26 Apr 25

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

9.0°C > 13.0°C: Cloudy at medium level. Light south-easterly wind. Moderate visibility with haze again.

Sunrise: 05:48 BST

* = a species photographed today.

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:00 – 06:20 // 07:25 – 10:00

(104th visit of the year)

New here were my first Swifts of the year c.08:30. Bird species 93.5 this year here.

Bird notes:
- perhaps too much disturbance from dog-walkers: the pair of Gadwall was not noted.
- the duck Pochard still present.
- eight Lesser Black-backed Gulls arrived c.05:25, mostly adults. They left after a few minuted to the East and thus the three adults on the football field c.06:10 were different birds. At 05:35 nine Herring Gulls with an immature Lesser Black-backed Gull dropped in for a drink and bathe and were gone by 05:45.
- another possible sighting of a second Cetti's Warbler. A male was singing from one of its favourite perches when a small dark bird dived in to cover and the erstwhile singing Cetti's quickly followed it.
- six Sedge Warblers heard singing. My highest-ever numbers here during the passage period.
- a second singing Garden Warbler.
- Blackcap numbers even larger! They were everywhere today.
- the Lesser Whitethroat was again mostly heard singing from the dense Hawthorns alongside the West end path where it had a Sedge Warbler, a Garden Warbler and a Blackcap for company. I saw it make one rapid tour of all the bushes and trees between the path and the lake.
- only the male Common Whitethroat noted: at the West end.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 2 Greylag Geese: a pair inbound
- 15 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Collared Dove
- 7 Herring Gulls
- 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 2 Jackdaws
- 1 Rook
- 1 Raven

Counts from the lake area:
- 9 Canada Geese: of these three pairs and a single arrived separately
- 2 Greylag Geese: a pair briefly
- 4 Mute Swans: a pair arrived and had to be chased away. Neither resident visited the nest site
- no Gadwall
- 5 (3♂) Mallard
- 1 (0♂) Pochard
- 7 Moorhens
- 29 + 4 (2 broods) Coots
- 8 Great Crested Grebes
- 9 Herring Gulls
- 12 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Cormorant: arrived
- 1 Grey Heron: departed to the West 06:05

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 2 Swifts
- 4 Sand Martins
- 3 Barn Swallows
- 1 House Martin

Warblers recorded (the figure in brackets is birds noted singing):
- 1 (1) Cetti's Warbler: see notes – perhaps a second?
- 19 (14) Chiffchaffs
- 6 (6) Sedge Warblers
- 10 (10) Reed Warblers
- 21 (19) Blackcaps
- 2 (2) Garden Warbler
- 1 (1) Lesser Whitethroat
- 1 (1) Common Whitethroats

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

Flies:
1 Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly, Moth Fly or Owl Fly]

Springtails:
1 springtail Pogonognathellus longicornis

Beetles:
1 Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni

Spiders:
1 Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp.

So where are all the moths this year?

Also noted:

Bees, wasps etc.,:
Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris

Hoverflies:
Chequered Hoverfly Melanostoma scalare [Long-winged Duskyface]
Common Snout Rhingia campestris [Common Snout Fly; Heineken Fly]

Alder Flies:
Alder Fly Sialis lutaria

Other flies
possible male Murky-legged Black Legionnaire Beris chalybata
several other unidentified flies

Beetles:
Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni

Spiders:
Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp.
money spider sp.

Plants photographed:
Cleavers Galium aparine
Ribwort Plantain Plantago lanceolata

Not a sunrise worth getting up for this morning.

Two visiting Mute Swans arrive.

A Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris. It is the thin buff area between the white tail and the black of the abdomen that separates this species from the White-tailed Bumblebee B. lucorum. That species was never regarded as common in our area but the latest taxonomic thinking suggests that these bees are conspecific.

A female Chequered Hoverfly Melanostoma scalare. The shiny shows a reflection of me taking its photograph.

A very distinctive hoverfly that I have only seen in two previous years and then only in August. It is a Common Snout Rhingia campestris.

I think this fly is a male Murky-legged Black Legionnaire Beris chalybata . From NatureSpot [this species has] "...smoky wings and very hairy eyes. Males legs are dull yellow-brown but with dark tarsi and an inflated hind basitarsus".

Another view of what would be a new fly species for me.

An unusually well-patterned Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly, Moth Fly or Owl Fly]. None of 100 or so species can be identified from photos.

One of a number of unidentified flies from today.

Another unidentified fly.

The curled antennae make it almost certain that this springtail is Pogonognathellus longicornis.

Mostly they look black but with the light at a suitable angle Alder Leaf Beetles Agelastica alni look blue-black.

A Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp. on a street lamp pole pre-dawn.

This hairy plant is the very common Cleavers Galium aparine. I thought it was early for it to be showing its easy to overlook tiny white flowers. Indeed it is – the white is detritus from 'overhead' and not a flower at all.

This is the "flower" of a Ribwort Plantain Plantago lanceolata.

Helicopter of the day: at 2500 feet, just skimming the base of the cloud, is an AgustaWestland AW169 registered to Iceland International Ltd., part of the Iceland Foods group. It is kept at Hawarden Airport on the Welsh border near Chester near the company HQ on Deeside.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Flies
2 Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly, Moth Fly or Owl Fly]
1 cranefly Tipula vittata
1 other cranefly
7 midges of at least three species

A cranefly with very distinctively marked wings. It is Tipula vittata, a Spring-flying cranefly.

A much smaller species of cranefly with longer antennae and a striped thorax. I can't get an ID for this one.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:25 – 07: 20

(101st visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- the hybrid goose with the very pale face was noted for the first time since 08 April. Which reminds me I have not seen the Canada Goose with the "angel wing" deformity for several weeks.
- three Great Crested Grebes again!
- my third singing Sedge Warbler of the year here: along the East side.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 2 Jackdaws: singles

Noted on / around the water:
- 19 Canada Geese
- 1 Canada x Greylag Goose
- 1 Mute Swan: the other resident presumed to be on the island.
- 13 (11♂) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) feral Mallard x ?
- 11 (6♂) Tufted Duck
- 7 Moorhens
- 26 + ? (1 brood) Coots: juveniles still being brooded and not visible
- 3 Great Crested Grebes

Warblers recorded (the figure in brackets is birds noted singing):
- 7 (7) Chiffchaffs
- 1 (1) Sedge Warbler
- 4 (4) Blackcaps

Elsewhere:

Nothing of note

This goose was having a wash and would not stay still so the result is a bit blurred. It does however show the large pale area on the face and the orange bill – Canada Goose has a black bill as well as a clearly-defined white area on the head.

One of a pair of Treecreepers that rapidly climbed up the tree and disappeared.

(Ed Wilson)

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2014
Priorslee Lake
3 Cranes
(Observer Unknown)

The Wrekin
3 Wood Warbler
(Damon H, Jim A, Yvonne C)

2013
Priorslee Lake
1 Cormorant
1 Dunlin
1 Common Sandpipers
1 Yellow Wagtail
1 Wheatear
3 Reed Warblers
12 Blackcaps
7 Chiffchaffs
2 Willow Warblers
(Ed Wilson)

The Flash
3 Greylag Goose
1 Richardson's / Cackling-type Canada Goose
3 Pochard
7 Tufted Duck
4 Blackcaps
2 Chiffchaffs
4 Willow Warblers
2 Swallows
1 Redpoll
(Ed Wilson)

Trench Middle Pool
3 Great Crested Grebes
28 Greylag Geese
1 Tufted Duck
1 Blackcap
3 Chiffchaffs
3 Willow Warblers
(Ed Wilson)

Trench Lock Pool
3 Great Crested Grebes
6 Tufted Duck
2 Swifts
c.5 Sand Martins
c.30 Swallows
c.40 House Martins
1 Blackcap
1 Chiffchaff
1 Willow Warbler
Sparrowhawk
(Ed Wilson)

Nedge Hill
19 Wheatear
Swallows
(Richard Camp)

Long Lane, Wellington
c10 Ringed Plover
c10 Dunlin
Spotted Redshank
(JV Reeves)

2012
Priorslee Lake
1 Swift
12 House Martin
7 Swallow
(Martin Grant)

2011
The Wrekin
3 Pied Flycatcher
1 Common Redstart
2 Marsh Tit
1 Wood Warbler
(Ed Wilson)

2008
Priorslee Lake
Swift
3 Common Sandpipers
1 Sedge Warbler
6 Reed Warblers
9 Chiffchaffs
(Ed Wilson)

East of Priorslee Lake
6 Whitethroats
2 Skylarks
1 Yellowhammer
(Ed Wilson)

2007
Priorslee Lake
4 Great Crested Grebes
7 Greylag Geese
1 Tufted Duck
3 Swallows
3 Blackcaps
1 Chiffchaff
2 Jays
28 Magpies
(Ed Wilson)

Nedge Hill
1 Ring Ouzel
(Peter Nickless)

Priorslee Flash
1 Cormorant
Swallows
34 Blackbirds
6 Willow Warbler
1 Reed Bunting
(Ed Wilson)

Lanes to the east of Priorslee Flash
5 Mallard
1 Buzzard
1 Heron
Skylarks
Blackcaps
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
5 Great Crested Grebes
1 Heron
7 Tufted Ducks
2 Ruddy Ducks
1 Kestrel
1 Common Sandpiper
6 Stock Doves
1 Swift
2 Sand Martins
2 Swallows
1 Yellow Wagtail
2 Grey Wagtails
26 Wrens
26 Blackbirds
1 Sedge Warbler
3 Reed Warblers
1 Lesser Whitethroat
7 Blackcaps
6 Chiffchaffs
2 Willow Warblers
17 Magpies
1 Raven
7 Greenfinches
5 Reed Buntings.
(Ed Wilson)