29 Nov 24

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

4.0°C > 7.0°C: Broken high cloud giving excellent sunrise. Moderate south-easterly wind. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 07:57 GMT

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

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 06:00 – 09:30

(260th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- an extra adult Mute Swan found.
- perhaps five Great Crested Grebes: one pair were either very mobile or there were two pairs as well as a single. I could not find two pairs simultaneously.
- very many large gulls noted. At least 30 present at 06:30 perhaps had roosted – unusual here. Around 07:15 several hundred arrived from the North / north-east at the same time as the Jackdaws and Rooks were passing over on their roost dispersal. Consequently none of the totals is particularly accurate.
- strangely there were no gulls noted passing over – all veered off their flying and dropped in for a drink and / or bathe.
- the Great (White) Egret present again.

Birds noted flying over:
- 1 Stock Dove
- 50 Wood Pigeons: of these 22 in two groups were flying north
- no gulls: see notes
- 1 Cormorant
- 77 Jackdaws
- 78 Rooks
- 15 Starlings: three groups
- 1 Fieldfare
- 1 Siskin

Birds noted leaving roosts around the lake:

None

Counts from the lake area:
- 1 Canada Goose
- 21 + 2 Mute Swans
- 5 (2♂) Gadwall
- 9 (6♂) Mallard
- 10 (3♂) Tufted Duck
- 7 Moorhens
- 257 Coots
- 3 Great Crested Grebes: see notes
- >550 Black-headed Gulls
- >30 Herring Gulls
- >600 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 2 Cormorants: arrived separately; one of these departed
- 1 Grey Heron
- 1 Great (White) Egret

Noted on the street lamps poles pre-dawn:

Moths:
- *1 Winter Moth Operophtera brumata

Flies:
- 1 winter gnat

Springtails:
- 2 springtails

Beetles:
- *1 ground beetle, probably Demetrias atricapillus

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- *1 Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp.
- *1 harvestman Paroligolophus agrestis

Around the outside of the Telford Sailing Club HQ pre-dawn:

Moths:
- *1 Winter Moth Operophtera brumata

Barkflies:
- *3 barkfly Ectopsocus briggsi agg.
- 1 barkfly Valenzuela flavidus

Springtails:
- 3 springtails

Eggs:
- *small cluster of what appeared to be eggs: of ?

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

Noted later:

Nothing

A sunrise worth getting out of bed for. This was very early – see the street lights - just as the sky started to colour.

More colour with the street lights still on.

Lights out: many gulls on the water by now.

A different perspective.

A Goldcrest flies towards me. A very lucky shot as it deep in cover and only emerged very briefly.

 A Long-tailed Tit.

A male Siskin

And a female. The Alder cones are nowhere near open for easy access.

A male Siskin with a Goldfinch. Apparently Goldfinches can be sexed by the shape of the red behind the eye. Yes: well.

Another male Siskin.

A Winter Moth Operophtera brumata on one of the street lamp poles.

This may or may not be another Winter Moth caught in a web.

This angle does not help other than suggest that some of it has been eaten.

Another definite Winter Moth sitting with wings closed on the wall of the Telford Sailing Club HQ.

A barkfly from the Ectopsocus briggsi group.

None of my apps gave a sensible identification for this small insect. It is similar to some of the globular springtails though none seems to have antennae as long as on this specimen.

What are these? Tiny eggs? These also on the wall of the Telford Sailing Club HQ.

A ground beetle, probably Demetrias atricapillus. NatureSpot notes there are other similar species but does not illustrate them. It was also among the suggestions from Google Lens.

A Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp. As well as long front legs the third pair are noticeably short.

A harvestman Paroligolophus agrestis.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:35 – 10:35

(263rd visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- two drake Shoveler staying mostly hidden beneath over-hanging branches around the island. Both looked to be "more adult" than any seen recently though they would probably be acquiring full plumage quickly at this date.
- yesterday's three adult and one first winter drake Pochard supplemented by another immature drake and a duck.

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

Noted on / around the water:
- 7 Canada Geese
- 6 + 2 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 2 (2♂) Shoveler
- 40 (26♂) Mallard
- *1 (0♂) 'feral' Mallard
- *6 (5♂) Pochard
- *55 (25?♂) Tufted Duck
- 22 Moorhens
- 108 Coots
- 17 Black-headed Gulls
- 4 Herring Gulls: two adult; one third winter; one first winter
- 2 Cormorants: one of these arrived
- 1 Grey Heron

Nothing else of note around The Flash apart from:
- *1 Pike Esox lucius

The four 'extra' adult Mute Swans did another lap of the water. Here is one passing.

Another one of those "I assume basically a Mallard" birds. In this instance a duck. Not sure where the other genes originate.

An illustration of why I am never sure about the number of Tufted Ducks that are drakes. The white at the base of the bill indicates it is an immature – first winter. The crest looks like that of a duck but on an immature bird that might only be part-grown. At this range the flanks look too white for a duck, suggesting it is a first winter drake. Tricky at this range. More difficult at a distance and in dull lighting.

Two adult drake Pochard. But what sex are the other three?

Here they are. I think the back two are immature drakes still with all-dark bills; and the front one with a more mottled appearance and a pale area on her bill is a duck.

Handsome. A male Greenfinch.

A fisherman had been fishing for all of 10 minutes when he caught this Pike Esox lucius. Beginner's luck?

(Ed Wilson)

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Sightings from previous years

2012
Priorslee Lake
Black Tern
(Arthur Harper)

2010
Priorslee Lake
Yellow Wagtail
Kingfisher
(Ed Wilson)