30 Dec 24

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

6.0°C > 8.0°C: Scattered cloud. Light increasing moderate south-westerly breeze. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 08:22 GMT again.

* = a species photographed today

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 06:30 – 09:15

(286th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- the two first winter Mute Swans reappeared: so were they just hiding yesterday.
- unusual behaviour by the gulls this morning. By 07:15 there were at least 300 large gulls circling around and around over the water – usually it is Black-headed Gulls that are doing this. At least 50 more joined them later. The first c.150 Black-headed Gulls joined them by c.07:20, these sporadically settling, unusually, on the water in the north-east area. More Black-headed Gulls continued to stream in with perhaps as many as 700 birds eventually seen though it is difficult to be sure that some of these were not re-arrivals. During all this commotion the Coots were calling loudly even by their normal standards. Was all this activity in response to some unseen (by me) disturbance?
- just four gulls, all Lesser Black-backs, were noted flying over later.
- a lone Redwing in trees alongside Teece Drive

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 21 Canada Geese: outbound in two groups
- c.80 Greylag Geese: inbound in concurrent groups
- 2 Wood Pigeons only
- 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls only
- 3 Cormorants together
- 124 Jackdaws
- 61 Rooks

Counts from the lake area:
- 3 Canada Geese: a trio throughout; two pairs arrived separately, one pair staying only briefly
- 1 Greylag Goose: arrived
- 2 + 2 Mute Swans
- 3 (1♂) Gadwall
- 12 (8♂) Mallard
- 4 (3♂) Pochard
- 33 (20♂) Tufted Duck
- 10 Moorhens
- 258 Coots
- 3 Great Crested Grebes
- c.700 Black-headed Gulls: see notes
- >9 Herring Gulls among
- c.350 large gulls, mainly Lesser Black-backed Gulls: see notes
- 1 Cormorant: arrived
- 1 Grey Heron
- 1 Great White Egret
- 1 Kingfisher

Noted on the street lamps poles pre-dawn:

Moths:
- *1 male Mottled Umber Erranis defoliaria

Bees, wasps etc.:
- *1 possible Oak Apple Gall Wasp Biorhiza pallida

Flies:
- *6 winter craneflies Trichocera sp.
- *>1 winter gnat?

Beetles:
- 1 Orange Ladybird Halyzia sedecimguttata
- *1 flea beetle, probably a Cabbage-stem Flea Beetle Psylliodes chrysocephala
- *2 other beetles to be identified

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- *1 spider, species not determined

Telford Sailing Club
Around the outside of the Telford Sailing Club HQ pre-dawn:
A resurgence of spiders!

Barkflies:
- 3 barkflies Valenzuela flavidus

Springtails:
- 1 globular springtail from within the genus Dicyrtomina group.

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 10 spider, species not determined apart from
1 Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp.

Noted later.

Nothing

Did somebody say "gulls". There were a lot of them before sunrise.

Today's variation on a male Mottled Umber moth Erranis defoliaria.

It looks like a large red ant but Obsidentify suggests an Oak Apple Gall Wasp Biorhiza pallida. My concern is that this is my third sighting of what is supposed to be a rarely-seen (if common) insect. It also seems to be larger than the 3.5mm quoted on the NatureSpot web site.

An unusually clear photo of a winter cranefly. It does not help with the identification.

With shorter wings (or longer body?), more robust antennae and spurs on the legs this is most likely a species of winter gnat.

A not very hood photo of a small beetle with large 'thighs' means it is a flea beetle, and probably a Cabbage-stem Flea Beetle Psylliodes chrysocephala.

Unidentified beetle #1. I'll see whether the Shropshire recorder can identify it from this photo.

Unidentified beetle #2 for the Shropshire recorder.

An unidentified small spider. Google Lens suggests Meta menardi though that is also known as a cave spider – which seems unlikely to be on a street lamp pole.

Plane of the day (though I have done this before). It is a Lockheed U-2S Dragon Lady of the US Air Force 99th Reconnaissance Squadron based at Beale Air Force Base in California and detached to RAF Fairford. It is climbing out on a high-altitude mission to who knows where to do who knows what. The underwing "span-pods" contain all manner of electronics which we are also not allowed to know about.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel pre-dawn:

Flies:
7 unidentified gnats/midges of at least four species

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:20 – 10:45

(289th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- as at the Balancing Lake a resurgence of Canada Geese.
- a Little Grebe seen again, as usual lurking around overhanging vegetation. Has it been here unseen for many days? Or another / returning bird.
- two Great Crested Grebes were noted together in the middle of the water soon after I arrived. Later one bird was close-in beside Derwent Drive. I could not re-find the original pair. So was this a third?

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

Noted on / around the water:
- 36 Canada Geese
- >42 Greylag Geese
- no mainly white feral geese
- 4 + 2 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 31 (21♂) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) Pochard
- 76 (45♂) Tufted Duck
- 12 Moorhens
- 68 Coots
- *1 Little Grebe
- *2? Great Crested Grebe: see notes
- 106 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Herring Gull: second winter briefly
- 1 Grey Heron

Noted elsewhere:
- >25 flies of several species on the Ivy bank, *including Calliphora vicina

Despite a prolonged search among all these flies I could find no hoverflies to give me my latest-ever records.

A Little Grebe well tucked up against overhanging vegetation.

And a rather soggy individual at that. As soon as it noticed me it dived and was not seen again. Typical.

The low and bright winter sun is all very well but the contrast is too high for my camera to handle. My best efforts with the photo editor still leave a lot to be desired on this photo of two Great Crested Grebes.

Slightly better is this view of the single bird later seen alongside Derwent Drive.

Long-tailed Tits are always a delight...

...but always on the move.

There were plenty of flies of several species on the Ivy bank but sadly no hoverflies. This 'bluebottle' fly is probably Calliphora vicina.

(Ed Wilson)

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2013
Priorslee Lake
2 female Scaup
1 Yellow-legged Gull
3 Great Black-backed Gulls
7 Gadwall
(John Isherwood/Dawn Balmer)

The Flash
5 Goosander
(John Isherwood)

Little Wenlock, Candles Landfill Site
Yellow-legged Gull
(Dawn Balmer)

Horsehay Pool
12 Goosander
(Dawn Balmer)

2012
Priorslee Lake
4 Yellow-legged Gulls
(Jim Almond/Chris Ballance)

2011
Priorslee Lake
1 adult Yellow-legged Gull
9 Great Black-backed Gulls
Water Rail
(John Isherwood)

2010
Priorslee Lake
Yellow-legged Gull
Redpoll
(Ed Wilson)

2009
Priorslee Lake
Caspian Gull
(Jason)

2006
Priorslee lake
2 Great Crested Grebes
19 Pochard
34 Tufted Ducks
>300 Black-headed Gulls
>298 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
12 Herring Gull
33 Robins
13 Blackbirds
10 Fieldfares
45 Redwings
3 Reed Buntings
(Ed Wilson)

2005
Priorslee lake
2 Little Grebes
11 Great Crested Grebes
1 Cormorant
2 Mute Swans
35 Pochard
84 Tufted Duck
243 Coot
c.250 Black-headed Gulls
c.700 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
1 Yellow-legged Gull
32 Herring Gulls
(Ed Wilson)