Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash
3.0°C > 10.0°C: Clear until after 09:00 when a few clouds began to develop and the hitherto calm conditions gave way to a light but chilly north-easterly breeze. Thereafter a few sunny spells. A keen moderate, even fresh, northerly wind. Very good visibility.
3.0°C > 10.0°C: Clear until after 09:00 when a few clouds began to develop and the hitherto calm conditions gave way to a light but chilly north-easterly breeze. Thereafter a few sunny spells. A keen moderate, even fresh, northerly wind. Very good visibility.
Sunrise: 05:28 BST
* = a species photographed today.
$ = my first sighting of the species for this year
Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:15 – 06:15 // 07:15 – 09:50
(114th visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- the pair of Canada Geese still with a single goslings. There was another pair being given grief by the parents. Also two singles, one at each end of the water: could these have partners on nests somewhere?
- the pair of Greylag Geese still with four goslings.
- a (the?) pair of Gadwall back and seen several times.
- the duck Pochard was not seen today.
- *two of the Great Crested Grebes were often seen close together with one having wings slightly arched over its back with a single recently hatched juvenile just visible. Probably more juveniles hiding.
- two Common Sandpipers.
- yesterday no Lesser Whitethroat seen or heard: today no Common Whitethroat see or head. Could just be busy nesting.
Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 2 Stock Doves: a pair outbound
- 7 Wood Pigeons
- no gulls
- 4 Jackdaws again
- 1 Rook
- 2 Starlings again
Counts from the lake area:
- 6 + 1 (1 brood) Canada Geese: see notes
- 2 + 4 (1 brood) Greylag Geese
- 2 Mute Swans
- 2 (1♂) Gadwall
- 5 (3♂) Mallard
- no Pochard
- 3 Moorhens
- 31 + 14 (5 broods) Coots
- *7 + 1+ (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes: see notes
- 2 Common Sandpipers
- no gulls
Hirundines etc. noted:
- 1 Swifts: a single on three occasions. Same?
- 1 Barn Swallow
Warblers recorded (the figure in brackets is birds noted singing):
- 1 (1) Cetti's Warbler
- 22 (20) Chiffchaffs
- 9 (9) Reed Warblers
- 16 (16) Blackcaps
- 2 (2) Garden Warblers still
- no Common Whitethroat
Noted on the West end street lamp poles pre-dawn:
Nothing on slightly frosted and dew-covered poles
Noted later:
Noted later:
Butterflies:
*Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria
*Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria
Moths
none
none
Bees, wasps etc.:
*Garden Bumblebee Bombus hortorum
Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris
*Red Mason Bee Osmia bicornis
*Garden Bumblebee Bombus hortorum
Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris
*Red Mason Bee Osmia bicornis
Hoverflies:
Cheilosia albitarsus agg. either C. ranunculi [Early Buttercup Cheilosia] or C. albitarsis [Late Buttercup Cheilosia]
*Dimorphic Bearfly Criorhina berberina [Dimorphic Bumblefly]
Spring Epistrophe Epistrophe eligans [Spring Smoothtail]
Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus
Tapered Dronefly Eristalis pertinax
Migrant Field Syrph Eupeodes corollae [Migrant Hoverfly; Migrant Aphideater]
$ Blotch-winged Hoverfly Leucozona lucorum [Blotch-winged Whitebelt]
Chequered Hoverfly Melanostoma scalare [Long-winged Duskyface]
Grey-spotted Boxer Platycheirus albimanus [Grey-spotted Sedgesitter or White-footed Hoverfly]
Syrphus sp. S. ribesii / S. vitripennis
*$ Orange-belted Leaf Licker Xylota segnis [Orange-belted Leafwalker]
Cheilosia albitarsus agg. either C. ranunculi [Early Buttercup Cheilosia] or C. albitarsis [Late Buttercup Cheilosia]
*Dimorphic Bearfly Criorhina berberina [Dimorphic Bumblefly]
Spring Epistrophe Epistrophe eligans [Spring Smoothtail]
Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus
Tapered Dronefly Eristalis pertinax
Migrant Field Syrph Eupeodes corollae [Migrant Hoverfly; Migrant Aphideater]
$ Blotch-winged Hoverfly Leucozona lucorum [Blotch-winged Whitebelt]
Chequered Hoverfly Melanostoma scalare [Long-winged Duskyface]
Grey-spotted Boxer Platycheirus albimanus [Grey-spotted Sedgesitter or White-footed Hoverfly]
Syrphus sp. S. ribesii / S. vitripennis
*$ Orange-belted Leaf Licker Xylota segnis [Orange-belted Leafwalker]
Alder Flies:
Alder Fly Sialis lutaria
Alder Fly Sialis lutaria
Dragon-/Damsel-flies:
*$ Common Blue Damselfly Enallagma cyathigerum [Common Bluet]
*Large Red Damselfly Pyrrhosoma nymphula
*$ Common Blue Damselfly Enallagma cyathigerum [Common Bluet]
*Large Red Damselfly Pyrrhosoma nymphula
Other flies
*$ Scorpion Fly Panorpa germanica
many unidentified flies
*$ Scorpion Fly Panorpa germanica
many unidentified flies
Bugs:
*Red-and-Black Froghopper Cercopis vulnerata
*Red-and-Black Froghopper Cercopis vulnerata
Beetles:
Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni
Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni
Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp.
Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp.
New flowers for the year:
*Brooklime (Speedwell) Veronica beccabunga
The sun had risen by now: I hid it behind trees, increasingly difficult to do as the sunrise moved further toward the north-east.
A head-and-shoulders view. Well hidden by the folded wing it is the heart-shaped mark on the second abdominal segment that identifies the species though the marks on the thorax are also useful. All damsel- and dragonflies are voracious predators and will tackle flies larger than themselves.
My second Red-and-Black Froghopper Cercopis vulnerata of the year and again just one today. Why "Red-and-Black" and not "Black-and-Red"?
This is Brooklime (Speedwell) Veronica beccabunga. It is a plant with leathery leaves and small blue flowers growing along the water's edge
Plane of the day: a Boeing 747 400 series freighter of Challenge Airlines of Belgium. A 2003-build aircraft. Always a dedicated freighter it was with China Airlines for 21 years.
(Ed Wilson)
In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:
*Brooklime (Speedwell) Veronica beccabunga
A clear sky this morning.
Just visible is the striped head of a juvenile Great Crested Grebe on its parent's back which is how they are carried for the first few days after hatching. There are probably siblings keeping warm and not visible.
No juveniles are visible here...
...just one again in view, here with both parents.
A Long-tailed Tit has found another caterpillar to feed to its brood.
A "bad feather" day with the wind blowing the wrong way!
The food is not all caterpillars. Looks to be a cranefly or similar.
A Blue Tit working one of the street lights in Teece Drive. The spiders make the web that catches the insects and the tits steal their food - and are probably not averse to eating the spiders either.
It helps to be agile.
And aerobatic too to reach up!
Even Speckled Wood butterflies Pararge aegeria like feeding on buttercups.
The less-often seen underwing of a Speckled Wood.
Delightfully scruffy and that is just the Garden Bumblebee Bombus hortorum.
A Red Mason Bee Osmia bicornis. I seem to have seen many more of this species this year.
It may look like a bumblebee but it is a hoverfly masquerading as one. It does not have long antennae (those are its forelegs sticking out) so it cannot be a species of bee. It is my second-ever Dimorphic Bearfly Criorhina berberina.
My first Orange-belted Leaf Licker hoverfly Xylota segnis of the year. The "orange belt" is hard to see through the folded wings: the yellow areas on the legs are a clue.
Apart from the eyes this Common Blue Damselfly Enallagma cyathigerum does not look very blue. That is because it is recently emerged and yet to colour up.
For comparison a head-and-shoulders view of a Large Red Damselfly Pyrrhosoma nymphula.
My first Scorpion Fly Panorpa germanica of the year. The layout of the marks on inner wing edge separate the various species.
And the FlightRadar24 data for the flight.
(Ed Wilson)
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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:
Flies
*2 Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly, Moth Fly or Owl Fly]
14 midges of various species.
*2 Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly, Moth Fly or Owl Fly]
14 midges of various species.
One of two Psychodidae sp. here. Variously known as Drain Flies, Moth Flies or Owl Flies: take your pick.
(Ed Wilson)
The Flash: 06:20 – 07:10
(Ed Wilson)
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(111th visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- no Gadwall: back to the Balancing Lake?
- *a duck Mallard with seven ducklings. I would judge a different brood to that seen yesterday.
- most unusually no Tufted Duck were seen.
- no Great Crested Grebes seen again.
Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 1 Jackdaw
Noted on / around the water:
- 22 Canada Geese
- 2 Greylag Geese: arrived together
- 1 Mute Swan: the other resident presumed to be on the island.
- no Gadwall
- *21 (17♂) + 7 (1 brood) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) feral Mallard x ?
- no Tufted Duck
- 3 Moorhens
- 26 Coots
Hirundines etc. noted:
None
Warblers recorded (the figure in brackets is birds noted singing):
- 7 (6) Chiffchaffs
- 5 (5) Blackcaps
Noted around the area:
Warblers recorded (the figure in brackets is birds noted singing):
- 7 (6) Chiffchaffs
- 5 (5) Blackcaps
Noted around the area:
Bees, wasps etc.:
1 Common Wasp Paravespula vulgaris
1 Common Wasp Paravespula vulgaris
Springtails:
*$ 1 springtail Orchesella cincta
*$ 1 springtail Orchesella cincta
Beetles:
many Alder Leaf Beetles Agelastica alni
many Alder Leaf Beetles Agelastica alni
Mrs. Mallard looking smug with her seven ducklings.
This springtail with the white near the base of the antennae is Orchesella cincta.
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2012
Priorslee Lake
1 Common Sandpiper
(John Isherwood)
Nedge Hill
10 Wheatear
(John Isherwood)
2008
Nedge Hill
5 Wheatear
Yellow Wagtail
(Ed Wilson)
2006
Priorslee Lake
Hobby
1 Common Sandpiper
1 Cuckoo
2 Ruddy Ducks
(Ed Wilson / Martin Adlam)
Nedge Hill
1 Ring Ouzel
4 Wheatear
(Arthur Harper)