lake: 06:05 – 09:15
The Flash: 09:20 – 10:5010.0°C > 11.0°C: Another overcast and very dull morning with some light drizzle. Light south-westerly wind. Moderate visibility.
Sunrise: 07:09 GMT
* = a photo to be uploaded later: watch the blog for information.
Very little moving in the dull conditions.
Priorslee Balancing Lake:
(235th visit of the year)
I was told that there has been a significant evening Starling murmuration for the last two days at least. Not around the lake by visible far to the East across Castle Farm Way.
Bird notes:
- a drake Gadwall was heard calling from the West end at dawn. Nothing was seen then or later.
- there were only a few large gulls early and these appeared after c.450 Black-headed Gulls had arrived and were flying up and down the water. The large gulls mainly eschewed trying to negotiate and landing spot. A small arrival later after most of the Black-heads had gone to wherever they spend their day.
Birds noted flying over:
- 1 Greylag Goose: inbound
- 1 Feral Pigeon
- 31 Wood Pigeons
- 2 Herring Gulls
- 20 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 10 Jackdaws
- 13 Rooks
- *2 Ravens
- 4 Starlings
- 2 Pied Wagtails
No birds noted leaving roosts around the lake:
Counts from the lake area:
- 36 Canada Geese: 35 at dawn; 26 of these departed; a single arrived
- 21 + 2 Mute Swans: an additional adult: see also notes
- 1 (1♂) Gadwall
- 7 (5♂) Mallard
- 8 (3♂?) Tufted Duck
- 1 Water Rail: heard again
- 5 Moorhens
- 198 Coots: probably more – poor visibility
- *6 Great Crested Grebes
- c.450 Black-headed Gulls
- 28 Herring Gulls
- 89 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 2 Grey Herons: the second one chased away
Noted on the street lamps poles pre-dawn:
Moths:
- 1 Common Plume Emmelina monodactyla
- *6 November Moth-types Epirrita dilutata agg.
- 1 Winter Moth Operophtera brumata
Flies:
- 4 plumed midges Chironomus plumosus
- *4 Muscid flies of the Hebecnema group.
- 1 winter cranefly Trichocera regelationis
Bugs:
- *1 planthopper Eupteryx urticae
Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp.
Around the outside of the Telford Sailing Club HQ pre-dawn:
Again I was later than usual as most things seemed to have gone.
Flies:
- 1 cranefly Tipula pagana
- 1 winter cranefly Trichocera regelationis
Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 5 spiders not specifically identified
Nothing noted later:
In the Priorslee Avenue Tunnel pre-dawn
Flies:
- *1 wood gnat Sylvicola sp.
- *2 craneflies Tipula lateralis
- 1 winter cranefly Trichocera regelationis
- *13 midges of several species
Arthropods:
- 1 Common Shiny Woodlouse Oniscus asellus
Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 5 spiders not specifically identified
The Flash:
(238th visit of the year)
I spoke to someone conducting a tree-survey on behalf of the council a few days ago. He thought that an outcry over the seven orange-marked Ash trees along the East side had given them a temporary reprieve. The ash-dieback will eventually kill them completely. In the interim selective pruning is likely to be done to prevent any dead branches falling on the paths. He also told me that the large Willow tree along the East side will be pollarded to reduce its size, much as was done some years ago to the trio at the top-end. These are now almost back to their original size.
Bird notes:
- the resident cob Mute Swan was seen chasing one of last year's cygnets. Perhaps he thinks he has more chance getting it to leave than he is having with the other adults.
- as I arrived a Shoveler was noted flying around with four Mallard. I could not find it again.
- neither the drake Common Teal nor the Little Grebe were evident.
- a further reduction in Tufted Duck numbers. Partial compensation was the arrival of two drake Pochard.
- a lone Redwing flew from trees on the island.
- at least 25 Goldfinches were in tree-tops along the East side.
Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 2 Jackdaw
Noted on / around the water:
- 5 Canada Geese
- 6 + 3 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 1 (?♂) Shoveler: departed: see notes
- 38 (24♂) Mallard
- *1 (?♂♀) 'feral-type' Mallard
- 2 (2♂) Pochard
- *59 (?♂) Tufted Duck
- 18 Moorhens
- 134 Coots
- 1 Great Crested Grebe
- 11 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Herring Gull: second winter
- *2 Cormorants: one departed and another (?) arrived
Noted around The Flash:
Moths:
- 1 Pale Birch Tortrix Acleris logiana: for its eighth day
- *1 Garden Rose Tortrix Acleris variegana: my 46th species of moth at / near The Flash this year.
- 2 November Moth-types Epirrita dilutata agg.
- 1 Golden-rod Pug Eupithecia virgaureata
The identity of yesterday's pug moth has been confirmed by the Shropshire macromoth recorder: it was still present today
Flies:
- *orange bodied fly either Phaonia rufiventris or P. subventa.
- 1 male and *one female cranefly Tipula pagana
Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 harvestman Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus
- 1 female harvestman Leiobunum blackwalli
- 1 male harvestman Leiobunum blackwalli / rotundum (too distant to specifically
(Ed Wilson)
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Note:
As you can see, Ed's sightings are still unformatted and without photos.
My break away is taking longer than was expected, so it will be quite awhile I before I can get things back to normal.
(Martin Adlam)