5 Jul 25

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

16.0°C > 20.0°C: Early cloud broke for a while. Cloudy again later. Humid. Moderate south-westerly breeze. Excellent visibility.

Sunrise: 04:54 BST

There will be a few days break in the blog as I spend a few days with friends with little interest in wildlife despite my efforts! There are such people?

* = 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 – 06:20 // 07:45 – 09:40

(165th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- the Greylag Geese parents and their three goslings took a short flight. No more than 50 yards but it is a start and the goslings looked confident-enough. The supernumerary adult Greylag was not noted.
- both resident Mute Swans were out and about much of the time.
- four groups of Mallard ducklings seen: the duo; the familiar group of four; ten well-grown birds; and five, with the ducklings the smallest of the groups.
- the duck Pochard not seen yet again: perhaps she has gone?
- there are still at least three juvenile Great Crested Grebes in the newest brood: two were in the water and at least one was on the parent's back.
- several small groups of Reed Warblers seen dashing about - fledged juveniles I expect.
- the Garden Warbler was in good voice.
- one Common Whitethroats seen briefly. No call or song heard.
- a more normal early movement of Jackdaws only outbound was eclipsed by a group of 56 and then 1 more inbound at 05:40. Why have the changed their routine of many years?

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 59 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Black-headed Gull
- 6 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Grey Heron again
- 115 Jackdaws
- 9 Rooks only

Counts from the lake area:
- 4 + 1 (1 brood) Canada Geese
- 2 + 3 (1 brood) Greylag Geese
- 2 Mute Swans
- 22 (?♂) + 21 (4 broods) Mallard: see notes
- 3 Moorhens yet again
- 81 adult and juvenile Coots
- *7 + 5? (3 broods) Great Crested Grebes again
- 2 Black-headed Gulls, briefly and early
- 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls again
- 1 Grey Heron again

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 14 Swifts
- 3 Barn Swallows
- 4 House Martins: juveniles calling and food-pass seen

Warblers recorded (the figure in brackets is birds noted singing):
- 1 (1) Cetti's Warbler
- 11 (9) Chiffchaffs
- 14 (8) Reed Warblers
- 9 (6) Blackcaps
- 1 (1) Garden Warbler
- 1 (0) Common Whitethroat

On the West end street lamp poles around-dawn:
Nothing was noted. I'm still not doing very well here this year.

Noted later:

Butterflies:
a good showing despite the cloud
Large White Pieris brassicae
Green-veined White Pieris napi
Small White Pieris rapae
Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria
Ringlet Aphantopus hyperantus
Meadow Brown Maniola jurtina
*Gatekeeper Pyronia tithonus
Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta

Moths [62 species here before today; additions in sighting order]
2 Common Nettle-taps Anthophila fabriciana
1 Common Marble Celypha lacunana
2 Pale Straw Pearls Udea lutealis
*2 Shaded Broad-bars Scotopteryx chenopodiata
2 caterpillars of Cinnabar Tyria jacobaeae : probably two of yesterday's trio

Bees, wasps etc.:
Honey Bee Apis mellifera
Red-tailed Bumblebee Bombus lapidarius
Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum
Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris
Common Wasp Paravespula vulgaris
*$ European Hornet Vespa crabro

Hoverflies:
Bumblebee Blacklet Cheilosia illustrata [Bumblebee Blacklet]
Dark-winged Wrinklehead Chrysogaster solstitialis
Stripe-backed Fleckwing Dasysyrphus albostriatus [Stripe-backed Brusheye]
*$$ possible Dark-backed Epistrophe Epistrophe nitidicollis
Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus
Meadow Field Syrph Eupeodes latifasciatus [Broad-banded Aphideater]
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]
where have all the Azure Damselfly gone?

Lacewings, caddis flies etc.:
none

Other flies:
*$ long-legged fly Dolichopus wahlbergi
*dagger fly Empis livida
plus
as usual many unidentified flies of many different species

Bugs:
*Hawthorn Shieldbug Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale

Beetles:
Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni
7 Spot Ladybird Coccinella 7-punctata
Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis var. succinea
Rough-haired Lagria Beetle Lagria hirta
Pollen Beetle Meligethes sp.
*$$ larva of cereal beetle Oulema melanopus or similar
Common Red Soldier Beetle Rhagonycha fulva [Hogweed Bonking-beetle]

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

Amphibians:
none

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
none

New plants for the year:
*$$ Fool's-water-cress Helosciadium nodiflorum

The first sunrise worth photographing for several days .

At long range but clearly the Great Crested Grebe has at least three juveniles. Could the original fourth be lurking somewhere?

Two Gatekeeper butterflies Pyronia tithonus .

By far the best example of a Shaded Broad-bar moth Scotopteryx chenopodiata that I have seen this year.

Could have been my insect of the day. Disappearing in to the rubbish bin is the tail end of what I believe to be a European Hornet Vespa crabro - I was slow on the draw. I hope it wasn't an invasive Asian Hornet! I kicked the bin (and stood well back!) to see whether it would re-emerge. It didn't.

I could only photograph this hoverfly at this angle before it flew off. Two things caught my eye: it looks broad-bodied; and the two yellow bands are parallel across the centre of the abdomen and show no kink at all. It may well be a Dark-backed Epistrophe Epistrophe nitidicollis . As that would be a new hoverfly species for me I am 'pending' the record until I can get a better example.

A long-legged fly Dolichopus wahlbergi . It is a male with the comb-like structure on its middle tarsus. "Why?" I hear you ask. Good question.

This dagger fly Empis livida seems to be after nectar rather than sucking the innards out of some poor creature. I didn't know they fed on nectar.

A Hawthorn Shieldbug Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale.

My best shot at this tiny creature is that it is a larva of the cereal beetle Oulema melanopus or similar.

A new plant for me: Fool's-water-cress Helosciadium nodiflorum .

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Moths: [26 species here before today; no additions]
*1 Small Fan-footed Wave Idaea biselata
*1 Small Dusty Wave Idaea seriata
*1 Slender Pug Eupithecia tenuiata
*1 Wormwood Pug Eupithecia absinthiata : as yesterday

Flies:
2 moth flies Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly or Owl Fly]
11 midges of various species.

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
none

A bunch of moths on the ceiling today: a Small Fan-footed Wave Idaea biselata.

A Small Dusty Wave Idaea seriata.

A Slender Pug Eupithecia tenuiata.

And probably the same Wormwood Pug moth Eupithecia absinthiata as yesterday.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:25 – 07:40

(163rd visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- the late brood of two Mallard ducklings still present. Otherwise even more of the adult Mallard were hiding.
- 17 Tufted Duck again. Five of these went for a fly, almost certainly returning a few minutes later.
- only Great Crested Grebes found. Both in open areas of water a ways away from each other and staying that way.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 7 Jackdaws

Noted on / around the water:
- 174 Canada Geese
- 29 Greylag Geese
- the mainly white feral goose not noted again
- 6 Mute Swans
- 4 (?♂) + 2 (1 brood) Mallard: see notes
- *17 (11?♂) Tufted Duck
- 6 + 3 (1 brood) Moorhens
- 74 + 6 (2 broods) Coots
- 2 Great Crested Grebes: see notes
- 1 Black-headed Gull: adult, briefly
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: second year, briefly

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 2 House Martins

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

Noted around the area:

Butterflies:
Green-veined White Pieris napi

Moths [on street lamp poles and in the grass] [49 species here before today; one addition today]
*1 Straw Grass-moth Agriphila straminella [was Straw Grass-veneer] [species #50]
*1 Blood-vein Timandra comae
*2 Riband Waves Idaea aversata
*1 Straw Dot Rivula sericealis

Bees, wasps etc.:
*Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum
Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris
*possible Vestal Cuckoo Bee Bombus vestalis [Vestal Cuckoo Bumblebee]
Common Wasp Paravespula vulgaris

Hoverflies:
*Stripe-backed Fleckwing Dasysyrphus albostriatus [Stripe-backed Brusheye]
Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus
Meadow Field Syrph Eupeodes latifasciatus [Broad-banded Aphideater]

Dragon-/Damsel-flies:
none

Other flies:
numerous different midges and flies

Bugs:
*Common Flower Bug Anthocoris nemorum
*Mirid bug Plagiognathus arbustorum
*Common Froghopper Philaenus spumarius

Beetles:
larvae of Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni
Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis var. spectabilis
Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis var. succinea
Pollen Beetle Meligethes sp.
Common Red Soldier Beetle Rhagonycha fulva [Hogweed Bonking-beetle]

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
harvestman Leiobunum blackwalli
*harvestman Leiobunum rotundum

New flowers for the year:
None

These five Tufted Duck took to the air...

...then returned a few minutes later. Three drakes with varying amount of smudging on the white flanks as they moult.

A second year Lesser Black-backed Gull. In wing-moult. The back and inner wing looks dark-enough to be a (sub)adult and the extensive pale to the base of the lower mandible suggests it is well on the way to be a third winter bird.

A Straw Grass-moth Agriphila straminella. Not a brilliant photo: it is often difficult to get close to the moths anyway and I am usually shooting at some distance and often between many other grass stems.

The second Blood-vein moth Timandra comae . Not much I could do about the 'splash' on the foliage.

One of two Riband Wave moths Idaea aversata this being, in our area, the less usual form with the solid band between the outer two cross-lines.

This is the typical form we see. Known as the form remutata.

A Straw Dot Rivula sericealis . It is several weeks since I saw my previous example. It still seems to be within the normal flight season.

An unusual view of a Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum.

I cannot get a positive ID on this bumblebee. Obsidentify suggested a possible Vestal Cuckoo Bee Bombus vestalis but Steven Falk's Field Guide suggests that cuckoo bees tend to be less hairy so...?

This hoverfly is a species I have not seen at The Flash before. It is a Stripe-backed Fleckwing Dasysyrphus albostriatus.

A Common Flower Bug Anthocoris nemorum on my palm.

And now a Mirid bug Plagiognathus arbustorum also on my palm. These two were on an umbellifer and difficult to photo so I banged the umbel against my hand and these two dropped off. If anyone is in to palmistry I do not want to know.

The Common Froghopper Philaenus spumarius stayed on the umbellifer.

A female harvestman Leiobunum rotundum. Unusually I found this on vegetation. I almost always find these on street lamp poles.

(Ed Wilson)

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2012
Priorslee Lake
Kingfisher
Grasshopper Warbler singing
(Ed Wilson)

2010
Priorslee Lake
2 Green Sandpipers seen flying from the lake towards Priorslee Flash: these were my first here for c.10 years
1 Common Sandpiper
House Sparrow unusual here
(Ed Wilson)

2005
Priorslee Lake
Possible Crossbills close-by
(Ed Wilson)