3 Nov 24

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

10.0°C > 11.0°C: Again overcast and dull with some light drizzle. Light south-easterly wind. Good visibility.

Sunrise: 07:10 GMT

* = a species photographed today.

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 06:00 – 09:05

(236th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- a Lapwing flushed off the south-west grass pre-dawn.
- presumably the same Great (White) Egret paid another quick visit.
- three large parties of Wood Pigeons seen: c.60 flew South as usual; c.70 were flying South to the East and appeared to descend in to trees alongside the M54 to the East of the area; then c.160 flew West accompanied by 12 Redwings.

Birds noted flying over:
- 10 Greylag Geese: outbound together
- 1 Stock Dove
- c.320 Wood Pigeons: of these c.290 in three migrant parties
- 6 Black-headed Gulls
- 6 Herring Gulls
- 21 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 115 Jackdaws
- 14 Rooks
- 4 Starlings
- 22 Redwings: two groups
- 10 Fieldfare: together
- 1 Pied Wagtail

Birds noted leaving roosts around the lake:
- 18 Starlings: a single and one group
- 6 Redwings

Counts from the lake area:
- 12 Canada Geese: all of these departed
- 21 + 2 Mute Swans: of these two adults departed
- 2 (1♂) Gadwall
- 4 (3♂) Mallard
- 11 (5♂?) Tufted Duck: of these 7 (3♂?) departed
- 7 Moorhens
- 225 Coots
- 1 Lapwing: at least, departed
- 4 Great Crested Grebes
- c.350 Black-headed Gulls
- 13 Herring Gulls
- *1 Yellow-legged Gull
- 17 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Grey Heron
- *1 Great (White) Egret: briefly

Noted on the street lamps poles pre-dawn:

Moths:
- 5 November Moth-types Epirrita dilutata agg.
- *1 Mottled Umber Erranis defoliaria
- *1 Sprawler Asteroscopus sphinx: new for the year here

Flies:
- 2 plumed midges Chironomus plumosus
- 1 Muscid flies of the Hebecnema group.
- 2 winter craneflies Trichocera regelationis

Beetles
- *1 probable Cabbage-stem Flea Beetle Psylliodes chrysocephala

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- *1 Noble False Widow Steatoda nobilis
- 1 Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp.
- 1 harvestman Paroligolophus agrestis

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

Flies:
- *1 cranefly Tipula confusa
- 3 winter craneflies Trichocera regelationis
- *8 as yet to be identified flies of the same species
- *1 possible brown lacewing, Micromus angulatus

Barkfly:
- *1 Ectopsocus briggsi agg.

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 17 spiders not specifically identified

Noted later:
- 1 Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni

Note
Some information from the fishermen from yesterday and overnight:
- a Little Grebe was seen in two different locations on the water.
- an owl, presumably a Tawny Owl was calling close to the Castle Farm Way.
- a small number of bats were flying last night. This seems late in the year even though it is still mild.
- two probable Water Voles (Ratty of "Wind in the Willows" fame) were raiding the bait stores. I have heard the characteristic 'plop' this species makes diving in to the water bit have never managed to confirm the identity of the source.

What I believe to be a second winter Yellow-legged Gull. Any gull with a clean white head is interesting at this date. The colour of the back is midway between Herring Gull and the paler race of Lesser Black-backed Gull so Yellow-legged Gull it is. There are some black-centred immature feathers still to be replaced.

A / the Great (White) Egret dropped in for all of five minutes. When standing this species is usually very erect and the neck has a characteristic kink...

...here folded up to form a 'keel' as it flies off with bill slightly open...

...or not. It was not calling. Here the underwing and...

 ...here the upper-wing. Slow and powerful beats.

My first Mottled Umber Erranis defoliaria of the season: but the year as this species can be found through until February at least. Only males are fully winged. It is a very variable species and not all are either mottled or umber-toned. The black-spot in the forewing is present on just about all examples and most also show the wavy cross-line. The mark beside its left eye is not an antenna but detritus on the street lamp pole.

This is a Sprawler moth Asteroscopus sphinx unhelpfully at the very top of a street lamp pole. I see single specimens of this species most years. It is my first this year: moth species #86 in 2024.

The wing markings help identify this as the cranefly Tipula confusa.

Today's puzzle. I photographed one of these yesterday and failed to identify it then. There were eight in close proximity on one wall of the Telford Sailing Club HQ. I photographed them all from different angles and this was the best of the bunch. I still have no idea what group of flies they belong to.

Amongst the eight was this different-looking insect. Obsidentify suggested a species of brown lacewing. This group of insects normally rest with the antennae pointing more or less straight ahead. I cannot come up with a better option.

I have a partial identity for this fly. It is a barkfly to be recorded as Ectopsocus briggsi aggregate. The three species involved can only be separated reliably by genitalia examination. The pattern of spots on the wings is not definitive.

One of the flea beetles identified by the swollen rear thighs allowing it to jump away from danger like a flea. They are also very small – like a flea. There are several species this most likely being a Cabbage-stem Flea Beetle Psylliodes chrysocephala.

I think this spider is a Noble False Widow Steatoda nobilis. It probably would not bite you unless it felt threatened and will certainly not kill you if it does. The white marks are reflections of the camera flash.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:10 – 10:30

(239th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- yesterday's two drake Pochard not located but two drake Shoveler and nine (Eurasian) Wigeon (at least three drakes) were welcome new arrivals.
- a pair of Bullfinches seen in two different locations.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 6 Black-headed Gulls
- 2 Redwings

Noted on / around the water:
- 7 Canada Geese
- 6 + 3 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- *2 (2♂) Shoveler
- *9 (3♂+) (Eurasian) Wigeon
- 42 (30♂) Mallard
- 1 (?♂♀) 'feral-type' Mallard
- *66 (?♂) Tufted Duck
- 20 Moorhens
- *139 Coots
- 1 Great Crested Grebe
- 23 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Cormorant

Noted around The Flash:

Moths:
- 1 November Moth-types Epirrita dilutata agg.
- 1 Golden-rod Pug Eupithecia virgaureata: for its third day

Beetles
- *1 ground beetle Nebria brevicollis

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 female harvestman Leiobunum blackwalli

There were two drake Shovelers present today. Here is one.

And here is the other. Three feathers at the top of the flank are yet to be moulted in to the smart breeding plumage. Both photos show the bird in typical pose with the bill just about underwater as it used it to filter small food items. Unlike Mallard they rarely upend to pluck vegetation from underwater.

One of the nine (Eurasian) Wigeon present today. This is a duck. Note the rounded head, the dark eye-surround and the black bill.

Here are another six of them (with two Coots and a duck and drake Tufted Duck for good measure). The bird on the right, at least, is a drake with the yellow crown. In the New World the similar species, American Wigeon, has a white crown and the species is sometimes called Baldpate. Ducks of the two species are harder to separate when they occur occasionally in the UK.

This is the ground beetle Nebria brevicollis.

(Ed Wilson)

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2013
Shifnal, Lizard Wood
2 Hawfinch
(Arthur Harper)

2010
Priorslee Lake
Several Herons
>3800 Wood Pigeons
11 Skylarks
2 Meadow Pipits
199 Fieldfare
32 Redwings
9 Siskins
1 Linnet
Brambling
(Ed Wilson)

Wrekin
Location
1 Crossbill
Several Redpolls
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
21 Pochard
58 Tufted Ducks
2 Buzzards
>900 Black-headed Gulls
176 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
807 Wood Pigeons
16 Pied Wagtails
26 Wrens
14 Dunnocks
34 Robins
24 Blackbirds
213 Fieldfares
6 Song Thrushes
150 Redwings
5 Mistle Thrushes
1 Blackcap
447 Starlings
2 Siskins
7 Reed Buntings
(Ed Wilson)