13.0°C > 19.0°C: Clearing after overnight rain though remaining largely cloudy at high level. Early light south-westerly wind increasing fresh at times. Very good visibility.
Sunrise: 05:38 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: 05:05 – 06:35 // 07:50 – 10:10
(191st visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- no Canada Geese on the water at dawn. only 20 seen flying outbound in three groups. 18 inbound together ahead of just 25 flying in.
- the usual single Greylag Goose was again present throughout. A group of four was also present at dawn before flying off East. A single flew outbound. Later a group of 54 flew inbound.
- a duck Gadwall flushed from among a group of resting Mallard. I wonder how often this has been hiding in plain sight previously.
- the duck Pochard was visible early only. Where does she hide?
- the recent windier conditions have blown much of the weed to the East end where it is jammed against the dam. As a result most of the Coots (and some of the Mallard) have abandoned the south-west grass to feed by the dam.
- many more large gulls were noted with many of them dropping in for a bathe and drink.
- what I presume were the same trio of late Swifts as seen on the previous two days, arriving c.06:00 and gone by c.06:10.
- four House Martins were over the football field c.06:10. One, perhaps of these was over the lake at the same time as one of two Barn Swallows.
- another high total of Jackdaws and Rooks as they passed over from their roosts. Today most flew more or less directly overhead the dam area.
- a Cetti's Warbler was heard in spluttering song from the South end of the dam where it is not normally seen or heard..
Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 38 Canada Geese: 20 outbound in three groups; 18 inbound together
- 55 Greylag Geese: a single outbound; 54 inbound together
- 1 Stock Dove
- 141 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Herring Gull
- 33 Lesser Black-baked Gulls
- 161 Jackdaws
- 126 Rooks
Counts from the lake area:
- 25 Canada Geese: see notes
- 5 Greylag Geese: see notes
- 2 Mute Swans
- 1 (0♂) Gadwall
- 27 (♂?) Mallard
- 1 (0♂) Pochard
- 10 + 3 (2 dependent broods) Moorhens
- 106 Coots
- 6 + 5 (3 broods) Great Crested Grebes
- 35 Black-headed Gulls: one juvenile at least
- 3 Herring Gulls
- 56 Lesser Black-baked Gulls
- 1 Grey Heron
Hirundines etc. noted:
- 3 Swifts
- 2 Barn Swallows
- 4 House Martins
Warblers recorded (the figure in brackets is birds noted singing):
- 1 (1) Cetti's Warbler
- 12 (0) Chiffchaffs
- 5 (1) Reed Warblers
- 3 (0) Blackcaps
- no Common Whitethroat
Noted on the West end street lamp poles around-dawn:
Bird notes:
- no Canada Geese on the water at dawn. only 20 seen flying outbound in three groups. 18 inbound together ahead of just 25 flying in.
- the usual single Greylag Goose was again present throughout. A group of four was also present at dawn before flying off East. A single flew outbound. Later a group of 54 flew inbound.
- a duck Gadwall flushed from among a group of resting Mallard. I wonder how often this has been hiding in plain sight previously.
- the duck Pochard was visible early only. Where does she hide?
- the recent windier conditions have blown much of the weed to the East end where it is jammed against the dam. As a result most of the Coots (and some of the Mallard) have abandoned the south-west grass to feed by the dam.
- many more large gulls were noted with many of them dropping in for a bathe and drink.
- what I presume were the same trio of late Swifts as seen on the previous two days, arriving c.06:00 and gone by c.06:10.
- four House Martins were over the football field c.06:10. One, perhaps of these was over the lake at the same time as one of two Barn Swallows.
- another high total of Jackdaws and Rooks as they passed over from their roosts. Today most flew more or less directly overhead the dam area.
- a Cetti's Warbler was heard in spluttering song from the South end of the dam where it is not normally seen or heard..
Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 38 Canada Geese: 20 outbound in three groups; 18 inbound together
- 55 Greylag Geese: a single outbound; 54 inbound together
- 1 Stock Dove
- 141 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Herring Gull
- 33 Lesser Black-baked Gulls
- 161 Jackdaws
- 126 Rooks
Counts from the lake area:
- 25 Canada Geese: see notes
- 5 Greylag Geese: see notes
- 2 Mute Swans
- 1 (0♂) Gadwall
- 27 (♂?) Mallard
- 1 (0♂) Pochard
- 10 + 3 (2 dependent broods) Moorhens
- 106 Coots
- 6 + 5 (3 broods) Great Crested Grebes
- 35 Black-headed Gulls: one juvenile at least
- 3 Herring Gulls
- 56 Lesser Black-baked Gulls
- 1 Grey Heron
Hirundines etc. noted:
- 3 Swifts
- 2 Barn Swallows
- 4 House Martins
Warblers recorded (the figure in brackets is birds noted singing):
- 1 (1) Cetti's Warbler
- 12 (0) Chiffchaffs
- 5 (1) Reed Warblers
- 3 (0) Blackcaps
- no Common Whitethroat
Noted on the West end street lamp poles around-dawn:
Moths
none
none
Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
1 harvestman Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus
Also at this time I noted a Pipistrelle-type bat. Overnighting fisherman have reported seeing numerous bats in the evening. This was my first morning sighting for many weeks.
Noted later:
It was windy for insects around the lake. I found most of these insects in the sheltered area alongside Teece Drive where the Wesley Brook runs - when it has any water that is. To my surprise I added one robberfly first sighting and three new-for-the-year species of hoverfly.
1 harvestman Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus
Also at this time I noted a Pipistrelle-type bat. Overnighting fisherman have reported seeing numerous bats in the evening. This was my first morning sighting for many weeks.
Noted later:
It was windy for insects around the lake. I found most of these insects in the sheltered area alongside Teece Drive where the Wesley Brook runs - when it has any water that is. To my surprise I added one robberfly first sighting and three new-for-the-year species of hoverfly.
Butterflies:
Large White Pieris brassicae
*Green-veined White Pieris napi
Meadow Brown Maniola jurtina
Large White Pieris brassicae
*Green-veined White Pieris napi
Meadow Brown Maniola jurtina
Moths
*4 Straw Grass-moths Agriphila straminella [previously Straw Grass-veneer]
*2 Common Nettle-taps Anthophila fabriciana
*1 Straw Dot Rivula sericealis
*4 Straw Grass-moths Agriphila straminella [previously Straw Grass-veneer]
*2 Common Nettle-taps Anthophila fabriciana
*1 Straw Dot Rivula sericealis
Bees, wasps etc.:
*Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum
*Common Wasp Paravespula vulgaris
*wasp Ectemnius sp.
*Turnip Sawfly Athalia rosae
*Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum
*Common Wasp Paravespula vulgaris
*wasp Ectemnius sp.
*Turnip Sawfly Athalia rosae
Hoverflies:
*Dark-winged Wrinklehead Chrysogaster solstitialis
*Tapered Dronefly Eristalis pertinax
*Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax
*Tiger Hoverfly Helophilus pendulus [Tiger Marsh Fly; Sun Fly]
Chequered Hoverfly Melanostoma scalare [Long-winged Duskyface]
*$ Meadow Boxer Platycheirus peltatus [White-spotted Sedgesitter]
*$ White-clubbed Glasswing Scaeva pyrastri [White-bowed Smoothwing] [was Pied Hoverfly]
*Wasp Plumehorn Volucella inanis [was Lesser Hornet Hoverfly]
*$ Superb Ant-hill Hoverfly Xanthogramma pedissequum [Superb Dayglower]
*Dark-winged Wrinklehead Chrysogaster solstitialis
*Tapered Dronefly Eristalis pertinax
*Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax
*Tiger Hoverfly Helophilus pendulus [Tiger Marsh Fly; Sun Fly]
Chequered Hoverfly Melanostoma scalare [Long-winged Duskyface]
*$ Meadow Boxer Platycheirus peltatus [White-spotted Sedgesitter]
*$ White-clubbed Glasswing Scaeva pyrastri [White-bowed Smoothwing] [was Pied Hoverfly]
*Wasp Plumehorn Volucella inanis [was Lesser Hornet Hoverfly]
*$ Superb Ant-hill Hoverfly Xanthogramma pedissequum [Superb Dayglower]
Damsel- /Dragon- flies:
Common Blue Damselfly Enallagma cyathigerum [Common Bluet]
*Migrant Hawker Aeshna mixta seen in flight only
Common Blue Damselfly Enallagma cyathigerum [Common Bluet]
*Migrant Hawker Aeshna mixta seen in flight only
Other flies:
Greenbottle Lucilia caesar or similar
*$ fly Opomyza florum
*Scorpion Fly, probably Panorpa germanica
*$$ Kite-tailed Robberfly Tolmerus atricapillus [also as Machimus atricapillus]
and the usual many unidentified fly species
Greenbottle Lucilia caesar or similar
*$ fly Opomyza florum
*Scorpion Fly, probably Panorpa germanica
*$$ Kite-tailed Robberfly Tolmerus atricapillus [also as Machimus atricapillus]
and the usual many unidentified fly species
Bugs:
7 Spot Ladybird Coccinella 7-punctata
Perhaps too windy and overcast to tempt butterflies out. This Green-veined White Pieris napi was an exception.
A Straw Grass-moth Agriphila straminella misbehaving. They are supposed to rest head down (and no: I did not invert the photo – would I?)
It is some weeks since I last recorded any Common Nettle-tap moths Anthophila fabriciana. This very fresh-looking specimen was one of two I noted, almost certainly from a second generation this year.
And I think there must also be a new generation of Straw Dot moths Rivula sericealis. This one looks pristine.
A Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum with head buried to reach the nectar of the Common Knapweed Centaurea nigra
The parallel-sided yellow area on the edges of the thorax identifies this as a Common Wasp Paravespula vulgaris.
This hoverfly is a Dark-winged Wrinklehead Chrysogaster solstitialis. "Dark wings": yes. "Wrinkle head": not too obvious here. This was a new species for me earlier this year and I must have seen a dozen or more over a two month period. Have I overlooked them in earlier years?
And yet another male, this one well-posed. It is the leg colour that separates this species from Common Dronefly E. tenax, especially so in the females where the abdomen of neither species is tapered.
Hands up time. I did invert this photo for easier viewing. Steven Falk calls this a Meadow Boxer Platycheirus peltatus while Obsidentify calls it a White-spotted Sedgesitter. The spots are certainly "whiter" than many species of hoverfly. It is the largest hoverfly in the genus. My first of the year, here on one of the willowherb species – not sure which.
Also new for the year is a hoverfly that Steven Falk calls White-clubbed Glasswing Scaeva pyrastri and Obsidentify calls White-bowed Smoothwing. It used be simply Pied Hoverfly.
A Wasp Plumehorn hoverfly Volucella inanis. It used to be known as Lesser Hornet Hoverfly. Its new name is more apposite because the species has only yellow on the abdomen. The related species Hornet Hoverfly or Hornet Plumehorn V. zonaria shares with the real Hornet Vespa crabro an orange first abdominal segment.
The best hoverfly of the day and my third new-for-the-year species. It is a Superb Ant-hill Hoverfly Xanthogramma pedissequum which Obsidentify calls Superb Dayglower. The larvae of this species feed on aphids inside the nest of ants so the name is not entirely irrelevant. I think it is the hoverfly that is "superb" and not the "ant-hill"!
There is enough detail in this photo of a flying dragonfly for Obsidentify to be 97% confident it is a Migrant Hawker Aeshna mixta.
This is the fly Opomyza florum. New for the year but so small it is easy to overlook. There is no vernacular name for the family of this group much less any of the individual species.
A Scorpion Fly, probably Panorpa germanica. I thought this group has long-since finished their flight season
(188th visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- I had great difficulty confirming all eight Mute Swans were still present. Two were tucked up under vegetation hanging over from the island. Despite their size and white plumage they were hard to spot.
- very, very few Mallard with the single well-grown ducklings noted. Where have they all gone?
- it is difficult to be certain but I think there was an extra adult Great Crested Grebe. One was keeping close to cover at the bottom end while the two families were in the middle. With the adults spending much of their time underwater hunting fish it was never possible to see five adults at the same time.
Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 1 Common Buzzard
- 7 Jackdaws
Noted on / around the water:
- 18 Canada Geese: of these four flew in together
- 13 Greylag Geese: of these 12 flew in together
- 8 Mute Swans
- *3 (?♂) + 1 (1 brood) Mallard only!!
- *17 (?♂) Tufted Duck
- 10 + 1 (1 brood) Moorhens
- 104 + 3 (3 dependent broods) Coots:
- 5 + 5 (2 broods) Great Crested Grebes
- 6 Black-headed Gulls again
- 1 Grey Heron
Hirundines etc. noted:
7 Spot Ladybird Coccinella 7-punctata
A more colourful and larger specimen, perhaps a queen.
Even showing a rufous tinge in the lower abdomen hairs.
A wasp from the Ectemnius group, not specifically identifiable from photos.
A different view. They are often referred to as sand wasps. Where is the beach?
I have seen more Turnip Sawflies Athalia rosae this year than I can recall in previous years.
A busy male Tapered Dronefly Eristalis pertinax, here on Wild Angelica Angelica sylvestris.
My what a long tongue you have. Another male Tapered Dronefly
And here is a male Common Dronefly.
This Tiger Hoverfly Helophilus pendulus looks somewhat drab against some of the star hoverflies of today.
Zoomed in to show the "white-clubbed" (antennae).
A new species of fly for me. It is a Kite-tailed Robberfly Tolmerus atricapillus here on one of the white bands of a Belisha beacon in Teece Drive. NatureSpot gives a different scientific name of Machimus atricapillus without suggesting they are synonyms though both appear on the internet without any clue as to which is favoured or why. From certain angles the pointed "tail" - actually stiff hairs – appears forked like that of a kite.
(Ed Wilson)
In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:
(Ed Wilson)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:
Moths: [38 species here before today; one addition]
*1 $ Yellow Shell Camptogramma bilineata
*1 $ Yellow Shell Camptogramma bilineata
Flies:
1 mosquito Culex pipiens
2 moth flies Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly or Owl Fly]
12 midges of various species.
1 mosquito Culex pipiens
2 moth flies Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly or Owl Fly]
12 midges of various species.
Arthropods:
no White-legged Snake Millipede Tachypodoiulus niger
no White-legged Snake Millipede Tachypodoiulus niger
Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
1 Missing Sector Orb-web Spider Zygiella x-notata [Silver-sided Sector Spider]
1 Missing Sector Orb-web Spider Zygiella x-notata [Silver-sided Sector Spider]
My first (and perhaps only) Yellow Shell moth Camptogramma bilineata of the year looking down on me from the ceiling. It is moth species #39 in the tunnel so far this year. Last year I only recorded 20 species all year.
(Ed Wilson)
The Flash: 06:40 – 07:45
(Ed Wilson)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Flash: 06:40 – 07:45
(188th visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- I had great difficulty confirming all eight Mute Swans were still present. Two were tucked up under vegetation hanging over from the island. Despite their size and white plumage they were hard to spot.
- very, very few Mallard with the single well-grown ducklings noted. Where have they all gone?
- it is difficult to be certain but I think there was an extra adult Great Crested Grebe. One was keeping close to cover at the bottom end while the two families were in the middle. With the adults spending much of their time underwater hunting fish it was never possible to see five adults at the same time.
Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 1 Common Buzzard
- 7 Jackdaws
Noted on / around the water:
- 18 Canada Geese: of these four flew in together
- 13 Greylag Geese: of these 12 flew in together
- 8 Mute Swans
- *3 (?♂) + 1 (1 brood) Mallard only!!
- *17 (?♂) Tufted Duck
- 10 + 1 (1 brood) Moorhens
- 104 + 3 (3 dependent broods) Coots:
- 5 + 5 (2 broods) Great Crested Grebes
- 6 Black-headed Gulls again
- 1 Grey Heron
Hirundines etc. noted:
None
Warblers recorded (the figure in brackets is birds noted singing):
- 2 (0) Chiffchaffs
- 1 (0) Blackcap
Noted around the area:
Warblers recorded (the figure in brackets is birds noted singing):
- 2 (0) Chiffchaffs
- 1 (0) Blackcap
Noted around the area:
Moths:
*1 Ermine moth Yponomeuta sp. to be identified
*1 Marbled Beauty Bryophila domestica
*1 Ermine moth Yponomeuta sp. to be identified
*1 Marbled Beauty Bryophila domestica
Bees, wasps etc.:
1 Common Wasp Paravespula vulgaris
1 Common Wasp Paravespula vulgaris
Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
7 harvestmen Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus
It is not always easy to see birds by the island. The drake Mallard on the right (the yellow-green bill identifies the sex) is relatively easy on a photo taken on full zoom and then "edited". The duck Tufted Duck asleep on the left is less obvious.
A better specimen of one of the Ermine moths Yponomeuta sp. However the latest situation on the separation of the three main confusion species has been clarified by the Shropshire recorder who has told me "essentially, Yponomeuta padella, Y. malinellus and Y. cagnagella can only be identified with confidence from larval webs on the food plants. Only adults reared from the food plants can be identified. There are no consistent differences in the wing markings or genitalia between any of these three species."
On the overhang of a street lamp I found this Marbled Beauty moth Bryophila domestica. It is just about ten years since I saw my last: it was 01 September 2015 at the Balancing Lake.
(Ed Wilson)
2011
Priorslee Lake
2 Common Sandpipers
(Ed Wilson)
2009
Priorslee Lake
Hobby
(Ed Wilson)
2006
Priorslee Lake
Oystercatcher
(Martin Adlam)
7 harvestmen Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus
(Ed Wilson)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2011
Priorslee Lake
2 Common Sandpipers
(Ed Wilson)
2009
Priorslee Lake
Hobby
(Ed Wilson)
2006
Priorslee Lake
Oystercatcher
(Martin Adlam)