9 May 25

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

4.0°C > 11.0°C: Clear skies apart from dead contrails. Some mist over the water. Just frosted in sheltered places. Light and variable breezes. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 05:23 BST

* = a species photographed today.
$ = my first sighting of the species for this year

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:10 – 06:10 // 07:10 – 09:35

(117th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- the pair of Canada Geese still with a single gosling
- the pair of Greylag Geese still with four goslings.
- the pair of Gadwall present early. Later the duck was seen being pursued in flight by a Lesser Black-backed Gull and neither Gadwall was seen subsequently.
- the duck Pochard in her usual place.
- still only one Great Crested Grebe juvenile confirmed.
- two Common Sandpipers noted.
- for only the second time this year I could hear a Sky Lark singing from over the fields to the East while I was walking around the lake area.
- a Reed Warbler was noted singing from the hedge between the South side and the M54. Not many reeds there!
- a noisy gang of Long-tailed Tits was noted moving quickly through the vegetation suggesting that at least one of the nests has fledged their juveniles. I did not get a clear-enough view to confirm the presence of juveniles.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 2 Canada Goose: pair outbound
- 5 Wood Pigeons
- 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 5 Jackdaws
- 3 Rooks
-2 Starlings

Counts from the lake area:
- 9 + 1 (1 brood) Canada Geese
- 2 + 4 (1 brood) Greylag Geese
- 2 Mute Swans: the pen occasionally away from the nest site
- 2 (1♂) Gadwall
- 7 (5♂) Mallard again
- 1 (0♂) Pochard
- 4 Moorhens
- 31 + 7 (3 broods) Coots
- 7 + 1 ? (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 2 Swifts
- 1 Barn Swallow

Warblers recorded (the figure in brackets is birds noted singing):
- 1 (1) Cetti's Warbler
- 15 (14) Chiffchaffs
- 11 (11) Reed Warblers
- 11 (11) Blackcaps again
- 2 (2) Garden Warblers

Noted on the West end street lamp poles pre-dawn:

Flies:
- 1 plumed midge sp.

Nothing else: too cold?

Noted later:

Butterflies:
none

Moths
none

Bees, wasps etc.:
Honey Bee Apis mellifera
Red-tailed Bumblebee Bombus lapidarius
Early Bumblebee Bombus pratorum
Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum
Common Wasp Paravespula vulgaris

Hoverflies:
Cheilosia albitarsus agg. either C. ranunculi [Early Buttercup Cheilosia] or C. albitarsis [Late Buttercup Cheilosia]
Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus
Tapered Dronefly Eristalis pertinax
Migrant Field Syrph Eupeodes corollae [Migrant Hoverfly; Migrant Aphideater]
$ Meadow Field Syrph Eupeodes latifasciatus [Broad-banded Aphideater]
Tiger Hoverfly Helophilus pendulus
Chequered Hoverfly Melanostoma scalare [Long-winged Duskyface]
$ Parhelophilus sp., likely P. frutetorum
Common Twist-tail Sphaerophoria scripta [Long Hoverfly; Common Globetail]
$ Humming Syrphus Syrphus ribesii [Common Flower Fly]
Orange-belted Leaf Licker Xylota segnis [Orange-belted Leafwalker]

Alder Flies:
Alder Fly Sialis lutaria

Dragon-/Damsel-flies:
Large Red Damselfly Pyrrhosoma nymphula

Other flies
Muscid fly, probably Helina reversio
European Cranefly Tipula paludosa
some more unidentified flies

Bugs:
Red-and-Black Froghopper Cercopis vulnerata
$ Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis var. succinea

Beetles:
Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni
Common Malachite Beetle Malachius bipustulatus

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp.

New flowers for the year:

None

Today's sunrise with mist over the lake.

Tucked up under one wing f the adult are the four Greylag Goose goslings.

It is not often I see a Coot out and about on the dam-face.

Whereas it is quite normal to see them fighting. Or at least sparring – I am not sure how serious it gets.

 Shall we dance? 

Apologies but it happened at extreme range. The Great Crested Grebe on the right is bringing a small fish for the juvenile that is just visible on the back of the other adult.

Both Garden Warblers are singing away full-time. This was the first to arrive and decided to sing in view today. I have yet to see the other one apart from one brief flight view as moved between hidden song-posts.

A Honey Bee Apis mellifera tucks in. No pollen on the pollen baskets – get busy!

That's it.

A Red-tailed Bumblebee Bombus lapidarius also tucks in, getting covered in pollen.

A typically scruffy-looking Early Bumblebee Bombus pratorum.

And another bumblebee that is unkempt-looking: a Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum.

A Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus with wings spread to show the very distinctive abdomen markings.

This is my first Meadow Field Syrph Eupeodes latifasciatus of the year. The alternative name of Broad-banded Aphideater indicates one of the separation features from the Migrant Field Syrph E. corollae.

One of three hoverflies in the genus Parhelophilus. All are more orange-toned that most hoverflies and are difficult to separate. Males are easier but this is a female! On date and location it is likely to be P. frutetorum.

The yellow scutellum (the area behind the thorax) on this slim hoverfly identifies it as a Common Twist-tail Sphaerophoria scripta.

At last: a female of the Syrphus ribesii / S. vitripennis pair where I can clearly that see the femur (top part) of the hind leg is yellow meaning that it is a Humming Syrphus S. ribesii.

And just like #11 buses (a London reference) two come along together. Less easy to see but the right hind leg is visible and has a yellow femur.

It is the leg colour in particular that is a clue to this hoverfly being an Orange-belted Leaf Licker Xylota segnis. The orange belt is hard to see with the wings closed.

I cast my shadow over it and it took off – too quickly to 'freeze' the action but the orange belt is clear-enough.

This is the larval-case of a damselfly, species not determined. When the adults are about emerge the larvae crawl up any convenient object and the adults emerge, dry their wings and fly away. This was on the boxing ring on the dam.

This is a Large Red Damselfly Pyrrhosoma nymphula.

A very different-looking fly. The build suggests on the Muscid (House) Flies and the curve in the outer edge of the wing suggests it is a Helina species. It is probably H. reversio.

Is this really my first ladybird of the year. I do believe it is. It is a Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis of the form succinea.

A Common Malachite Beetle Malachius bipustulatus.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Moths:
1 Small Phoenix Ecliptopera silaceata

Flies
1 Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly, Moth Fly or Owl Fly]
9 midges of various species.

Another Small Phoenix moth Ecliptopera silaceata on the ceiling. It was not there yesterday and was in a slightly different when I saw one two days ago.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:15 – 07:05

(114th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- no Great Crested Grebe. Very confusing

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: adult
- 1 Collared Dove: seemed not to be one of the local birds

Noted on / around the water:
- 16 Canada Geese
- 4 Greylag Geese
- 1 Mute Swan: the other resident presumed to be on the island.
- 19 (16♂) Mallard
- 2 (2♂) Tufted Duck
- 7 Moorhens
- 23 + 3 (1 brood) Coots

Hirundines etc. noted:

None

Warblers recorded (the figure in brackets is birds noted singing):
- 8 (8) Chiffchaffs
- 4 (3) Blackcaps

Noted around the area:

Moths:
1 probable Firethorn Leaf Miner Phyllonorycter leucographella

Beetles:
many Alder Leaf Beetles Agelastica alni
1 (Common) Cockchafer Melolontha melolontha : same place as yesterday

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
1 money spider-type

This tiny moth (as in 8mm [0.3" for oldies like me]) was a very unexpected find on one of the street lamp poles, luckily at eye-level. It is certainly a new species for me even though I read that Firethorn Leaf Miner Phyllonorycter leucographella is a common species.

I fouled up the photo of this money-spider yesterday. Not perfect today either. No idea as to species.

(Ed Wilson)

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2013
Priorslee Lake
Shelduck
(Ed Wilson)

2012
Priorslee Lake
Grasshopper Warbler
(John Isherwood)

2009
Nedge Hill
Whinchat
Wheatear
(John Isherwood)

2008
Priorslee Lake
Arctic Tern
(Ed Wilson)

Nedge Hill
2 Wheatear
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
2 Ruddy Ducks
(Ed Wilson)

8 May 25

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

8.0°C > 10.0°C: Cloudy apart from a clear spell 06:30 – 07:00. Light mainly north-easterly breeze. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 05:25 BST

* = a species photographed today
$ = my first sighting of the species for this year

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:10 – 06:15 // 07:15 – 09:25

(116th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
An uninspiring morning only relieved by a fly-over Little Egret at 08:50.

Other bird notes:
- the pair of Canada Geese still with a single gosling
- the pair of Greylag Geese still with four goslings.
- the cob Mute Swan was chasing a visitor away at 05:40. It was too dark to confirm whether it was the former resident pen. Again it was only the cob of the current residents that was seen.
- the pair of Gadwall present.
- *the duck Pochard in her usual place.
- no Great Crested Grebe juveniles confirmed. However one of the adult was swimming with wings arched over its back, likely sheltering one or more juveniles.
- I think it must be assumed that the Common Whitethroats have all moved on and it is likely none will breed here this year for the first time I can recall.
- a Greenfinch was seen doing its bat-like display flight over the West end footpath.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 1 Canada Goose: inbound
- 8 Wood Pigeons
- 2 Herring Gulls
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
- *1 Little Egret
- 4 Jackdaws
- 5 Rooks again

Counts from the lake area:
- 7 + 1 (1 brood) Canada Geese: see notes
- 2 + 4 (1 brood) Greylag Geese
- 2 Mute Swans for a while: a third presumed out of site on the nest: see notes
- 2 (1♂) Gadwall
- *7 (5♂) Mallard
- *1 (0♂) Pochard
- 3 Moorhens
- 27 + 12 (4 broods) Coots
- 6 + ? (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- *1 Yellow-legged Gull
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
- *1 Cormorant: arrived

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 9 Swifts at least
- 2 Barn Swallows

Warblers recorded (the figure in brackets is birds noted singing):
- 1 (1) Cetti's Warbler
- 17 (15) Chiffchaffs
- 12 (12) Reed Warblers again
- 11 (11) Blackcaps
- 2 (2) Garden Warblers again

Noted on the West end street lamp poles pre-dawn:

Flies:
- 1 plumed midge sp.

Spiders:
- *1 Stout Sac Spider Clubiona sp.

Noted later:

Butterflies:
none

Moths
none

Bees, wasps etc.:
none

Hoverflies:
Migrant Field Syrph Eupeodes corollae [Migrant Hoverfly; Migrant Aphideater]

Alder Flies:
Alder Fly Sialis lutaria

Dragon-/Damsel-flies:
none

Other flies
*female Murky-legged Black Legionnaire Beris chalybata
*male Bibio leucopterus
Scorpion Fly Panorpa species not determined
*$ cranefly, possibly Tipula flavolineata
European Cranefly Tipula paludosa
some more unidentified flies

Bugs:

*$ nymph of the Mirid bug Calocoris alpestris

*$ Striped Oak Bug Rhabdomiris striatellus: a Mirid bug

Beetles:
Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni
click beetle, almost certainly Athous haemorrhoidalis

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp.

New flowers for the year:
*$ Goat's-beard or Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon Tragopogon sp., probably Tragopogon pratensis minor
*$ Common Bird's-foot Trefoil Lotus corniculatus: leaves only so far.

This duck Mallard caught my eye with her unusual pale leading edge to her upper wings.

The markings are the same on both wings.

Keeping a watchful eye on me is the duck Pochard. It does look as if she has some wing damage and that is presumably why she is still here. No damage is evident when she flaps here wings though I have never caught that on camera for detailed inspection.

A gull conundrum. The new feathers on the mantle (back) of this first year bird seem pale, like a Herring Gull yet it seems dark otherwise and there is no pale at the base of the bill which I would expect by now.

The lack of pale inner primaries means it is not a Herring Gull and I can only think it is a first year Yellow-legged Gull. Nevertheless it still looks strangely dark.

Its favourite buoy having apparently sunk, the Cormorant is now using one of the yacht club's platforms to rest up.

No prizes for this Little Egret photo. It was already fast receding when I first noticed it.

Not a good photo of a Chiffchaff but recording unusual behaviour, calling from the fence around the football field during the breeding season. (the photo IS level – the fence runs away from me.)

A female Murky-legged Black Legionnaire Beris chalybata.

A male Bibio leucopterus. He spins fine thread from the swelling on his front legs to wrap his prey victim which he then presents to the female. Buying her a meal seems easier!

A cranefly with long antennae, striped thorax and dark stigma on its wings seems to make this Tipula flavolineata. A new species for me.

This looks to be a distinctive, albeit a small midge that I see every year in good numbers. I have never come close to getting an identity for it.

Same again. Common but unidentified.

Thanks to the Shropshire recorder I can tell you this is the nymph of the Mirid bug Calocoris alpestris

A handsome creature and that is just this Mirid bug, a Striped Oak Bug Rhabdomiris striatellus

A Stout Sac Spider Clubiona sp.

These are the leaves (and buds?) of Common Bird's-foot Trefoil Lotus corniculatus.

The long sepals surrounding the yet-to-open yellow flower are a good clue that this is my first Goat's-beard or Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon Tragopogon sp., probably Tragopogon pratensis minor of the year. "go-to-bed-at-noon" because, unusually, the flowers do indeed close up around noon.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Moths:
*1 $ White-shouldered House Moth Endrosis sarcitrella.

Flies
4 Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly, Moth Fly or Owl Fly]
*1 $ cranefly, just possibly Erioptera lutea.
12 midges of various species.

Very strange: for the third consecutive year I find a White-shouldered House Moth Endrosis sarcitrella on the wall of the tunnel. Still it is not in your house laying eggs on your clothes.

A small and delicate cranefly and likely one of the Limonid family. It those are dark tips to the halteres (they are somewhat obscured) then it could be Erioptera lutea.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:20 – 07:10

(113th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- no Mallard ducklings seen.
- six drake Tufted Duck initially on the water as a single and group of five. These flew off together leaving to the East. Some five minutes later two drakes splashed down. Two of the six?
- one Great Crested Grebe was sitting on a nest – where the duck Mallard with her six ducklings was seen yesterday.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: adults
- 1 Jackdaw

Noted on / around the water:
- 18 Canada Geese
- 5 Greylag Geese again
- 1 Mute Swan: the other resident presumed to be on the island.
- 14 (12♂) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) feral Mallard x ?
- *6 (8?) (6 (8?)♂) Tufted Duck: see notes
- 5 Moorhens
- 17 Coots

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 1 Barn Swallow
- House Martin(s) heard only

Warblers recorded (the figure in brackets is birds noted singing):
- 6 (6) Chiffchaffs again
- 7 (6) Blackcaps again

Noted around the area:

Flies:
1 Hilara species of dagger fly

Beetles:
many Alder Leaf Beetles Agelastica alni
*$ 1 (Common) Cockchafer Melolontha melolontha

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
1 money spider-type

Six drake Tufted Duck depart together. Was it two of these returning that splashed down some minutes later?

Somewhat perplexing: a (Common) Cockchafer Melolontha melolontha I found sitting(?) some 15 feet up one of the street lamp poles. Apparently there have been other sightings in Priorslee area in the last few days. I can't remember when I last saw one in the UK.

Plane of he day: during the brief clear spell this Airbus A380 SuperJumbo of Lufthansa flew over. Like many A380s it was "put out to grass" during Covid and expected to stay parked for good. Air travel recovered more quickly than expected and, like British Airways, Etihad and Qatar, Lufthansa decided to resuscitate their A380s and they are once more earning their keep.

The FlightRadar24 data for the flight.

(Ed Wilson)

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Between the Balancing Lake and The Flash

Nothing of real interest 

(Ed Wilson)

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2010
Priorslee Lake
1 Wheatear
1 Common Sandpiper
(John Isherwood)

Nedge Hill
6 Wheatear
(John Isherwood)

2008
Priorslee Lake
Spotted Flycatcher
5 Black Terns
(Ed Wilson)

Nedge Hill
2 Wheatears
3 Ravens
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
2 Ruddy Duck
(Ed Wilson)