21 May 25

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

10.0°C > 14.0°C: Early cloud mostly clearing away to the East. Moderate north-westerly breeze. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 05:04 BST

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

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:15 – 06:15 // 07:25 – 09:45

(125th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- the pair of Canada Geese still with a single gosling
- the pair of Greylag Geese still with three goslings.
- a drake Gadwall seen flying off East c.05:45. Could its mate be nesting somewhere nearby?
- no Mallard ducklings seen.
- the duck Pochard present and correct again.
- no Tufted Duck seen.
- in addition to the nine broods of Coots counted at least two other broods were heard begging for food from inside the edge vegetation.
- the single juvenile Great Crested Grebe again in the water.
- back to two singing Garden Warblers: #2 still singing more or less continually. #1 was heard briefly twice: perhaps he has found a mate?
- six Starlings, including juveniles, were seen on the handrails(?) atop the academy building.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 1 Stock Dove
- 4 Wood Pigeons
- 4 Herring Gulls
- 7 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Grey Heron
- no Jackdaws
- 1 Rook

Counts from the lake area:
- 3 + 1 (1 brood) Canada Geese
- 2 + 3 (1 brood) Greylag Geese
- 1 Mute Swan: the other resident assumed to be on the nest: see also notes
- 1 (1♂) Gadwall: departed?
- 6 (4♂) Mallard
- 1 (0♂) Pochard
- no Tufted Duck
- 1 Moorhen only
- 28 + 23 (9 broods) Coots: see notes
- 5 + 1 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls

Hirundines etc. noted:

None

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

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

Leafhopper:
- *1 probably Tachycixius pilosus

Noted later:
Note: I concentrated on trying to find different things in different locations.

Butterflies:
*Large White Pieris brassicae
*$ Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta

Moths
Timothy Tortrix Zelotherses paleana
*Common Nettle-tap Anthophila fabriciana
Silver-ground Carpet Xanthorhoe montanata

Bees, wasps etc.:
Garden Bumblebee Bombus hortorum
Early Bumblebee Bombus pratorum
Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris
Common Wasp Paravespula vulgaris
*unidentified ichneumon

Hoverflies:
*Bumblebee Blacklet Cheilosia illustrata [Bumblebee Blacklet]
*Cheilosia albitarsus agg. either C. ranunculi [Early Buttercup Cheilosia] or C. albitarsis [Late Buttercup Cheilosia]
Figwort Blacklet Cheilosia variabilis
Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus
*Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax
*Tiger Hoverfly Helophilus pendulus
*Chequered Hoverfly Melanostoma scalare [Long-winged Duskyface]
*Parhelophilus sp.
*Common Twist-tail Sphaerophoria scripta [Long Hoverfly; Common Globetail]
*Bumblebee Plume-horned Hoverfly Volucella bombylans [Bumblebee Plumehorn] var. plumata

Alder Flies:
none

Dragon-/Damsel-flies:
Azure Damselfly Coenagrion puella
*Common Blue Damselfly Enallagma cyathigerum [Common Bluet]
Blue-tailed Damselfly Ischnura elegans

Other flies
dagger fly Empis tessellata
Grouse Wing caddis fly Mystacides longicornis
*many female Yellow Dung Flies Scathophaga stercoraria
Scorpion Fly Panorpa communis
*caddisfly, probably Tinodes waeneri
Common Crane-fly Tipula oleracea
Scorpion Fly Panorpa communis
plus
many other boring and / or strange flies

Bugs:
Red-and-Black Froghopper Cercopis vulnerata

Beetles:
Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni
*$ Hazel Leaf-roller [or Hazel Leaf-rolling Weevil] Apoderus coryli
*$ soldier beetle Cantharis nigricans
*$ False Blister Beetle Oedemera lurida or O. virescens

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

New plants for the year

None

Hard to be certain when the wings are closed tight. I think this butterfly is a Large White Pieris brassicae.

This might win a photographic booby prize. My excuse is that the Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta stayed only seconds on the fence and was gone.

I noted three of these Common Nettle-tap moths Anthophila fabriciana at various places around the lake.

As with most in the family this will have to stay as "unidentified ichneumon".

Unlike most of its cousins in the Cheilosia group this Bumblebee Blacklet C. illustrata is not all-black and another hoverfly pretending to be a bumblebee.

I am almost sure this has to be a Late Buttercup Cheilosia Cheilosia albitarsus. But...

It is many weeks since I last noted a Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax and this morning there was one at The Flash as well. No Tapered Dronefly E. pertinax today. Apart from body shape, most pronounced in males (which this is) it is the extent of pale on the front legs that clinches the ID.

A Chequered Hoverfly Melanostoma scalare with the triangular yellow spots on the abdomen just about visible through her folded wings.

Compare and contrast time. This one of the three Parhelophilus species of so-called "mini-tiger" hoverflies that are noticeably orange compared with...

... this Tiger Hoverfly Helophilus pendulus. The difference may be slightly exaggerated as this is in the shade.

This taught me something. It looked like a Common Twist-tail hoverfly Sphaerophoria scripta but the yellow bands seemed too narrow. Reference to Steven Falk's comprehensive Flickr collection solved the puzzle. It is a female that does indeed have narrower bands (and is shorter than the male). I perhaps have never seen / noticed a female previously.

My first of the year yesterday and now another Bumblebee Plume-horned Hoverfly Volucella bombylans [Bumblebee Plumehorn] again of the form plumata with the white "tail".

Most years I see dragonflies basking on bare earth to warm up. I cannot recall seeing a damselfly, in this instance a Common Blue Damselfly Enallagma cyathigerum, sunning itself. Why not.

We have to have another female Yellow Dung Fly Scathophaga stercoraria

According to Obsidentify this caddisfly is Tinodes waeneri. I have very little literature on what I know is a challenging group to identify so I will go along with the suggestion.

I am frustrated with not being able to get any identification for this apparently very obvious critter. A midge(?) with short wings (or a long body) and in this, I presume a male, almost "Christmas Tree" antennae.

Noted on the West end street lamp poles around-dawn was this leafhopper, probably Tachycixius pilosus though there are similar species that require more detailed examination.

Definitely my "find of the day" and a species I am sure I have never seen before. It is a Hazel Leaf-roller, also known as a Hazel Leaf-rolling Weevil, Apoderus coryli. Eye-catching!

My first soldier beetle Cantharis nigricans of the year and just over a week later than my first record in 2024.

A False Blister Beetle, either Oedemera lurida or O. virescens. Also about a week later than my first record last year.

This is one of the Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha species. Whether the individuals that lay in wait stretched out on leaves (often along the leaf-spine) are different from those that spin a web I am unsure. Could be the distinction between males and females?

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Moths:
*$1 Green Carpet Colostygia pectinataria

Flies
4 owl midges Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly, Moth Fly or Owl Fly] again
15 midges of various species.

A Green Carpet moth Colostygia pectinataria. This is a very fresh specimen: the green rapidly fades after emergence.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:20 – 07:20

(122nd visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- only the trio of Canada Goose goslings noted. The other family with the single gosling could have been inside the island.
- a trio of visiting Mute Swans still present. The resident cob was mostly asleep. I presumed the pen and cygnets were inside the island.
- a pair of Mallard seen with two small ducklings alongside the island: a family not seen previously.
- just one Great Crested Grebe again.

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

Noted on / around the water:
- *19 + 3 (1 brood) Canada Geese
- 1 Greylag Goose: arrived
- 4 + ? (1 brood) Mute Swan: see notes
- 21 (17♂) + 2 (1 brood) Mallard
- 5 Moorhens
- 17 + 1 (1 brood) Coots
- 1 Great Crested Grebe again

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 8 Swifts again
- 2 House Martins

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

Noted around the area:

Moths
*$1 micromoth Epiblema sp., either E. scutulana [Thistle Root-borer] or E. cirsiana [Knapweed Root-borer].
1 Pale Tussock Calliteara pudibunda: for its fifth day, still rotated 90 degrees.

Bees, wasps etc.:
*Early Bumblebee Bombus pratorum
Common Wasp Paravespula vulgaris

Hoverflies:
Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus
Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax [Common Drone Fly]

Other flies:
Grouse Wing caddis fly Mystacides longicornis
*$ dagger fly Rhamphomyia subcinerascens or similar
female Yellow Dung Flies Scathophaga stercoraria
still unidentified and still deceased cranefly
numerous different midges and flies

Beetles
Alder Leaf Beetles Agelastica alni
++ these are unusually difficult to find this year though the Alder leaves are well chewed.

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
female harvestman Leiobunum blackwalli

How cute. Pity these Canada Goose goslings will grow up.

"Feed me Mum" (or Dad)!

This micromoth is one of the Epiblema species, either E. scutulana [Thistle Root-borer] or E. cirsiana [Knapweed Root-borer]. I will ask the Shropshire Recorder for his thoughts but the literature suggests these species are not separable from photos. Both food-plants are plentiful in the area. Evolution has allowed this to develop to appear, at first glance, like a bird-dropping and not worth eating.

An Early Bumblebee Bombus pratorum. It is an "early"-flying species but far from exclusively so.

A Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax.

This is a dagger fly Rhamphomyia subcinerascens or similar.

(Ed Wilson)

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2012
Priorslee Lake
Grasshopper Warbler
(Ed Wilson)

2009
Priorslee Lake
Redshank
Common Tern
(Ed Wilson)

Nedge Hill
Cuckoo
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
1 Ruddy Duck
(Ed Wilson)