14.0°C > 17.0°C: Clear to the South early: otherwise mainly cloudy. Even a few spits in the wind c.10:00. Moderate westerly breeze. Very good visibility.
Sunrise: 05:06 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: 04:50 – 06:15 // 07:35 – 10:05
(173rd visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- 16 Canada Geese when I arrived: eventually 39.
- just the long-term Greylag Geese.
- *one brood of seven Mallard ducklings seemed small-enough to be a very recent brood. Otherwise I have lumped all other Mallard together as "(near) adults" as I cannot reliably distinguish them all.
- the duck Pochard not noted but will all the geese, Mallard and Coots around the south-west grass it was hard to be sure.
- all seven juvenile Great Crested Grebes from the four broods were found again. There seems to be two adults that are nothing to do with any of the broods but confirming there are indeed ten adults is hard!
- once again the conditions brought a few hirundines to feed over the lake but only for a very short while. Why?
- if I thought yesterday's count of the usual passing Jackdaws and Rooks was poor it was worse today. Just two Jackdaws and they were after 08:00.
- song continues to fade away. Warblers as tabulated: just one Blackbird noted still singing: also only one Song Thrush.
Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 4 Canada Geese: a trio outbound; a single inbound
- 7 Greylag Geese: a duo and a quintet inbound
- 1 Feral Pigeon
- 83 Wood Pigeons
- 5 Lesser Black-baked Gulls
- 2 Jackdaws
- no Rooks
Counts from the lake area:
- 39 Canada Geese: see notes
- 1 Greylag Goose
- 2 Mute Swans
- 33 (?♂) + *7 (1 brood) Mallard: see notes
- no Pochard
- 7 Moorhens again
- 108 Coots
- *9 + 7 (4 broods) Great Crested Grebes again: see notes
- 13 Black-headed Gulls
- 4 Lesser Black-baked Gulls
- 1 Grey Heron
Hirundines etc. noted:
- 10 Swift
- >2 Sand Martins
- >6 Barn Swallows
- >4 House Martins
Warblers recorded (the figure in brackets is birds noted singing):
- 1 (0) Cetti's Warbler
- 8 (2) Chiffchaffs
- 3 (1) Reed Warbler
- 6 (4) Blackcaps
Noted on the West end street lamp poles around-dawn:
Moths:
*Black Arches Lymantria monacha [moth species #71 here this year for me]
*Black Arches Lymantria monacha [moth species #71 here this year for me]
Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
6 harvestmen Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus:
Noted later:
Hard work again in the cloudy conditions.
Butterflies:
Gatekeeper Pyronia tithonus
6 harvestmen Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus:
Noted later:
Hard work again in the cloudy conditions.
Butterflies:
Gatekeeper Pyronia tithonus
Moths
*2 Horse-chestnut Leaf-miners Cameraria ohridella
*1 Bird-cherry Ermine Yponomeuta evonymella
2 Straw Grass-moths Agriphila straminella [was Straw Grass-veneer]
>20 other unidentified grass moths flying in to the middle distance
*2 Pale Straw Pearls Udea lutealis
7 caterpillars of Cinnabar Tyria jacobaeae
2 Straw Dots Rivula sericealis
*2 Horse-chestnut Leaf-miners Cameraria ohridella
*1 Bird-cherry Ermine Yponomeuta evonymella
2 Straw Grass-moths Agriphila straminella [was Straw Grass-veneer]
>20 other unidentified grass moths flying in to the middle distance
*2 Pale Straw Pearls Udea lutealis
7 caterpillars of Cinnabar Tyria jacobaeae
2 Straw Dots Rivula sericealis
Bees, wasps etc.:
*Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum
*Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris
Common Wasp Paravespula vulgaris
*$$ sawfly Eutomostethus ephippium
*Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum
*Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris
Common Wasp Paravespula vulgaris
*$$ sawfly Eutomostethus ephippium
Hoverflies:
Bumblebee Blacklet Cheilosia illustrata
*Dark-winged Wrinklehead Chrysogaster solstitialis
Stripe-backed Fleckwing Dasysyrphus albostriatus [Stripe-backed Brusheye]
*Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus
Migrant Field Syrph Eupeodes corollae [Migrant Hoverfly; Migrant Aphideater]
Meadow Field Syrph Eupeodes latifasciatus [Broad-banded Aphideater]
Chequered Hoverfly Melanostoma scalare [Long-winged Duskyface]
Banded Meliscaeva Meliscaeva cinctella [Banded Thintail]
Common Twist-tail Sphaerophoria scripta [Long Hoverfly; Common Globetail]
*Syrphus sp. S. ribesii / S. vitripennis
Bumblebee Blacklet Cheilosia illustrata
*Dark-winged Wrinklehead Chrysogaster solstitialis
Stripe-backed Fleckwing Dasysyrphus albostriatus [Stripe-backed Brusheye]
*Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus
Migrant Field Syrph Eupeodes corollae [Migrant Hoverfly; Migrant Aphideater]
Meadow Field Syrph Eupeodes latifasciatus [Broad-banded Aphideater]
Chequered Hoverfly Melanostoma scalare [Long-winged Duskyface]
Banded Meliscaeva Meliscaeva cinctella [Banded Thintail]
Common Twist-tail Sphaerophoria scripta [Long Hoverfly; Common Globetail]
*Syrphus sp. S. ribesii / S. vitripennis
Dragon-/Damsel-flies:
Common Blue Damselfly Enallagma cyathigerum [Common Bluet]
*Red-eyed Damselfly Erythromma naja [Large Redeye]
Blue-tailed Damselfly Ischnura elegans [Common Bluetail]
Common Blue Damselfly Enallagma cyathigerum [Common Bluet]
*Red-eyed Damselfly Erythromma naja [Large Redeye]
Blue-tailed Damselfly Ischnura elegans [Common Bluetail]
Caddis etc. flies:
Grouse Wing caddis fly Mystacides longicornis
Grouse Wing caddis fly Mystacides longicornis
Other flies:
*$$ blowfly Melanomya nana
Yellow Dung Fly Scathophaga stercoraria
other unidentified fly species
*$$ blowfly Melanomya nana
Yellow Dung Fly Scathophaga stercoraria
other unidentified fly species
Bugs:
Common Flower Bug Anthocoris nemorum
*Mirid bug Plagiognathus arbustorum
*unidentified leafhopper
Common Flower Bug Anthocoris nemorum
*Mirid bug Plagiognathus arbustorum
*unidentified leafhopper
Beetles:
7 Spot Ladybird Coccinella 7-punctata
*Green Dock Beetle Gastrophysa viridula
*Common Red Soldier Beetle Rhagonycha fulva
7 Spot Ladybird Coccinella 7-punctata
*Green Dock Beetle Gastrophysa viridula
*Common Red Soldier Beetle Rhagonycha fulva
Amphibians:
none
none
Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
none
none
New flowers for the year:
*Bistort Polygonum bistorta [was Persicaria bistorta]
A brood of seven Mallard ducklings. I am losing track here. Have I seen these before? They look very small. We have had an amazingly successful breeding season this year. Normally I see no more than three broods and all the ducklings get predated. This year at least seven broods, several with multiple juveniles raised to full-size.
Probably the third pair of Great Crested Grebes to hatch you though because of the position of their nest site I logged them as the fourth. Here is one adult with one of two juveniles...
Another attempt at photographing the Horse-chestnut Leaf-miner moth Cameraria ohridella. Well the wings are only 3.5-5mm long!
"I can see you but you can't see me". Well: I can see you but identifying which species of moth you are is a challenge. I flushed it could just make out it was a Pale Straw Pearl Udea lutealis when it dove in to the long grass.
Now a Black Arches moth Lymantria monacha here, this one on the overhang of a street light around dawn.
An extremely well-fed caterpillar of a Cinnabar moth Tyria jacobaeae. I have no idea how long each caterpillar takes to feed before it pupates. This caterpillar was on the same plant as I first saw several on the 30 June. Each time I have seen them the number has differed so is this a new-to-me individual?
A new species for me: it is the sawfly Eutomostethus ephippium which one web site notes as "Saddleback Grass-cutter" which is easier to say but is it more appropriate?
Another attempt to highlight the "wrinkled head" of the Dark-winged Wrinklehead hoverfly Chrysogaster solstitialis. The white speckling on the side of the thorax and abdomen is pollen.
A Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus zooms in for a feed of Common Knapweed Centaurea nigra while two mirid bugs go about their business. The more obvious one is Plagiognathus arbustorum with the other probably also that species – hard to be sure.
Another in my category of "not my best effort" but an interesting photos of a Red-eyed Damselfly Erythromma naja which has not neatly folded its wings over its back as damselflies usually do.
Its distinctive shape allows Obsidentify to tell me this is the blowfly Melanomya nana. Not a species I have knowingly seen but "common" according to NatureSpot. It is reminiscent of a small snipe fly but lacks the wing markings of that group.
While trying to photograph the tiny Horse-chestnut Leaf-miner moths several of these even-smaller unidentified leafhoppers distracted me. I doubt my camera has the ability to provide enough detail to separate several very similar mainly green species. A few species are strongly patterned and "easy"?!
A Common Red Soldier Beetle Rhagonycha fulva on its own and nowhere near any Common Hogweed Heracleum sphondylium.
This flower spike is Bistort Polygonum bistorta. This year the vegetation along the wet South edge of the lake is more extensive and only the spikes of this plant are readily visible.
Plane of the day. This is an American registered (N77MS) Beech A36 Bonanza flying from its base on a farm strip near Cherwell to Hawarden Airport near Chester from where it flew to Kirkwall in Orkney. Some UK owners keep their aircraft on the American register as the inspection regime is less onerous and expensive but clearly satisfies the US regulator. Whether its flight to Orkney was a prelude to its ferry back to the US or a vacation trip only time will tell.
(Ed Wilson)
In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:
(170th visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- some geese have taken to feeding on the grass along the East side. This could be because the recent rain has caused the grass to grow slightly but I think it more likely that now they mostly have their wings they know they can escape from any errant dogs by flying away.
- *a single small Mallard duckling seen. Was it a brood I have seen before?
- 29 Tufted Duck today.
- I can explain, in part, the variation in the number of Coots logged on different days. As I am walking around the mass of birds alongside the island is dispersing toward the top end. If I get distracted(?) I fail to count some of the birds that move while I am walking around. This does not explain the variation in the number of Mallard logged.
- Back to two Great Crested Grebes! The bird was again sitting on a nest site at the top end. The other was by the island throughout.
- a Cormorant dropped in.
- Carrion Crows chased a Common Buzzard out of trees along the East side.
Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 1 Black-headed Gulls
Noted on / around the water:
- *100 Canada Geese exactly: some of these flew off
- *43 Greylag Geese
- 6 Mute Swans
- *19 (?♂) + 1 (1 brood) Mallard
- 29 (24?♂) Tufted Duck
- 5 Moorhens
- 100 + 5 (4 broods) Coots: see notes
- 2 Great Crested Grebes: see notes
- 1 Black-headed Gull: adult
- 1 Grey Heron
- 1 Cormorant: arrived
Hirundines etc. noted:
*Bistort Polygonum bistorta [was Persicaria bistorta]
...and here is the other, equally fluffy, juvenile.
An odd sighting here. Another Bird-cherry Ermine Yponomeuta evonymella. What was strange was that I was walking up Teece Drive and almost at the point where the path dips toward the tunnel when this moth flew down on to the black tarmac path in front of me. I never would have noticed it had it not flown.
A Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum.
A washed-out Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris
"Little and large". The large is a Syrphus hoverfly. I have no idea about the small fly.
A Green Dock Beetle Gastrophysa viridula.
(Ed Wilson)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:
Moths: [27 species here before today; one addition]
*1 $ Scalloped Tortrix Acleris emargana [was Notch-wing Button]: on ceiling
*1 $ Scalloped Tortrix Acleris emargana [was Notch-wing Button]: on ceiling
Hoverflies:
Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus: on ceiling
Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus: on ceiling
Other Flies:
no moth flies Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly or Owl Fly]
18 midges of various species.
no moth flies Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly or Owl Fly]
18 midges of various species.
Arthropods:
1 White-legged Snake Millipede Tachypodoiulus niger
1 White-legged Snake Millipede Tachypodoiulus niger
Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
none
none
This micro moth was on the ceiling directly above the Wesley Brook so I could only shoot at an angle. However the unique wing shape of Scalloped Tortrix Acleris emargana made identification easy. The old name of Notch-wing Button is almost more appropriate.
(Ed Wilson)
The Flash: 06:20 – 07:30
(Ed Wilson)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Flash: 06:20 – 07:30
(170th visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- some geese have taken to feeding on the grass along the East side. This could be because the recent rain has caused the grass to grow slightly but I think it more likely that now they mostly have their wings they know they can escape from any errant dogs by flying away.
- *a single small Mallard duckling seen. Was it a brood I have seen before?
- 29 Tufted Duck today.
- I can explain, in part, the variation in the number of Coots logged on different days. As I am walking around the mass of birds alongside the island is dispersing toward the top end. If I get distracted(?) I fail to count some of the birds that move while I am walking around. This does not explain the variation in the number of Mallard logged.
- Back to two Great Crested Grebes! The bird was again sitting on a nest site at the top end. The other was by the island throughout.
- a Cormorant dropped in.
- Carrion Crows chased a Common Buzzard out of trees along the East side.
Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 1 Black-headed Gulls
Noted on / around the water:
- *100 Canada Geese exactly: some of these flew off
- *43 Greylag Geese
- 6 Mute Swans
- *19 (?♂) + 1 (1 brood) Mallard
- 29 (24?♂) Tufted Duck
- 5 Moorhens
- 100 + 5 (4 broods) Coots: see notes
- 2 Great Crested Grebes: see notes
- 1 Black-headed Gull: adult
- 1 Grey Heron
- 1 Cormorant: arrived
Hirundines etc. noted:
None
Warblers recorded (the figure in brackets is birds noted singing):
- 4 (0) Chiffchaffs
- 1 (1) Blackcap again
Noted around the area:
Warblers recorded (the figure in brackets is birds noted singing):
- 4 (0) Chiffchaffs
- 1 (1) Blackcap again
Noted around the area:
Butterflies:
none
none
Moths [on street lamp poles and in the grass] [56 species here before today (revised total); no additions today]
1 Garden Grass-moth Chrysoteuchia culmella [was Garden Grass-veneer]
*1 $ White Plume Pterophorus pentadactyla [species #57]
*1 Small Fan-footed Wave Idaea biselata
1 Riband Wave Idaea aversata
*1 $$ Small Blood-vein Scopula imitaria [species #58]
1 Black Arches Lymantria monacha: same place as yesterday
1 Garden Grass-moth Chrysoteuchia culmella [was Garden Grass-veneer]
*1 $ White Plume Pterophorus pentadactyla [species #57]
*1 Small Fan-footed Wave Idaea biselata
1 Riband Wave Idaea aversata
*1 $$ Small Blood-vein Scopula imitaria [species #58]
1 Black Arches Lymantria monacha: same place as yesterday
Bees, wasps etc.:
none
none
Hoverflies:
Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus
Chequered Hoverfly Melanostoma scalare [Long-winged Duskyface]
Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus
Chequered Hoverfly Melanostoma scalare [Long-winged Duskyface]
Dragon-/Damsel-flies:
none
none
Caddis etc. flies:
*Grouse Wing caddis fly Mystacides longicornis :
*Grouse Wing caddis fly Mystacides longicornis :
Other flies:
less numerous different midges and flies
less numerous different midges and flies
Bugs:
none
none
Beetles:
larvae of Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni
Common Red Soldier Beetle Rhagonycha fulva
larvae of Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni
Common Red Soldier Beetle Rhagonycha fulva
Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
harvestman Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus: now 17!. Forced to share street lamp poles!
harvestman Opilio canestrinii
harvestman Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus: now 17!. Forced to share street lamp poles!
harvestman Opilio canestrinii
New flowers for the year:
None
Ms. Mallard with a lone duckling. The duckling is too small to be the lone duckling seen last week. Perhaps even too small to be the lone survivor of the brood of six noted on Sunday (13th)? It is odd that the adult shows no hint of orange/brown along the bill edge.
Two Canada Geese showing a difference in the wing-moult timing. The front bird shows extensive white between the still-growing primary feathers and the tail. The back bird shows more advanced regrowth and is probably able to fly should it choose to do so.
A few moths of interest again. This is my first White Plume moth Pterophorus pentadactyla of the year and species #57 here this year for me.
This moth is a Small Blood-vein Scopula imitaria. Unlike the somewhat similar Blood-vein Timandra comae this species has two obvious cross-lines and the stronger line does not go from wing-tip to wing-tip. I have not previously recorded this common moth species in Shropshire and it becomes species #58 here this year for me.
A Grouse Wing caddis fly Mystacides longicornis. There must have been a "hatch" as I noted at least 20 on the handrail of one of the footbridges.
(Ed Wilson)
2013
Priorslee Flash
Oystercatcher
(Ed Wilson)
2011
Priorslee Lake
Ruddy Duck
(Ed Wilson)
2006
Priorslee Lake
2 drake Ruddy Duck
(Ed Wilson)
And a Greylag Goose that won't be flying anytime soon.
A worn-looking Small Fan-footed Wave moth Idaea biselata.
(Ed Wilson)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Priorslee Flash
Oystercatcher
(Ed Wilson)
2011
Priorslee Lake
Ruddy Duck
(Ed Wilson)
2006
Priorslee Lake
2 drake Ruddy Duck
(Ed Wilson)