8 Nov 24

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

8.0°C: No real change. The early light drizzle went on longer, the cloud seemed even lower and the visibility poor throughout. Light easterly wind.

Sunrise: 07:21 GMT

* = a species photographed today.

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 06:00 – 09:15

(241th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- all 25 adults and 3 first years present early with two adults and the most recently arrived first year flying off East at 07:20.

Birds noted flying over: in very misty conditions
- 9 Wood Pigeons
- 4 Herring Gulls
- 9 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Cormorant
- 183 Jackdaws
- 15 Rooks
- 20 Fieldfare: two groups
- 13 Redwings: two groups
- 1 Pied Wagtail

Birds noted leaving roosts around the lake:
- c.330 Starlings: most simultaneously left both ends of the lake in six groups with four stragglers.

Counts from the lake area:
- 39 Canada Geese: departed in two main groups
- 25 + 3 Mute Swans: see notes
- 9 (7♂) Mallard
- 2 (1♂) Tufted Duck
- 4 Moorhens
- 208 Coots: still too dull for an accurate total
- 3 Great Crested Grebes
- c.500 Black-headed Gulls
- *14 Herring Gulls
- *1 Caspian Gull: first winter
- *28 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- *2 Grey Herons: the second stayed longer this morning until chased away
- 1 Cormorant: see arriving or leaving – I could not decide. Not seen before or afterwards.

Noted on the street lamps poles pre-dawn:

Moths:
- 1 Feathered Thorn Colotois pennaria: for its third day

Lacewings:
- *1 Common Green Lacewing Chrysoperia carnea

Flies:
- *1 caddisfly, almost certainly Chaetopteryx villosa
- 1 female Spotted-winged Drosophila Drosophila suzukii
- 2 plumed midges
- 2 wood gnats, perhaps Sylvicola fenestralis
- 9 unidentified craneflies, probably Tipula sp.
- 2 winter craneflies Trichocera regelationis

Barkflies:
- 1 barkfly Ectopsocus briggsi agg.

Springtails:
- *6 globular springtails of several species probably including Dicyrtomina saundersi
- 1 springtail Pogonognathellus longicornis
- 1 springtail Tomocerus vulgaris

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- *1 Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp.
- 1 harvestman Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus
- 1 male harvestman Leiobunum rotundum

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

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

Beetles:
- 1 Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
13 spiders of several species, not determined

Noted later:

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- *3 harvestmen Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus

The back gull is easy: a first winter Herring Gull. The front bird is, I have concluded, a second winter Herring Gull. It is atypically 'clean-headed' which is probably why Obsidentify called it as a Caspian Gull. The bill is too short and heavy for that species and the new feathers on the upper part of the back are too pale. Herring Gull it must be. I would guess a female which average smaller than males which the first winter bird is most probably.

A first winter Herring Gull in flight. Note the paler inner primaries are dark-tipped.

I believe the bird with its wings raised is a first winter Caspian Gull. The paler inner primaries on this bird are darker along the inner webs as well as at the tips. Note the speckled appearance above a rather ragged-looking dark tail band. A first winter Black-headed is with it.

A second winter Lesser Black-backed Gull comes in to land. A solid black tail band with a clean white area above it. These features are shared with first winter birds though they would show more mottling in the upper wing. A winter plumage adult is standing on the boat launching platform. The legs are supposed to be yellow: my eyes tell me otherwise.

A Grey Heron returns after chasing the other one away.

The forward-pointing antennae and legs with spurs identify this as a caddisfly. It is almost certainly Chaetopteryx villosa, characterised by the very hairy appearance.

This Common Green Lacewing Chrysoperia carnea is well in to its brown winter garb.

A barkfly Ectopsocus briggsi or similar.

Today's mystery tiny insect. In outline is resembles a winged form of an aphid though the patterning on the abdomen suggests otherwise. The most unusual feature is the short, thick antennae which have not provided any further clue.

Not to be outdone here is a mystery medium size insect. The spurs on its legs might suggest a caddis fly but the antennae are unusually short for that group which anyway always rest with their wings 'tented' over their abdomen. The abundance of spurs on the hind legs ought to be a clue. Ought.

Only when I looked at my photo of this Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp. did I notice the three globular springtail. I have no idea as to their identity.

A seven-legged harvestman Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus on the Teece Drive wooden fence.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue Tunnel pre dawn:

Not visited this morning

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:20 – 10:35

(244th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- *the all-white drake Mallard-based feral bird has reappeared. I last logged him on 08 April. Where has he been?
- at least 35 Goldfinches were flying around tree-tops on the island.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- *2 white feral-type Greylag Geese
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- *1 Sparrowhawk
- 10 Fieldfare: together

Noted on / around the water:
- 5 Canada Geese
- 6 + 2 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- *37 (26♂) Mallard
- 1 (?♂♀) 'feral-type' Mallard
- *1 (♂) feral all-white Mallard ['Aylesbury Duck']
- 15 (8♂) Tufted Duck
- 18 Moorhens
- 139 Coots
- 1 Little Grebe
- 1 Great Crested Grebe
- 12 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Herring Gull: adult
- 1 Grey Heron

Noted around The Flash:

Moths:
- *1 possible Bittersweet Moth Scrobipalpa costella: if confirmed it will be a new moth for me.
*1 Winter Moth Operophtera brumata

Bees, wasps etc.:
- 1 Common Wasp Paravespula vulgaris
still around despite the colder temperature

Springtails:
- *3 species of globular springtail sp.

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 male harvestmen Leiobunum blackwalli

They sounded like Greylag Geese but they sure didn't look Greylags, apart perhaps from the bills. No doubt two of the feral geese that were here with a big group of Greylag Geese about six weeks ago. They came from the North, flew two circuits and carried on.

The wanderer returns. Where has this Aylesbury Duck (feral Mallard) been since I last saw it is April. The curled tail-feather confirms it is a drake with Mallard genes. He is slightly smaller than his real drake Mallard companion.

The distinctive long-tailed shape of a Sparrowhawk. It was circling, partly hidden by the low cloud, overhead no doubt looking for a victim to swoop upon.

My find of the day was this Bittersweet Moth Scrobipalpa costella. A new moth species for me and my 49th of the year here.

We need a view from the side as well. The vernacular name of this moth because the larvae spin a cocoon between leaves of Bittersweet (or Woody Nightshade) Solanum dulcamara.

The rounded wing-tips separate this Winter Moth Operophtera brumata from the November Moth group. They are slightly smaller though that is not evident from a photo. Only evident from the photo are two globular springtails.

The abdomen pattern on this globular is a good match for one of the Dicyrtomina saundersi photos on the NatureSpot web site, with the caveat that this group can be very variable. The strange colour cast is because I used an LED torch to illuminate it. Under natural light it was hard to against the lichen on street lamp pole.

(Ed Wilson)

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2013
Priorslee Lake
2 Teal
1 Wigeon
7 Gadwall
75 Tufted Duck
1 Water Rail
226 Coots
720+ large gulls over and c.50 on the lake
1 Yellow Legged Gull
c.3100 Wood Pigeons
159 Fieldfare
31 Redwings
(Ed Wilson / John Isherwood)

2012
Priorslee Lake
c.170 Greylag Geese
3 Gadwall
6 Pochard
19 Tufted Ducks
146 Coots
c.700 Black-headed Gulls logged
c.250 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
5 Herring Gulls
41 Redwings
10 Fieldfares
634 Jackdaws
198 Rooks
(Ed Wilson)

2010
Trench Lock Pool
Yellow-legged Gull
(Martin Grant)

2008
Priorslee Lake
300+ Wood Pigeons
326 Redwings
652 Fieldfare
269 Jackdaw
136 Rooks
c.75 Starlings seen leaving roost
6 Pochard
78 Tufted Ducks
4 Siskins
(Ed Wilson)

The Flash
4 Goosander
47 Greylag
95 Canada Geese
42 Tufted Duck
6 Redwings
1 Kingfisher
(Ed Wilson)

2007
Priorslee Lake
Gadwall
Shoveler
21 Starlings in the roost
12 Pochard
57 Tufted Ducks
c.80 Lapwing
192 Coot
500+ Black-headed Gulls
800+ Lesser Black-backed Gulls
1 Chiffchaff
26 lb Carp landed by one of the fishermen
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
20 Pochard
60 Tufted Ducks
1 drake Ruddy Duck
1 Water Rail
19 Lapwings
1700+ Black-headed Gulls
518+ Lesser Black-backed Gulls
334 Wood Pigeons
14 Pied Wagtails
24 Robins
27 Blackbirds
1 Fieldfare
8 Song Thrushes
12 Redwings
52 Jackdaws
142 Rooks
5 Reed Buntings
(Ed Wilson)