Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash8.0°C > 19.0°C: Broken medium / high cloud with some good sunny intervals later. Light south-easterly breeze. Good visibility and somewhat hazy.
Sunrise: 04:46 BST
It was a mega day for new insects. I have trawled through the photos to ID as many of them as possible but have run out of time to write the text and order them as listed below. I will add as many photos as I can tomorrow so come back to the blog soon! Apologies
$ = my first sighting of the species for this year
$$ = my first ever recorded sighting of the species
Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:00 – 06:10 // 07:20 – 10:10
(144th visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- a Common Peafowl (Peacock) was heard calling from what was the Telford campus site.
- the Canada and Greylag goslings all still present and correct. One of the two supernumerary adult Canada Geese that has usually been with the parents and the gosling was missing today – perhaps the bird being chased by the cob Mute Swan yesterday.
- the pen Mute Swan was once again off the nest site for some while with the cob staying (pretending to be) asleep.
- a duck Mallard still with one duckling.
- the duck Pochard still here.
- at least one juvenile Pied Wagtail was with a parent on the dam.
Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 11 Wood Pigeons
- 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 12 Jackdaws
- 3 Rooks again
Counts from the lake area:
- 4 + 1 (1 brood) Canada Geese
- 2 + 3 (1 brood) Greylag Geese
- 2 Mute Swans
- 12 (9♂) + 1 (brood) Mallard
- 1 (0♂) Pochard
- 5 Moorhen again
- 44 + 19 (9 broods) Coots
- 7+ 2 (2 broods) Great Crested Grebes
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Grey Heron
Hirundines etc. noted:
- 2 Swifts
- 1 Barn Swallow
- 1 House Martin
Warblers recorded (the figure in brackets is birds noted singing):
- 1 (1) Cetti's Warbler
- 16 (14) Chiffchaffs
- 10 (10) Reed Warblers
- 9 (9) Blackcaps
- 1 (1) Common Whitethroat
Noted on the West end street lamp poles around-dawn:
Moths:
- 1 Garden Grass-moth Chrysoteuchia culmella [was Garden Grass-veneer]
Noted later:
The rain and the wet vegetation affected many things though a few insects emerged in the sunny spells
Butterflies:
$ Meadow Brown Maniola jurtina
Moths
16 Common Nettle-taps Anthophila fabriciana
5 Common Marbles Celypha lacunana
1 Straw Dot Rivula sericealis
Bees, wasps etc.:
$$ probable Furrow Bee Lasioglossum sp.
Honey Bee Apis mellifera
Garden Bumblebee Bombus hortorum
Early Bumblebee Bombus pratorum
Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris
Common Wasp Paravespula vulgaris
$$ Crabonid wasp sp.
$$ ruby-tailed wasp, perhaps Chrysis ignita
$ ichneumon in the Pimplinae group
$$ sawfly Macrophya montana
White-tipped Sawfly Tenthredo livida
sawfly Tenthredo mesomela
Hoverflies:
Buttercup Blacklet Cheilosia albitarsus [Late Buttercup Cheilosia]
Bumblebee Blacklet Cheilosia illustrata [Bumblebee Blacklet]
$$ Small Spot-eye Eristalinus sepulchralis [Black Lagoon Fly]
Stripe-faced Dronefly Eristalis nemorum [Stripe-faced Drone Fly]
Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax
Meadow Field Syrph Eupeodes latifasciatus [Broad-banded Aphideater]
Tiger Hoverfly Helophilus pendulus
Twin-spot Boxer Platycheirus rosarum [AKA Fourspot Sedgesitter Pyrophaena rosarum]
Common Twist-tail Sphaerophoria scripta [Long Hoverfly; Common Globetail]
Syrphus sp. S. ribesii / S. vitripennis
Bumblebee Plume-horned Hoverfly Volucella bombylans [Bumblebee Plumehorn]
Dragon-/Damsel-flies:
Azure Damselfly Coenagrion puella [Azure Bluet]
Common Blue Damselfly Enallagma cyathigerum [Common Bluet]
Blue-tailed Damselfly Ischnura elegans [Common Bluetail]
$ Broad-bodied Chaser Libellula depressa
Lacewings:
lacewing Chrysopa perla
Other flies:
Black Snipefly Chrysopilus cristatus: abundant as usual and only males noted.
dagger fly Empis livida
$$ Noon Fly Mesembrina meridiana
Grouse Wing caddis fly Mystacides longicornis
semaphore fly Poecilobothrus nobilitatus
phantom cranefly Ptychoptera contaminata
Yellow Dung Fly Scathophaga stercoraria
$ Thick-headed Fly Sicus ferrugineus [Ferruginous Bee-grabber]
Common Crane-fly Tipula oleracea
$$ gall fly Urophora cuspidata
plus
usual other boring and / or strange flies
Bugs:
$ nymph of a Common Flower Bug Anthocoris nemorum
Red-and-Black Froghopper Cercopis vulnerata
nymph of a Mirid bug Deraeocoris flavilinea
Beetles:
$ leaf beetle from the Donacia group
larvae of Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis: many
Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis var. succinea: >5
False Blister Beetle Oedemera lurida or O. virescens
Swollen-thighed Beetle Oedemera nobilis [False Oil Beetle or Thick-legged Flower Beetle]
$$ Garden Chafer Phyllopertha horticola
Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
Zebra Spider Salticus scenicus
Amphibians:
1$ Common Frog Rana temporaria
New flowers for the year:
Meadowsweet [or Mead Wort] Filipendula ulmaria
One of the Greylag Goose goslings looks almost grown-up. The wing feathers need to grow more before it will be able to fly.
No fewer than 16 of these Common Nettle-tap moths
Anthophila fabriciana were noted this morning without searching very hard. As previously noted I only saw three all last year. I am probably "getting my eye in" in being able to spot them but clearly they are abundant this year. Many insects do go through boom and bust years. The vernacular name raises the question as to whether there is a Less-common or Uncommon Nettle-tap. As far as I know there isn't!
A Garden Grass-moth Chrysoteuchia culmella on a street lamp pole just after dawn. This group of moths with blue eyes always look surprised. Perhaps they are.
I have been all over the place trying to identify this bee. I have eventually concluded it is probably a Furrow Bee
Lasioglossum sp.. I cannot recall noting any previously and by "Field Guide to Bees". There are 34 species in the UK (1700 worldwide that includes the "sweat-bees"). To identify for certain requires the use of the species key at a far greater detail level than can be done from a photo. I will see if the Shropshire bee recorder can help but I expect not.
With a long ovipositor obviously a female ichneumon. Which? The best I can come with is "an ichneumon in the
Pimplinae group".
The camera focusses fast but apparently not as fast as my first-ever ruby-tailed wasp, perhaps Chrysis ignita takes off in to the distance leaving an almost equally blurred ichneumon in its wake.
A White-tipped Sawfly Tenthredo livida.
Another sawfly: this is Tenthredo mesomela.
A new hoverfly for me and a strange one at this. It is a Small Spot-eye Eristalinus sepulchralis known to Obsidentify as Black Lagoon Fly (the creature from the black lagoon!).
Another view. Weird eyes! Why?
A Twin-spot Boxer hoverfly Platycheirus rosarum
This hoverfly had me puzzled. After research on Steven Falk's Flickr pages I concluded is the infrequently seen female form of the Common Twist-tail Sphaerophoria scripta. The abdomen of the female is significantly shorter than that of the male which is why the name "Long Hoverfly" has been dropped as not appropriate.
Hard to see against the background clutter is a female Broad-bodied Chaser dragonfly
Libellula depressa.
A strange fly I see every year. It is a Thick-headed Fly
Sicus ferrugineus. I like the alternative name of Ferruginous Bee-grabber. This group of flies sit with the tip of their abdomen folded back underneath. Why?
One I have been misidentifying. With the thin, tapering abdomen this is a Small Fleck-winged Snipe Fly Rhagio lineola and not a Black (or Common) Snipefly Chrysopilus cristatus as I have been assuming. Both are present in some number. This one had just flown in to a spider's web.
I think this is the gall fly
Urophora cuspidata. There are similar species, the precise shape of the black lines across the wing subtly differ and I hope I have this right.
Not very inspiring to look at is this nymph of a Common Flower Bug
Anthocoris nemorum. The bug itself is not much to look at either.
This nymph is of the Mirid bug Deraeocoris flavilinea.
A leaf beetle from the Donacia group is about all I can say. Too many similar species.
A new insect for me. A beetle, specifically a Garden Chafer Phyllopertha horticola
A spider I can identify! A Zebra Spider Salticus scenicus.
The white inflorescence of Meadowsweet [or Mead Wort] Filipendula ulmaria.
(Ed Wilson)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:
Moths:
2 Common Pugs Eupithecia vulgata
1 Common Marbled Carpet Chloroclysta truncata
Flies
15 midges of various species.
One of two Common Pug moths
Eupithecia vulgata on the ceiling. Seems to be a favourite resting place.
The other one.
(Ed Wilson)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Flash: 06:15 – 07:15
(142nd visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- initially seven adult Mute Swans with one departing. I was unable to get close enough to see whether any of these birds was ringed. No cygnet seen
- the duck Gadwall not seen.
- a trio of Tufted Duck again. Did they ever leave?
- the brood of two Coots were from what I believe to be the first to hatch. Despite these being well-grown they were in the nest and being fed by adults.
- two Great Crested Grebes. They did not seem interested it getting together, staying in different parts of the water.
Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 3 Jackdaws
Noted on / around the water:
- 139 Canada Geese
- 3 Greylag Geese
- 1 mainly white feral goose
- 7 Mute Swans: one departed
- no Gadwall
- 30 (25♂) Mallard
- 5 Moorhens again
- 24 + 2 (1 brood) Coots
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
Hirundines etc. noted:
- 8 Swifts
- 2 House Martins
Warblers recorded (the figure in brackets is birds noted singing):
- 4 (4) Chiffchaffs
- 3 (3) Blackcaps
Noted around the area:
Moths
1 unidentified pug moth
Bees, wasps etc.:
Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris
Common Wasp Paravespula vulgaris
Hoverflies:
Meadow Field Syrph Eupeodes latifasciatus [Broad-banded Aphideater]
Other flies:
numerous different midges and flies
Bugs:
none
Beetles:
unidentified probable dung beetle
larvae of Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis
Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis var. succinea: >5
Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
none
Not intended as a portrait of a drake Tufted Duck, merely to note that now in the post-breeding phase the white flanks are becoming a sullied grey. I will soon be reporting totals without attempting to sex them all.
I was none too surprised that Obsidentify was unable to help me identify this pug moth. It is well camouflaged against the street lamp pole and the pole is heavily streaked by leaves and branches that brushed against it in the winter gales. Hard to see!
A species of click beetle. There are too many that look like this. [not a dung beetle as I originally wrote]. No idea about its small friend, bottom right.
(Ed Wilson)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Between the Balancing Lake and The Flash:
Nothing of note
(Ed Wilson)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2013
Candles Landfill Site
4 Yellow-legged Gulls
c500 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
6 Herring Gulls
(Tom Lowe)
2007
Priorslee Lake
Common Tern
(Martin Adlam)
2006
Priorslee Lake
2 Ruddy Duck
(Ed Wilson)
