22 Jun 25

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

15.0°C > 19.0°C: A mostly clear start with cloud soon arriving from the West ahead of light drizzle as I was about to leave.. Moderate south-westerly breeze gusting fresh. Very good visibility until drizzle.

Sunrise: 04:46 BST still

* = a species photographed today
$ = my first sighting of the species for this year
$$ = my first ever recorded sighting of the species in the area

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:00 – 06:15 // 07:40 – 10:15

(152nd visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- the Canada and Greylag goslings all still present and correct.
- both resident Mute Swans were at the West end at c.05:15 with the cob still preventing the other unringed adult from re-entering the water. I did not see the pen thereafter and assume she went back to the nest site.
- *once again three duck Mallard with ducklings seen: counts of two, four and three (in descending size order). How these relate to either yesterday's or Friday's sightings is unclear.
- the duck Pochard was seen again.
- the Little Grebe was not heard.
- there was no sign of yesterday's injured second year Lesser Black-backed Gull.
- a Garden Warbler was heard singing very intermittently with a calling juvenile nearby. I assume the adult is re-establishing its territory ahead of starting a second brood.
- a Mistle Thrush was singing by the Teece Drive gate c.05:05. An unusual date I would have thought as this species starts and finishes breeding early in the year and will soon be leaving its home range to roam the fields in open country.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 4 Stock Doves: two pairs
- 41 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Herring Gull
- 5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 4 Jackdaws
- 5 Rooks

Counts from the lake area:
- 4 + 1 (1 brood) Canada Geese
- 3 + 3 (1 brood) Greylag Geese
- 3 Mute Swans: see notes
- *16 (?♂) + 9 (3 broods) Mallard: see notes
- 1 (0♂) Pochard
- 5 Moorhens
- 58 adult and juvenile Coots
- no Little Grebe
- 5 + 2 (2 broods) Great Crested Grebes
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- no Grey Heron

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

Warblers recorded (the figure in brackets is birds noted singing):
- 1 (1) Cetti's Warbler
- 18 (15) Chiffchaffs
- 8 (8) Reed Warblers once again
- 7 (7) Blackcaps
- 2 (1) Garden Warbler

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

Moths:
*1 $ Ghost Moth Hepialus humuli [my moth species #50 here in 2025]

Noted later:
Not so much in generally cloudy and breezy conditions

Butterflies:
Large White Pieris brassicae
Ringlet Aphantopus hyperantus

Moths
6 Common Nettle-taps Anthophila fabriciana
*1 Barred Marble Celypha striana
2 Common Marbles Celypha lacunana
*1 Latticed Heath Chiasmia clathrata
*1 $ Common White Wave Cabera pusaria: floating in the Wesley Brook! [my moth species #51 here in 2025]

Bees, wasps etc.:
Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris: the only bumble bee species seen
Common Wasp Paravespula vulgaris
*female ichneumon probably Pimpla rufipes

Hoverflies:
Bumblebee Blacklet Cheilosia illustrata
*Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus
Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax
Meadow Field Syrph Eupeodes latifasciatus [Broad-banded Aphideater]
Tiger Hoverfly Helophilus pendulus
*Dark-saddled Leucozona Leucozona laternaria [Dark-saddled Hoary]
*possible male Short Melanostoma Melanostoma mellinum [Variable Duskyface]
Common Twist-tail Sphaerophoria scripta [Long Hoverfly; Common Globetail]
Syrphus sp. S. ribesii / S. vitripennis

Dragon-/Damsel-flies:
Common Blue Damselfly Enallagma cyathigerum [Common Bluet]
Blue-tailed Damselfly Ischnura elegans [Common Bluetail]
many damselflies not checked

Lacewings:
none

Other flies:
*$ Little Snipe Fly Chrysopilus asiliformis
*$ Common Green Bottle Fly Lucilia sericata
plus
usual other boring and / or strange flies

Bugs:
*$ Mirid bug Grypocoris stysi

Beetles:
Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni
*pupae of Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis: many: no larvae seen
*Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis var. succinea: adults
*Pollen Beetle Meligethes sp.

Slugs, snails etc.:
White-lipped Snail Cepaea hortensis

Amphibians:
*Common Toad Bufo bufo

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
none

New flowers for the year:

None

The sunrise was boring this morning – very bright and no clouds. So here is looking West just after sunrise with the cloud building to the West.

It is all very confusing. Today I noted separate duck Mallard with three...

...four ducklings. These four in particular are well-grown with colour on their bills.

Sitting unhelpfully at the edge of the light unit on a street lamp pole is my first Ghost Moth Hepialus humuli of the year. So-called because the ghostly nature of males flying around lights at night.

A Barred Marble moth Celypha striana. This species is, not surprisingly, less often seen than Common Marble C. lacunana.

A Latticed Heath moth Chiasmia clathrata trying to hide.

Poor thing. I noticed this Common White Wave moth Cabera pusaria playing Pooh-sticks under the bridge over the Wesley Brook!

This female ichneumon is probably Pimpla rufipes.

Feeding time for Marmalade Hoverflies Episyrphus balteatus (and Pollen Beetles Meligethes sp.). Top right is an orange marmalade example and bottom right a lemon marmalade example. I do not know why there is such variability within the same species. I think is irrelevant that the orange example is a male and the lemon one a female.

A species of hoverfly I do not see very often. The two lines down the thorax remove any need to look at the difficult to separate grey-spotted Boxer group and lead to its identity as a Dark-saddled Leucozona Leucozona laternaria.

This small male hoverfly is most likely a Short Melanostoma Melanostoma mellinum.

My first Little Snipe Fly Chrysopilus asiliformis of the year, It shared the wing spot with other members of the group but has a banded abdomen and, when the light is right, startlingly green eyes.

Bright red eyes, bright green thorax and hairy end to its abdomen suggest this is what Google Lens calls a Common Green Bottle Fly Lucilia sericata. Reference to NatureSpot tells me that I need to check the number of "pairs of post-sutural acrostichal bristles" to separate from other greenbottles. I might if I knew what I was looking for!

Bold yellow and orange marks identify this as the Mirid bug Grypocoris stysi.

One of many pupae of Harlequin Ladybirds Harmonia axyridis I noted. All of the larvae seem to have morphed in to pupae by now.

Here is an adult of the form succinea though it has lost (or never had) some of its spots. All the adults I have seen this year have been of this form. As far as I know the larvae and pupae of the various forms look the same.

A Common Toad Bufo bufo.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Moths:
*1 Brown House-moth Hofmannophila pseudospretella

Hoverflies:
* 1 Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus: asleep on ceiling!

Flies
5 moth flies Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly or Owl Fly]
27 midges of various species.

A Brown House-moth Hofmannophila pseudospretella. So unless you have a brown house then the moth won't be interested.

Rather odd: a Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus that seemed to be asleep on the ceiling until I shone my torch on it and it stretched its wings. I suppose they have to sleep somewhere.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:20 – 07:35

(149th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- six adult Mute Swans again. When I arrived four non-resident swans were on the island with a Great (White) Egret. These all moved off to other parts of the water and what I believe to be the recent new cob was with another bird – a new pen perhaps - around the island.
- a trio Great Crested Grebes all in different parts of the water.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 3 Jackdaws again

Noted on / around the water:
- 186 Canada Geese
- 32 Greylag Geese
- 1 mainly white feral goose
- 6 Mute Swans
- 14 (?♂) Mallard: only
- 6 Moorhens
- 23 + 8 (2 broods) Coots [yesterday should have read 16 + 6 (2 broods): apologies]
- 3 Great Crested Grebes
- *1 Great (White) Egret

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 2 Swifts
- 3 House Martins

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

Noted around the area:

Moths [on street lamp poles and in the grass]
1 Common Nettle-tap Anthophila fabriciana
1 Common Marble Celypha lacunana
*3 Garden Grass-moths Chrysoteuchia culmella [was Garden Grass-veneer]
2 Common Greys Scoparia ambigualis
*1 Treble Brown Spot Idaea trigeminata

Bees, wasps etc.:
Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris
Common Wasp Paravespula vulgaris

Hoverflies:
Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus
*Platycheirus sp.

Other flies:
Black Snipefly Chrysopilus cristatus: both males and a female
Common Crane-fly Tipula oleracea
plus numerous different midges and flies

Bugs:
none

Beetles:
*Raspberry Beetle Byturus tomentosus
7 Spot Ladybird Coccinella 7-punctata
pupae only of Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis

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

New flowers for the year:
*Imperforate St John's-wort Hypericum maculatum

The (I assume the same) Great (White) Egret was back today.

A typically surprised-looking Garden Grass-moth Chrysoteuchia culmella.

Only when I looked at my photo of this Treble Brown Spot moth Idaea trigeminata did I see the Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp. lurking alongside.

Another small hoverfly and probably of one of the Boxer group Platycheirus sp. I cannot be sure which species as usually it requires the shape of any slight swelling and comb-like hairs on the front legs to be sure. Not available here!

Raspberry Beetles Byturus tomentosus enjoying the buttercup nectar. Many yellow flowers were similarly adorned this morning.

A few Raspberry Beetles on this Imperforate St John's-wort Hypericum maculatum. "Imperforate" as the leaves lack the tiny holes in Common (or Perforate) St. John's-wort H. perforatum.

(Ed Wilson)

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2012
Priorslee Lake
Common Tern
(Ed Wilson)

2009
Priorslee Lake
Pochard
Nuthatch
Swarm of bees
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
Drake Ruddy Duck
(Ed Wilson)