2 Feb 25

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

4.0°C > 5.0°C: Again just a few gaps in medium overcast. A keen and moderate southerly wind, gusting fresh. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 07:50 GMT

* = a species photographed today

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 06:25 – 09:10

(26th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- what looked to be a single Canada Goose outbound in formation with a single Greylag Goose. One sounded rather strange and I wonder whether one (which?) was one of the Canada x Greylag hybrids. It was still too dark to confirm visually.
- yesterday's (Eurasian) Wigeon and (Common) Teal had moved on, An additional duck Pochard had arrived.
- continued decline on Coot numbers: over 100 have departed since the December peak (similarly over 100 have departed from The Flash since the unprecedented numbers seen in late 2024). Where do they come from and go to? And when? I have never seen one fly in or out in all the years I have been watching in the area.
- back to four Great Crested Grebes.
- many of the larger gulls flew by to the East with the number on he water well down.
- nine Redwings were again flushed from a roost along the North side: my previous highest roost count here this winter was just four.
- eight Song Thrushes were heard singing with another three seen.
- a Mistle Thrush was singing near the Castle Farm Way gate. Another(?) was heard giving its rattling call near the Teece Drive gate.
- a Greenfinch was heard giving its harsh territorial call for the first time here this year. Another was heard giving its territorial song for the first time though this was being given from a perch rather than in display flight.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 1 Canada Goose: outbound, but see notes
- 1 Greylag Geese: single outbound, but see notes; pair inbound
- 1 Feral Pigeon
- 17 Wood Pigeons: of these ten flew south-east together
- 2 Collared Doves: together
- 8 Black-headed Gulls
- 13 Herring Gulls
- 96 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 3 Cormorants: together
- 70 Jackdaws
- 89 Rooks
- 4 Redwings
- 1 Greenfinch

Counts from the lake area:
- 32 Canada Geese: of these 12 departed in three groups
- 2 Mute Swans
- 2 (1♂) Gadwall
- 6 (4♂) Mallard
- 2 (0♂) Pochard
- 18 (8♂) Tufted Duck
- 7 Moorhens
- 138 Coots
- 4 Great Crested Grebes
- c.100 Black-headed Gulls
- 14 Herring Gulls
- 1 Yellow-legged Gull
- 44 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Cormorant: arrived
- 1 Grey Heron: arrived 07:04
- 1 Great (White) Egret
- 1 Kingfisher: heard only

Street lamp poles
Nothing noted on the street lamp poles pre dawn:
Too windy and chilly

Telford Sailing Club
Noted around Telford Sailing Club HQ pre dawn.

Barkflies:
- *2 barkflies Valenzuela flavidus

Spiders etc.:
- 3 spiders not specifically identified

Noted later:
Nothing

New Bird Species
No additions to the bird species on my site for here in 2025

Very little of interest around the lake and too dull for photos anyway. This is one of two barkflies Valenzuela flavidus on one wall of the Telford Sailing Club HQ pre-dawn.

(Ed Wilson)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Flash: 09:15 – 10:35

(24th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- two additional drake Pochard joined yesterday's pair.
- a Little Grebe seen briefly again. I suspect it is always here at the moment though seeing it is more difficult.
- *a pair of Bullfinches were seen eating buds at the top end of squirrel alley.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
None

Noted on / around the water:
- 37 Canada Geese: of these 17 departed in five groups
- 4 Greylag Geese
- 4 Mute Swans
- 36 (23♂) Mallard
- *4 (3♂) Pochard
- 49 (26♂) Tufted Duck
- *14 Moorhens
- *36 Coots
- 1 Little Grebe
- *95 Black-headed Gulls
- 2 Herring Gulls: one adult; one second winter, both briefly
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: adult, briefly
- 1 Cormorant

Of note elsewhere:
Nothing

New Bird Species
No additions to the bird species on my site for here in 2025

A very soggy-looking Mrs. Pochard.

This Moorhen managed to grab some of the food on offer and made off at high speed pursued by a posse of gulls. I had zoomed the camera too much to capture the chase. What you can see here and do not notice very often is the red garter at the top of the leg.

Two pairs (I assume) of Coots meet.

Let's dance! I assume that Coots can tell each other apart. They all look the same to me.

I am not sure dancing was quite what they had in mind! On the bird bottom-centre the secondary feathers show white tips. This feature is never easy to see.

Take that! The claws on the end of the lobed feet are leaving streaks in the plumage of the opponent.

They never seem to draw blood.

Not too much else to photograph. A random selection of Black-headed Gulls seen attempting to steal food. An adult winter bird.

Another adult winter with a more contrasting bill.

And another.

Another with some dark feathers starting to appear on the head.

Here a first winter with a black tail-band, dark brown feathers across the leading edge of the wing and a less-orange base to the black-tipped bill. In first summer plumage some birds will get some dark feathers on the head but all will retain the dark, but sometimes faded, tail-band.

This adult bird it is well on the way to the full dark hood this species acquires in the breeding season. Note the bill no longer shows the black tip and is more or less all dark red.

Mrs. Bullfinch, one of a pair seen.

Munch, munch, munch. To the annoyance of fruit-tree growers the favourite food of Bullfinches is buds. In olden days many thousands of Bullfinches were killed every year in Kent – the apple-growing area of Britain (as well Herefordshire). Luckily that does not happen here and their annual feast on the Blackthorn and Hawthorn bushes seems to have little impact of the flowering.

Is she falling off her perch?

More buds being eaten.

(Ed Wilson)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2014
Priorslee Lake
1 female Velvet Scoter
3 Scaup

2012
Priorslee Lake
Dunlin
6 Great Crested Grebes
14 Pochard
58 Tufted Duck
1 Dunlin
>5000 gulls, mostly Lesser Black-backed Gulls
1 Common Gull
20 Great Black-backed Gulls
(Ed Wilson, Mike Cooper)

Trench Pool
11 Pochard
46 Tufted Ducks
94 Coots
(Ed Wilson)

2011
Priorslee Lake
14 Pochard
19 Tufted Ducks
2 Sparrowhawk
16 Linnets
Siskin in song
4 Pale Brindled Beauty moths
(Ed Wilson)

2009
Priorslee Lake
3 Golden Plover
Willow Tit
(Ed Wilson)

2007
Priorslee Lake
19 Pochard
32 Tufted Ducks
1 Goosander
1 Goldeneye
>700 Black-headed Gulls
>432 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
c.30 Herring Gulls
34 Robins
17 Blackbirds
3 Redwings
1 Willow Tit
34 Magpies
11 Reed Buntings
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
10 Great Crested Grebes
2 Little Grebe
2 Gadwall
16 Pochard
101 Tufted Ducks
159 Coots
1 Water Rail
c.1100 Black-headed Gulls
16 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
14 Herring Gulls
2 Great Black-backed Gulls.
1 Willow Tit
2 Siskins
13 Reed Buntings
(Ed Wilson)