26 Nov 24

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

1.0°C > 7.0°C: Clear skies. Frosty early. Light and variable wind. Mostly very good visibility: a bit hazy at times and some light most early.

Sunrise: 07:52 GMT

* = a photo to be uploaded later: watch the blog for information.

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 06:00 – 09:30

(257th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- all the Wood Pigeon flocks were noted between c.07:55 and c.08:10. Most were flying North, a few groups West and one errant group flying East.
- the lower Coot total possibly partly because the Mute Swans were blocking my view.
- very many more large gulls this morning: no idea why.
- Redwing(s) were heard calling overhead c.06:30. No idea how many.
- a party of c.10 Siskins were feeding in trees near the Teece Drive gate. Not on Alder cones but moss or lichen?

Birds noted flying over:
- 4 Canada Geese: inbound together
- 40 Greylag Geese: inbound as a single and two groups
- 2 Stock Doves
- 604 Wood Pigeons: of these c.575 in 19 groups mainly flying north: see notes
- 35 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 188 Jackdaws
- 51 Rooks
- 2 Fieldfare
- ? Redwings: see notes
- 1 Skylark
- 1 Lesser Redpoll
- 2 Siskins: singles

Birds noted leaving roosts around the lake:

None

Counts from the lake area:
- 28 Canada Geese: 24 throughout; single and trio arrived
- 20 + 2 Mute Swans
- 2 (1♂) Gadwall
- 10 (8♂) Mallard
- 13 (5♂) Tufted Duck
- 1 Water Rail: heard only
- 7 Moorhens
- 221 Coots: see notes
- 3 Great Crested Grebes
- c.400 Black-headed Gulls
- *>17 Herring Gulls
- >325 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 2 Cormorants: arrived separately
- 1 Grey Heron
- 2 Kingfishers

Noted on the street lamps poles pre-dawn:
**mainly frost covered

Moths:
- *1 Northern Winter Moth Operophtera fagata

Beetles:
- *1 unidentified beetle – perhaps!

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 2 Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp.
- 2 other spiders

Around the outside of the Telford Sailing Club HQ pre-dawn:
**too cold / frosty for most things

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 3 spiders of several species not identified

Later:

Nothing noted

On the limit of – alright beyond – my camera's capability. The crescent moon.

Dawn. Toward the left on the water are the first c.100 Black-headed Gulls to arrive. The lager shapes closer to the land are Canada Geese.

A well-lit first winter Herring Gull from below and...

 ...above.

A Grey Wagtail in the Wesley Brook above the footbridge. At this time of year it is not easy to separate females and males. In breeding plumage adult males have a black throat.

A male Siskin. But what is it feeding on? Certainly not Alder cones which are this species' favourite.

It looks to be plucking at the moss and lichen.

This street lamp pole was under trees so it dew and not frost on this moth. With the hindwings held so they extend beyond the folded forewings it is a Northern Winter Moth Operophtera fagata.

This is a puzzle. At first sight it seems to be a beetle, probably a ground beetle. Obsidentify suggested Oak Apple Gall Biorhiza pallida which seemed like one of its senior moments. But Google Lens had a similar idea and showed a photo of the Oak Apple Gall Wasp which seemed to match. Hold hard: a wasp should have wings; and the gall wasp is very small and this wasn't. It was typical ground beetle-sized. So?

Plane of the day: this is an Airbus A340-313 operated by Legend Airlines based in Romania. Airbus A340s, like most four-jet airliners are not favoured these days, most having been converted to freight or parcel carrying. This is an exception. It started life in 2008 spending nine years operating for Finnair. It has several other operators before Legend Airlines leased it in February 2023. It has since spent time sub-leased to SpiceJet in India.

The routing data from FlightRadar24. The only suggestion I have about this flight is that it may have been a charter that brought the 200 Irish troops back from Lebanon yesterday and was repositioning for its next task.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:35 – 10:50

(260th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- probably more Greylag Geese: some were lurking inside the island.
- I again noted just one immature drake and one duck Shoveler. To my eyes the immature drake was a different bird to that seen yesterday
- a Coal Tit was heard singing again.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls

Noted on / around the water:
- 5 Canada Geese
- >52 Greylag Geese
- 6 + 2 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 2 (1♂) Shoveler
- 37 (24♂) Mallard
- *5 (4♂) Pochard
- 52 (26?♂) Tufted Duck
- 16 Moorhens
- 107 Coots
- 12 Black-headed Gulls
- *2 Herring Gulls: one adult; one first winter
- 4 Cormorants

Noted around The Flash:

Bees, wasps etc.:
- *1 Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris
- >25 Common Wasps Paravespula vulgaris

Hoverflies:
- *1 Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus
- *2 Tapered Droneflies Eristalis pertinax
- *1 Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax

Other flies:
- very many flies of at least three species

A quintet of Pochard. From the left two adult drakes; middle foreground a duck; behind her an immature drake with a duller grey back (accentuated by him being in shadow); and a third adult drake.

A good party trick. An adult winter Herring Gull with a good sense of balance.

Late in the year I would have thought for a Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris to still be out and about especially as the ambient temperature was only c.7.0°C.

A Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus soaks up the sun's rays.

 A Tapered Droneflies Eristalis pertinax tucks in.

Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax is a slightly more robust-looking species of hoverfly.

(Ed Wilson)

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Sightings from previous years without links are below

2012
Priorslee Lake
22 Tufted Ducks
143 Coots
Nuthatch
34 Redwings
1 Fieldfare
228 Jackdaws
98 Rooks
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
1 Little Grebe
11 Greylag Geese
27 Pochard
70 Tufted Ducks
1 drake Ruddy Duck
70 Coots
>400 Black-headed Gulls
315 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
5 Herring Gulls
221 Wood Pigeons
22 Blackbirds
45 Fieldfares
38 Redwings
264 Jackdaws
71 Rooks
5 Siskins
(Ed Wilson)

2005
Priorslee Lake
1 Pochard
40 Tufted Duck
1 Goldeneye
2 Ruddy Duck
C.700 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
16 Herring Gulls
2 Yellow-legged Gull
2 Great Black-backed Gulls
Caspian Gull
Sparrowhawk
c.628 Jackdaws
c.358 Rooks
(Martin Adlam)