4 Mar 25

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

1.0°C > 9.0°C: Clear to start with mist rolling in from the East for a short while. Then clear again with just thin high cloud to the West. Another calm start with light / moderate south-westerly wind developing. Very good visibility but poor during the short misty period.

Sunrise: 06:50 GMT

* = a species photographed today

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:50 – 09:15

(52nd visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- at least seven Canada Geese: a pair was seen to depart; a pair and a quintet arrived.
- one adult Mute Swan and the dead body of its partner.
- what seems to be the same duck(?) Pochard seen again. Has it been lurking unseen for a few days?
- a Goosander flew West at 06:40. I think a drake but there was still not enough light to be certain
- a Woodcock flushed off the South side grassy area c.06:15 heading towards the M54.
- eight Great Crested Grebes. Three pairs.
- many more gulls today. At least 50 large gulls were on the water by 06:10 when it was still too dark to pick out any Herring Gulls among them. Later a group of eight immature Herring Gulls visited.
- there were at least 100 Black-headed Gulls by 06:30. None was seen after 07:00.
- the Jackdaws and Rooks probably passed over unseen during the misty period.
- a Chiffchaff was singing near the Teece Drive gate c.07:00. Later one was heard calling in the same general area with a brief sighting of a silent bird later still. Likely all the same individual.
- a Reed Buntings started calling from deep in the reeds at the West end at 06:40 and five minutes later had just about begun to string a few notes of its desultory song together, continuing to stay hidden..

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 5 Canada Geese: one flew South; a quartet inbound
- *2 Greylag Geese: outbound together (same as yesterday?)
- 1 (♂?) Goosander
- 17 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Black-headed Gull
- 2 Herring Gulls
- 26 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 9 Jackdaws
- no Rooks

Counts from the lake area:
- 7+ Canada Geese: see notes
- 1 Mute Swan: plus *one killed?
- 5 (3♂) Gadwall
- 4 (3♂) Mallard
- *1 (0♂) Pochard
- 15 (9♂) Tufted Duck
- 8 Moorhen
- 63 Coots
- 8 Great Crested Grebes
- c.100 Black-headed Gulls
- 8 Herring Gulls
- c.50 Lesser Black-backed Gull-types
- 4 Cormorants: arrived individually

Seen later:

Nothing

Noted on the street lamp poles pre dawn:

Moths:
*1 Dotted Border Agriopis marginaria

Ugh! What more can I say.

Beginning to clear.

Sunrise.

 Beautifully sunny later with just thin high cloud encroaching from the West.

Two Greylag Geese. Two flew across about the same time yesterday: the same pair?

The dead Mute Swan has been in the water for at least 24 hours so it could have been attacked by e.g. a Pike Esox lucius, but I suspect this wound was deliberately inflicted by person(s) unknown.

 The Pochard never seems to tyre (sic!) of resting near here.

There are too many Magpies around and there are too many collective nouns for groups of Magpies. I have recently noted a number of these gatherings outside the communal roost locations. I recall reading that these are thought often to be young birds looking for mates. Swapping between families is a way of strengthening the gene pool.

A distant view of yet another Long-tailed Tit with nesting material. A third site here.

This morning's Dotted Border moth Agriopis marginaria. The cross-lines on the wings of this specimen are less clear but the 'dotted border' is more obvious.

Willow catkins ("pussy willow") about to open.

More flowers of Blackthorn Prunus spinosa . The strange thing is that these flowers were in deep shade alongside Teece Drive and the Wesley Brook whereas most of the plants around the lake, many in the open, have yet to show any flowers. Perhaps the warmer micro-climate from the shelter and water off-sets the lack of direct sun. (Mr. Google now with improved AI!) tells me all Blackthorns are the same species but there are different varieties. Helpful: not.

Planes of the day travelling together.

FlightRadar24 data for one: note the height as 37000'.

FR24 data for the other flying at 39000' - typical separation is 2000' with odd-numbered heights when southbound. Northbound flights would use even numbered heights - 36000' or 38000' though the corresponding airways would also be laterally off-set.

And something I have never noted previously. The aircraft are on EXACTLY the same heading - you can see the trail of the Ryanair Boeing inside the trail of the IT Airways Airbus aircraft towards the top of the view. Such is the accuracy of navigation via GPS along the same airway.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:20 – 10:30

(50th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- another pair of Mute Swans present (that was quick) causing some consternation to the residents.
- I surmise that some Mallard are now hidden away at nest sites, hence the lower number recorded.
- no Great Crested Grebes seen.
- it is likely that many Black-headed Gulls have left for their breeding grounds. They typically breed on islands on inland lakes and are not "sea gulls".

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 1 Black-headed Gull
- 1 Herring Gull
- 1 Jackdaw

Noted on / around the water:
- 19 Canada Geese
- 4 Greylag Geese
- *5 Mute Swans: see notes
- *21 (14♂) Mallard
- *1 (1♂) feral Mallard [’Aylesbury Duck’]
- 2 (2♂) Pochard
- 53 (35♂) Tufted Duck
- 15 Moorhens
- 30 Coots
- no Great Crested Grebe
- no Black-headed Gulls
- 2 Herring Gulls: un-aged immatures departed together
- 1 Cormorant

Of note:

Nothing apart from:
*1 Dandelion sp. probably Taraxacum officinale: my first of the year

All five Mute Swans here. The two immatures from last year last year are in the foreground. To left and right are the new arrivals with the surviving resident adult in the middle trying to persuade them to leave. If I am correct that the survivor is the pen perhaps she only wants the visiting pen to leave!

After many months of absence the all-white feral Mallard or ’Aylesbury Duck’ seems to be becoming a regular again. Not easy to overlook!

That, Mrs. Mallard, is where the Grey Heron sits (not that he has been around for several weeks).

And that is not a very elegant departure.

My first flower of a Dandelion sp. probably Taraxacum officinale: the taxonomy of this 'species' is a minefield with some authorities suggesting there are hundreds of individual species. The seeds from the 'clocks' produce clones of the single parent and no cross-pollination occurs. Which sounds OK except how did so many species evolve? Answers.... Dandelion is a corruption of the French "dent de lion" meaning "lion's tooth", referring to the leaf shape. I have never looked that closely at a lion.

(Ed Wilson)

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2014
Priorslee Lake
3 Great Crested Grebes
13 Cormorants
4 Greylag Geese
22 Tufted Duck
5 Sand Martins
6 Redwings
8 Chiffchaffs
>500 Jackdaws
(Ed Wilson)

The Flash
50 Tufted Ducks
4 Chiffchaffs
4 Siskins
(Ed Wilson)

2013
Priorslee Lake
1 Little Grebe
6 Great Crested Grebes
1 Cormorant
7 Wigeon
2 Gadwall
1 Pochard
42 Tufted Ducks
1 Great Black-backed Gull
Mediterranean Gull.
Ring-billed x Lesser Black-backed Gull.
>1500 Black-headed Gulls
2 Redwings
65 Magpies
25 Siskins
2 Reed Buntings
(Ed Wilson)

The Flash
2 Great Crested Grebes
6 Swans
2 Pochard
85 Tufted Duck
(Ed Wilson)

2010
Priorslee Lake
3 Buzzards
1 Little Grebe
5 Great Crested Grebe
4 Gadwall
36 Tufted Duck
c.160 Jackdaws
(Ed Wilson)

The Flash
4 Great Crested Grebe
3 Greylag Geese
32 Tufted Duck

Trench
1 Cormorant
43 Tufted Ducks
(Ed Wilson)

2007
Priorslee Lake
Little Ringed Plover
1 Cormorant
1 Mallard x Pintail
18 Tufted Duck
1 Ruddy Duck
1 Little Ringed Plover
1 Kittiwake
33 Wren
29 Robin
24 Blackbird
3 Chiffchaff
39 Magpie
3 Greenfinch
6 Reed Bunting
(Ed Wilson)

The Flash
8 Great Crested Grebe
2 Pochard
27 Tufted Duck
1 Snipe
3 Chiffchaff
2 Reed Bunting
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
1 Barn Owl
1 Little Grebe
5 Great Crested Grebes
1 Shoveler
30 Tufted Ducks
2 Water Rails
321 Wood Pigeons
2 Skylarks
5 Meadow Pipits
33 Wrens
21 Robins
21 Blackbirds
1 Fieldfare
3 Redwings
1 Chiffchaff
1 Willow Tit
18 Greenfinches
8 Siskins
1 Linnet
6 Reed Buntings
1 Yellowhammer.
(Ed Wilson)