26 Jun 25

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

15.0°C > 20.0°C: BBC Weather forecast: "sunny intervals and a moderate breeze". Hmm. A cloudy start with a spell of rain. Thereafter a few sunny breaks. Moderate southerly breeze veering south-westerly on clearance, increasing fresh even strong at times. Excellent visibility except during rain.

Sunrise: 04:48 BST

* = 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 – 06:10 // 07:20 – 10:05

(156th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- *the Canada and Greylag goslings all still present and correct.
- both resident Mute Swans were together at the West end at 05:10, heading together toward the nest site. Thereafter only the resident cob seen.
- no Mallard ducklings seen again. I do hope they are being well hidden away. It seems improbable that all the ducklings from at least four broods have perished in the last two days.
- the duck Pochard present.
- only one of the juvenile Great Crested Grebes was noted.
- no Garden Warblers seen or heard.
- *a Common Whitethroat was both seen and heard giving its alarm call.
- After yesterday's Jackdaw confusion it was the turn of the Rooks to misbehave today. Neither species was seen in other than minuscular numbers early. Then at the unusually late time of c.08:10 a group of 47 Rooks flew south-east with 37 (of these?) then flying the other way c.08:15. Most odd.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 75 Wood Pigeons
- 7 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 7 Jackdaws
- 97 Rooks: see notes

Counts from the lake area:
- *4 + 1 (1 brood) Canada Geese
- *3 + 3 (1 brood) Greylag Geese
- 2 Mute Swans
- 15 (?♂) Mallard: see notes
- 1 (0♂) Pochard
- 3 Moorhens yet again
- 83 adult and juvenile Coots
- 7 + 1 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes again
- 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Grey Heron

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

Warblers recorded (the figure in brackets is birds noted singing):
- 1 (1) Cetti's Warbler
- 17 (13) Chiffchaffs
- 6 (5) Reed Warblers only
- 10 (9) Blackcaps
- no Garden Warbler
- *1 (0) Common Whitethroat: see notes

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

Moths:
1 Ghost Moth Hepialus humuli: male

Hoverflies:
1 Meadow Field Syrph Eupeodes latifasciatus [Broad-banded Aphideater]

Noted later:
Very breezy and often cloudy.

Butterflies:
Large White Pieris brassicae
*Green-veined White Pieris napi
many unidentified "whites"
Ringlet Aphantopus hyperantus
Meadow Brown Maniola jurtina
Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta
*Comma Polygonia c-album

Moths
*$ larval mines of Horse-chestnut Leaf-miner Cameraria ohridella
2 Common Nettle-taps Anthophila fabriciana
*1 Common Marble Celypha lacunana

Bees, wasps etc.:
*Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum
Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris
Common Wasp Paravespula vulgaris: very many, mainly small individuals
*$$ Field Digger Wasp Mellinus arvensis

Hoverflies:
*Bumblebee Blacklet Cheilosia illustrata
*Two-banded Spearhorn Chrysotoxum bicinctum
Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus
Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax
Meadow Field Syrph Eupeodes latifasciatus [Broad-banded Aphideater]
Tiger Hoverfly Helophilus pendulus
*$ Banded Meliscaeva Meliscaeva cinctella [Banded Thintail]
Common Twist-tail Sphaerophoria scripta [Long Hoverfly; Common Globetail]
Compost Hoverfly Syritta pipiens [Common Compost Fly]
Syrphus sp. S. ribesii / S. vitripennis
*probable Hairy-eyed Syrphus Syrphus torvus

Dragon-/Damsel-flies:
*Common Blue Damselfly Enallagma cyathigerum [Common Bluet]
most damselflies not specifically identified

Lacewings:
none

Other flies:
Black Snipefly Chrysopilus cristatus
plus
as usual many unidentified flies of many different species

Bugs:
*Mirid bug Plagiognathus arbustorum

Beetles:
pupae of Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis: many
Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis var. succinea: adult
Pollen Beetle Meligethes sp.
*Common Red Soldier Beetle Rhagonycha fulva [Hogweed Bonking-beetle]

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

Amphibians:
none

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
none

New flowers for the year:

None

Spot the "gosling". The right-most bird is now almost fully grown with a fuzzy white chin-strap. The wings are not developed well-enough for it to fly but its parents can't at the moment as they go through their post-breeding moult.

Same question with the Greylag Geese. The answer somewhat easier and the juvenile has a paler bill.

Close up and personal with a Common Whitethroat.

Here with the bill just open as it gives its alarm call, no doubt telling nearby youngsters to stay hidden or quiet in the nearby nest.

The grey head suggests this is a male. Here again alarm-calling.

I might expect a male to show more chestnut in the wings with black edging to the feathers. It is likely that these are worn after a tiring breeding season with at least two broods raised.

I make no apology for including a fifth photo. Getting this close to this species is probably a once-in-a-year opportunity.

A female Green-veined White butterfly Pieris napi. Males have just a single black dot in each forewing. The shape of the black marking around the wing tip is an important identification feature separating Large, Small and Green-veined Whites from above.

I did say yesterday that so long as Comma butterflies Polygonia c-album continues to pose then I would continue to photograph them. Here is one...

 ...and another. I decided to stop there so you are spared another three!

Most leaves of Horse-chestnut Aesculus hippocastanum now have brown blotches as shown here. These are caused by the larvae (caterpillars) of a small moth, the Horse-chestnut Leaf-miner Cameraria ohridella. The larvae eat the cellulose between the surfaces of the leaves. I will try to photograph the attractive and delicate moths when they emerge.

There were not many moths about with the wet vegetation and often cloudy conditions. This Common Marble Celypha lacunana was an exception.

A Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum with its nose burred in what I believe to be a Tufted Vetch flower Vicia cracca.

Despite NatureSpot's warning that many wasps cannot be identified from photos alone I am taking Obsidentify's 100% assurance that this is a Field Digger Wasp Mellinus arvensis.

"My what a long tongue you have. Not related to Gene Simmons are you?" [a reference for heavy-rock fans]. A Bumblebee Blacklet hoverfly Cheilosia illustrata

A very smart hoverfly – a Two-banded Spearhorn Chrysotoxum bicinctum.

My first delicate Banded Meliscaeva hoverfly Meliscaeva cinctella this year. Obsidentify uses the name Banded Thintail for this species. As usual I major on the names used by Steven Falk in his Flickr album – he has forgotten more about hoverflies than I shall ever know.

I think this female hoverfly is a Hairy-eyed Syrphus Syrphus torvus. It is almost impossible to see the hairs on the eyes of females without a hand-lens. The black on the femur of the hind leg means this is either this species or a Glass-winged Syrphus S. vitripennis. I have gone with S. torvus as the black bands seem wider than usual (the yellow bands narrower if you prefer). Only when I looked at the photo did I notice just right of bottom centre a Mirid bug Plagiognathus arbustorum.

A pair of Common Blue Damselflies Enallagma cyathigerum. The male has a female held in his claspers. She will need to swing her abdomen forward to attach to him if mating its to succeed. It is likely that she is an immature as she lacks blue tones though some females never acquire blue markings.

Well that didn't take long for the breeding to start. A new species yesterday and next-year's generation in preparation. Common Red Soldier Beetle Rhagonycha fulva [Hogweed Bonking-beetle].

Plane of the day #1. This is an Agusta A109E Power registered to a company at Kemble (Cotswold) Airport. G-WOFT is being used to "waft" people with money to Glastonbury despite using the same "Jockey" call-sign it used when on Ascot duty last week.

Plane of the day #2. Also on a Glastonbury run was this Eurocopter built Aérospatiale AS 350B3 Squirrel normally operating out of Liverpool's John Lennon Airport. Like many helicopters its identity is also painted under the cabin.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Moths:
*1 Brown House-moth Hofmannophila pseudospretella
*1 Riband Wave Idaea aversata

Flies
*1 cranefly Limonia nubeculosa
*1 Spotted Cranefly Nephrotoma appendiculata
2 unidentified craneflies
15 midges of various species.

Another Brown House-moth Hofmannophila pseudospretella.

A Riband Wave moth Idaea aversata. It seems the ceiling of the tunnel, away from areas of peeling paint, makes a great backdrop for moths.

This the cranefly Limonia nubeculosa. It seems to have seen better days having lots two of its legs. It was one of four craneflies in the tunnel.

This one is a female (her ovipositor is just visible) Spotted Cranefly Nephrotoma appendiculata.

One of the other two I could not positively identify.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:15 – 07:15

(154th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- geese numbers depend upon how many are hiding inside the island. Yesterday I logged 56 Greylag Geese when I arrived. By the time I departed there were no more than 12 visible. Today the Canada Geese were streaming off the island as I arrived with eventually 93 being counted. There must have been about 100 still inside the island.
- *a / the duck Gadwall noted again. It is not easy to see this bird among the moulting Mallard.
- now seven Tufted Duck [three pairs and a drake].
- there was a build up of at least 18 Coots, apparently all full adults, on the East side of the island. This happened last year with eventually far too many birds for them all to be nesting / failed nesters from here.
- still just one Great Crested Grebe noted.
- the Great (White) Egret still here.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 3 Jackdaws
- 2 Herring Gulls
- 1 Sparrowhawk

Noted on / around the water:
- 95 Canada Geese
- 72 Greylag Geese
- 1 mainly white feral goose
- 6 Mute Swans
- *1 (0♂) Gadwall
- 27 (?♂) Mallard
- 7 (4♂) Tufted Duck
- 7 + 1 (1 brood) Moorhens
- 36 + 2 (2 broods) Coots
- 1 Great Crested Grebe
- 1 Great White Egret

Hirundines etc. noted:
- no Swifts
- 2 House Martins again

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

Noted around the area:
windy with wet vegetation after rain

Butterflies:
none

Moths [on a street lamp pole]
1 Garden Grass-moth Chrysoteuchia culmella [was Garden Grass-veneer]

Bees, wasps etc.:
Common Wasp Paravespula vulgaris

Hoverflies:
Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus

Dragon-/Damsel-flies:
none

Other flies:
Black Snipefly Chrysopilus cristatus
also numerous different midges and flies

Bugs:
none

Beetles:
pupae of Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
none

New flowers for the year:

None

The duck Gadwall most easily recognised here by the extensive orange-brown on the sides of the bill. One feature that makes this bird hard to find is that she does not appear smaller than the many Mallard with whom she is mixing.

(Ed Wilson)

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2013
Priorslee Lake
Grasshopper Warbler
(Ed Wilson)

2012
Priorslee Lake
Special this morning was rather bizarre: an all-white, apparently albino, Budgerigar(!) sheltering in the copse between the football field and the playground!
(Ed Wilson)

2008
Priorslee Lake
Common Sandpiper
Another slight puzzle this morning. It sounded like a 'Blackcap with a difference' with an extended song with lots more variety than usual and many notes recalling Garden Warbler, Song Thrush and Blackbird. It was clearly NOT the bird from earlier but I was curious. It was always singing well above head-height (Acros tend to be below head-height) and never had the rhythm of an Acro but the long and flowing song was very strange (and very loud). In the end the bird gave itself up and proved to be what I thought - a 'Blackcap with a difference' - lots of testosterone? It proved my 'rule of thumb' - if you are not sure whether it is a Blackcap or a Garden Warbler it is a Blackcap.
(Ed Wilson)