11 Dec 24

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

4.0°C > 5.0°C: Overcast. Light / moderate easterly wind. Good visibility.
Sunrise: 08:12 GMT

* = a species photographed today

Mainly mid-Winter doldrums under the high pressure.

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 06:25 – 09:25

(269th visit of the year)

Bird Notes
Tawny Owl(s) were heard giving both types of call from the Ricoh area c.06:35.

Other bird notes:
- another two adult Mute Swans. When the resident swans did some chasing of these visitors the cob and the pen worked together today. Over recent days the pen has seemed content to let the cob get on with it.
- a drake Gadwall was heard calling pre-dawn. None was seen later.
- all gulls were late in and when they did arrive they settled down as a mixed group making counting even more difficult. Normally the Black-headed Gulls mostly stay at the West end and the large gulls are in the middle of the water.
- the Great (White) Egret was present more or less throughout.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- >80 Greylag Geese: inbound in seven concurrent parties
- 13 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Herring Gull
- 6 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 46 Jackdaws
- 89 Rooks

Counts from the lake area:
- 7 Canada Geese
- 23 + 2 Mute Swans
- 1 (1♂) Gadwall: see notes
- 9 (7♂) Mallard
- 18 (11♂) Tufted Duck
- 6 Moorhens
- *255 Coots
- 4 Great Crested Grebes
- >350 Black-headed Gulls
- >45 Herring Gulls
- 1 Yellow-legged Gull
- >325 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Cormorant: arrived
- 2 Grey Herons: arrived and departed separately
- 1 Great (White) Egret

Noted on the street lamps poles pre-dawn:

Flies:
- 1 winter cranefly Trichocera sp.

Beetles:
- 2 Orange Ladybirds Halyzia sedecimguttata: same as yesterday

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 harvestman Paroligolophus agrestis

Telford Sailing Club

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

Moths:
- 1 female Winter Moth Operophtera brumata

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

Springtails:
- 2 globular springtails from the genus Dicyrtomina group.

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 4 spiders, not identified

Some of the 120 or so Coots that are now feeding in the north-east area while the north-west area is now more sparsely populated than it has been. I did wonder whether silt brought down the Wesley Brook from the sluices had perhaps covered the vegetation that these birds feed on but the Mute Swans seem happy-enough there. Perhaps the Coots don't like mixing with the swans.

On one wall of the Telford Sailing Clun HQ I found this female Winter Moth Operophtera brumata. She has only vestigial wings and therefore cannot fly. She climbs up trees (or similar) and gives of pheromones to attract a male. Females of this species are easier than males to separate from Northern Winter Moths O. fagata as with that species the vestigial wings are significantly larger.

A small male midge with very fuzzy plumed antennae. No idea as to species.

This is a barkfly from the Ectopsocus briggsi aggregate, separable only by examination of the genitalia. Males of this group always have wings longer than the abdomen but so too do some females of all the species.

A barkfly Valenzuela flavidus with, at the bottom of the photo, another cluster of what look like eggs. Are they related? I am not sure: I recall the 'eggs' I noted some 10 days ago were on a different wall of the Telford Sailing Club HQ from where I usually find the barkflies.

Aircraft #1. This is an Airbus Helicopters-built Eurocopter EC135 T3H known to the RAF as a Juno HT.1. There are 30 based at RAF Shawbury operated as #1 Flying Training School and used by all our forces – Air Force, Army, Marines and Navy. The helicopters are supplied and maintained by the private company Affinity Flying Training Services.

Aircraft #2. Its companion. These were using call-signs Ironman1 and Ironman2 and flying to Airbus Helicopters maintenance airfield at Oxford. On return they flew via both Gloucester and Shobdon, Hereford airfields.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel

Pre-dawn:

Flies:
- *1 Wood Gnat Sylvicola sp.
- *8 small midges

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- *1 spider Metellina merianae

Later:

Nothing of note

This is one of the Wood Gnats Sylvicola sp. Separate from craneflies by the smaller size, the round head being less-separated from the thorax and the antennae being more prominent. Which species though? The arrangement of the wing spotting, difficult to ascertain here, is critical but not always completely diagnostic.

This is a spider Metellina merianae.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:30 – 10:40

(271st visit of the year)

Bird Notes
Most notable was a Water Rail that I flushed at the top end. Unusually it briefly took to the air as it went back in to cover. Have I previously ever seen one fly?

Other bird notes:
- as I arrived 49 Greylag Geese were also just flying in. There were many already present, some inside the island. It is likely that the groups of c.80 birds that I noted at the Balancing Lake and headed this way were already here.
- no Shoveler found.
- a Little Grebe was noted at the top end. With all the geese there was nowhere to hide around the island.
- 1 heard a Great Tit in full song. Seems somewhat premature?

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

Noted on / around the water:
- 8 Canada Geese
- >100 Greylag Geese: see notes.
- *1 Greylag x Canada Goose
- 6 + 2 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 34 (21♂) Mallard
- 11 (9?♂) Pochard
- 62 (37?♂) Tufted Duck
- 1 Water Rail
- 17 Moorhens
- 97 Coots
- 1 Little Grebe
- *38 Black-headed Gulls
- 8 Herring Gulls: two adults; four second winters; two first winters
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: adult, briefly

Around The Flash:

Nothing else noted 

The Canada x Greylag Goose hybrid. There are a number of hybrids in the area. This one has more Canada Geese genes: it sports more white on its cheeks and chin and less orange on its bill than many of the others.

An adult winter-plumaged Black-headed Gull dares me to walk the bridge on which it has chosen to rest.

(Ed Wilson)

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2013
Priorslee Lake
Scaup imm/fem
4 Yellow-legged Gull
(Gary Crowder)

2012
Priorslee Lake
3 Yellow-legged Gull
8 Great Black-backed Gulls
1 duck Gadwall
3 Goosander
4 Teal
1 Wigeon
1 Redshank
8 Pochard.
55 Tufted Ducks
1 Water Rail
172 Coots.
4 Great Black-backed Gulls .
36 Redwings
42 Fieldfares
453 Jackdaws
64 Rooks
(John Isherwood/Roger Clay/Ed Wilson)

Trench Lock Pool
35 Mute Swans
1 drake Wigeon
1 duck Goldeneye
2 drake Shoveler
40 Tufted Duck
1 Common Gull
6 Herring Gull
163 Lesser Black-backed Gull
128 Black-headed Gull
2 Great Black-backed Gulls
165 Coot
Lesser Black-backed Gull with a Dark Blue ring with Orange [red] numbers 567. This bird bred in Germany.
(Martin Grant/Ed Wilson)

2011
Priorslee Lake
Adult Caspian Gull
(Tom Lowe)

2009
Priorslee Lake
Black necked Grebe
1 Great Black-backed Gull
(John Isherwood)

2006
Priorslee Lake
5 Cormorants
18 Pochard
56 Tufted Ducks
27 Robins
23 Blackbirds
3 Fieldfares
2 Redwings
1 Willow Tit
2 Reed Buntings
(Ed Wilson)

2005
Priorslee Lake
Water Rail
750 Black-headed Gulls
1000 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
1 Little Grebes
5 Great Crested Grebes
15 Pochard
27 Tufted Duck
2 Redpolls
25 Siskins
15 Pied Wagtails
2 Redwings
32 Fieldfares
5 Reed Buntings
13 Robins
18 Blackbirds
11 Greenfinches
(Ed Wilson)