1 Jul 25

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

18.0°C > 20.0°C: Broken cloud at multiple levels giving only occasional bright spells. Very light northerly breeze. Good visibility.

Sunrise: 04:50 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 – 06:20 // 07:35 – 10:00

(161st visit of the year)

Although eventually just about the average number of warblers were noted singing it was noticeable how quiet it often was this morning with periods when nothing was heard.

Bird notes:
- the Canada and Greylag goslings all still present and correct. The supernumerary adult Greylag Goose has been banished to the other end of the lake.
- again only two groups of Mallard ducklings seen: those of two and a single small duckling.
- a surprise at this date was a drake (Common) Teal seen flying in. I could not re-find it later.
- the duck Pochard not seen: probably hiding.
- the Little Grebe not heard.
- I again could not determine how many juveniles were with the third pair of Great Crested Grebes.
- another strange sighting of a group of 16 presumed Feral Pigeons appearing to be unsure where to go, high to the north-east at 05:25.
- three adult Black-headed Gulls dropped in briefly c.05:15 leaving almost immediately (for The Flash?). Much later a group of five circled high over before moving on.
- *a family party of at least five Jays noted.
- the usual strident Cetti's Warbler was heard only on my first circuit today and was then silent.
- *also family party of Reed Warblers seen.
- a single Common Whitethroat was seen in the usual area with no obvious song or call heard. My attention was drawn to the bird by a 'chack' call that sounded like a Blackcap but was in an unusual habitat.
- the Garden Warblers was still singing frequently in its south-west copse c.05:15. It (or another?) was singing near the Telford Sailing Club HQ after 09:00.
- the corvids (Jackdaws and Rooks) were going in both directions again. Why?

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 16 Feral Pigeons: see notes
- 2 Stock Doves: together
- 91 Wood Pigeons
- 5 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Herring Gull again
- 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Sparrowhawk
- 131 Jackdaws: 50 outbound (South); 81 inbound
- 75 Rooks: 41 outbound; 34 inbound

Counts from the lake area:
- 4 + 1 (1 brood) Canada Geese
- 3 + 3 (1 brood) Greylag Geese
- 2 Mute Swans
- 18 (?♂) + 3 (2 broods) Mallard
- 1 (Common) Teal
- no Pochard
- 32 Moorhens
- 86 adult and juvenile Coots
- no Little Grebe heard
- 8 + >3 (3 broods) Great Crested Grebes
- 3 Black-headed Gulls, briefly
- 1 Herring Gull
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- no Grey Heron

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 3 Barn Swallows: singles flying through
- 1 House Martin

Warblers recorded (the figure in brackets is birds noted singing):
- 1 (1) Cetti's Warbler
- 12 (10) Chiffchaffs
- *15 (9) Reed Warblers
- 8 (6) Blackcaps
- 1 (1) Garden Warbler: see notes
- 1 (0) Common Whitethroat

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

Butterflies:
*1 Ringlet Aphantopus hyperantus : not what I expected!

Bees, wasps etc.:
1 Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris (as prey of unidentified spiders): same as yesterday

Lacewings:
1 Common Green Lacewing Chrysoperia carnea

Noted later:
cloudy and humid.

Butterflies:
*$ Essex Skipper Thymelicus lineola
Small Skipper Thymelicus sylvestris
Large White Pieris brassicae
Small White Pieris rapae
Green-veined White Pieris napi
Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria
Ringlet Aphantopus hyperantus
Meadow Brown Maniola jurtina
*$ Gatekeeper Pyronia tithonus

Moths
1 Common Nettle-tap Anthophila fabriciana
*1 $ Dark Fruit-tree Tortrix Pandemis heparana [species #58 for me here in 2025]
3 Common Marbles Celypha lacunana
*1 Double Orange-spot Pammene aurana [was Orange-spot Piercer] [species #60]
1 Garden Grass-moth Chrysoteuchia culmella [was Garden Grass-veneer]
1 White-banded Grass-moth Crambus pascuella [was Inlaid Grass-veneer]
*1 $ Common Purple & Gold Pyrausta purpuralis [species #59]
*2 Pale Straw Pearls Udea lutealis
1 Shaded Broad-bar Scotopteryx chenopodiata

Bees, wasps etc.:
Honey Bee Apis mellifera
Garden Bumblebee Bombus hortorum
Red-tailed Bumblebee Bombus lapidarius
Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum
Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris
Common Wasp Paravespula vulgaris

Hoverflies:
Bumblebee Blacklet Cheilosia illustrata
*Dark-winged Wrinklehead Chrysogaster solstitialis
Stripe-backed Fleckwing Dasysyrphus albostriatus [Stripe-backed Brusheye]
Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus
Tapered Dronefly Eristalis pertinax
Meadow Field Syrph Eupeodes latifasciatus [Broad-banded Aphideater]
Common Spotted Field Syrph Eupeodes luniger [Lunuled Aphideater]
Chequered Hoverfly Melanostoma scalare [Long-winged Duskyface]
*Spotted Meliscaeva Meliscaeva auricollis [Spotted Thintail]
Banded Meliscaeva Meliscaeva cinctella [Banded Thintail]
Syrphus sp. S. ribesii / S. vitripennis

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

Lacewings:
*lacewing Chrysopa perla
Common Green Lacewing Chrysoperia carnea

Other flies:
*male semaphore fly Poecilobothrus nobilitatus
*possible Dance fly Rhamphomyia flava
*Tachinid fly in the genus Siphona, likely S. geniculata
Common Crane-fly Tipula oleracea
plus
as usual many unidentified flies of many different species

Bugs:
Mirid bug Orthops sp. possibly Orthops campestris
*Red-legged Shieldbug Pentatoma rufipes

Beetles:
7 Spot Ladybird Coccinella 7-punctata
pupae of Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis
adult Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis var. succinea
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.:
unidentified money spider

New flowers for the year:

None

Not Mr. Kipling's "great grey-green, greasy Limpopo River" (or his exceedingly good cakes!) but the blue-green algal bloom on the Wesley Brook as it enters the Balancing Lake. Just so!

There were several family parties of Reed Warblers this morning. This I assume is an adult with food for its yet-to-be-independent but fledged juveniles.

Despite several birds jumping in and out of view it always seems to be an adult with food that stopped for a photo.

 I cannot identify the insect! I decided I had disturbed them more than enough and left the area.

Not my best but at 05:45 on a cloudy morning.... No mistaking the rounded wing outline of a Jay, one of a noisy family party of five birds.

Just a hint of the blue feathers in the upper wing show here.

Obsidentify was 100% sure this is an Essex Skipper Thymelicus lineola. The separation between Essex Skipper and Small Skipper T. sylvestris is usually denoted by the antennae tips of the former being completely black, including on the underside which we cannot see here. There is a secondary feature for male Essex Skipper in that the scent gland in the forewing is short and parallel with the wing-edge, as here (longer, slightly curved and at a slight angle on Small Skipper). So Essex Skipper it is and not a species I can convince myself I have seen every year.

Not what I expected to have been attracted to the street lights overnight - a butterfly. Specifically a pristine-looking Ringlet Aphantopus hyperantus.

My first Gatekeeper butterfly Pyronia tithonus of this year and 10 days earlier than in any previous year. The easiest identification feature is that the black circle in the forewing has two white dots (one in the larger Meadow Brown Maniola jurtina). Unhelpfully this specimen is holding its wings such that the second spot is obscured by the hindwing!

Apologies: I fouled up this photo of a Dark Fruit-tree Tortrix moth Pandemis heparana. I wasn't sure whether it was detritus or not and took this distant shot which was not focussed properly. When I moved it for a better shot it flew away. Not detritus after all.

A Double Orange-spot moth Pammene aurana. I photographed one at The Flash two days ago.

My first Common Purple & Gold moth Pyrausta purpuralis this year.

A Pale Straw Pearl moth Udea lutealis. Another species that is difficult to photograph as they insist on settling on the underside of leaves. Laying on the ground is the answer!

This species of hoverfly, Dark-winged Wrinklehead Chrysogaster solstitialis, was new for me this year. I have seen several but this is the first where I have been able to see the "wrinklehead" as well as the "dark wing".

A female Chequered Hoverfly Melanostoma scalare. Can I really see that this lives up to is Obsidentify name of Long-winged Duskyface? I get the long wings. The dusky face bit is harder to see for certain.

Yesterday a Banded Meliscaeva Meliscaeva cinctella: today this Spotted Meliscaeva M. auricollis (as well).

I checked most of the relatively few damselflies this morning and they were all, like this one, Common Blue Damselflies Enallagma cyathigerum.

A Common Green Lacewing Chrysoperia carnea. Apologies that part of the wing is not 'crisp' due to an out-of-focus grass stem partially obscuring the view.

I like it when I spot a male semaphore fly Poecilobothrus nobilitatus. The white tips to his wings rule out any other of the similar species.

Google Lens came up with a reasonable suggestion for this small fly: possibly the Dance fly Rhamphomyia flava. Here sitting on one flower of an umbel of Common Hogweed Heracleum sphondylium.

This is a Tachinid fly in the genus Siphona, likely S. geniculata as the most abundant of the group. Otherwise its microscope out on the collected specimen!

A Red-legged Shieldbug Pentatoma rufipes. Seems an appropriate name.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Moths:
Riband Wave Idaea aversata
*Green Pug Pasiphila rectangulata
*$ Early Thorn Selenia dentaria [species #23 in the tunnel in 2025]

Flies
9 midges of various species.

My second Green Pug Pasiphila rectangulata of the year, this specimen looking greener than the previous example.

This is my first Early Thorn moth Selenia dentaria of the year. A tricky species to photograph, here resting on the ceiling. The "thorn" group of moths is unusual in that they rest with their wings held together above their backs in the manner typical of butterflies. It looked odd from whatever angle I tried.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:25 – 07:30

(159th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- six adult Mute Swans remain. One bird seems to disappear inside the island and what I believe to be the newest cob is often alongside the island. They could not be trying for a very late brood could they?
- the late brood of two Mallard ducklings again.
- nine Tufted Duck.
- again only two Great Crested Grebes noted. They are confusing!
- a trio of Black-headed Gulls along the edge of the island when I arrived but quickly departed. Perhaps the birds seen earlier at the Balancing Lake?
- the Great (White) Egret noted; it seems to have survived its reported skirmish with the Castle Farm Way traffic.

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

Noted on / around the water:
- 170 Canada Geese
- 75 Greylag Geese
- 1 mainly white feral goose
- 6 Mute Swans
- 25 (?♂) + 2 (1 brood) Mallard
- 9 (6♂) Tufted Duck
- 5 Moorhens
- 48 + 4 (2 broods) Coots
- 2 Great Crested Grebes: see notes
- 3 Black-headed Gulls: departed
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: departed
- 1 Great (White) Egret

Hirundines etc. noted:

None

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

Noted around the area:

Butterflies:
none

Moths [on street lamp poles and in the grass]
1 Common Marble Celypha lacunana
*5 Garden Grass-moths Chrysoteuchia culmella [was Garden Grass-veneer]

Bees, wasps etc.:
Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum
Common Wasp Paravespula vulgaris

Hoverflies:
Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus

Dragon-/Damsel-flies:
none

Other flies:
numerous different midges and flies

Bugs:
none

Beetles:
larvae of Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni
*$ possible pollen beetle Byturus ochraceus
pupae of Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis:
adult Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis var. succinea
Pollen Beetle Meligethes sp.
Common Red Soldier Beetle Rhagonycha fulva [Hogweed Bonking-beetle]

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
*$ harvestman Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus

New flowers for the year:

None

My best photo so far of a Garden Grass-moth Chrysoteuchia culmella. When freshly emerged they have a thin gold band at the tip of the wing and a row of sub-terminal black dots. The remnants of both are visible here: both wear away very quickly.

A typical pose adopted by all grass moths. Here another Garden Grass-moth showing the angled and slightly curved cross-line.

Mr. Google's AI suggests that the beetles loving the nectar in the buttercup are possibly the pollen beetle Byturus ochraceus. They are certainly the wrong colour to be Raspberry Beetles B. tomentosus.

My first harvestman of the year from the Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus species pair, inseparable from photos and characterised by the long, forked pedipalps. It still seems early to be to be seeing harvestmen. It was 26 July last year when I recorded that year's first.

(Ed Wilson)

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2013
Priorslee Lake
Common Sandpiper
(Ed Wilson)

2012
Priorslee Lake
Common Sandpiper
(Ed Wilson)

2010
Priorslee Lake
Kingfisher
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
Drake Ruddy Duck
(Ed Wilson)