13 Sep 25

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

9.0°C > 13.0°C: "Rain after 06:30" said my app. So: a dry morning with broken high-level cloud possibly with a shower passing to the north-west c.08:00. An almost calm start with a moderate south-westerly wind developing. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 06:41 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: 05:30 – 09:25

(221st visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- I noted 85 Coots on the south-west grass c.07:15. 30 others scattered around the edges elsewhere. I must have miscounted yesterday.
- a Common Sandpiper was heard calling to the East at c.06:35 – perhaps over the storm pools created for the new housing development. A few minutes later I assume the same bird was flying low over the lake. I did not see or hear it subsequently.
- 56 of the c.125 Black-headed Gulls were on the football field c.06:50.
- two Grey Herons were present much of the time before one flew off West. This may or may not have been the bird that flew East some 20 minutes later.
- not so many hirundines today. No obvious movement through the lake though numbers of all three species varied from time to time. I do not recall regularly seeing Sand Matins this late in the year: they are the first to arrive in Spring and usually the first to depart.
- today's over-flying Jackdaws did not include any large groups.
- a Reed Bunting was calling from the West end reeds / sedges where there is usually a Winter roost. This species, as last year, seemed to establish three breeding territories. Males were seen carrying food after which activity faded away. I have not seen or heard any since early May.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 50 Canada Geese: a single outbound; 34 inbound and a single and one group
- 134 Greylag Geese: 53 outbound as a single and one large group; 81 inbound in three groups
- 2 Feral Pigeons: together
- 32 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Herring Gull again
- 20 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Grey Heron again
- 82 Jackdaws
- 172 Rooks
- 3 Pied Wagtails

Counts from the lake area:
- 15 Canada Geese: arrived inbound, leaving after c.10 minutes
- 2 Mute Swans
- 11 (5♂) Mallard
- 13 Moorhens
- 115 Coots: see notes
- 5 Great Crested Grebes
- 1 Common Sandpiper: see notes
- c.125 Black-headed Gulls: see notes
- *8 Herring Gulls
- *60 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 2 Grey Herons for a while and both present when the other bird flew over.

Hirundines etc. noted: minimum numbers
- 2 Sand Martins
- 10 Barn Swallows
- 20 House Martins

Warblers recorded (the figure in brackets is birds noted singing):
- no Cetti's Warbler
- 19 (4) Chiffchaffs
- 2 (0) Blackcaps

Noted on the West end street lamp poles around-dawn:
Overnight rain made the poles very wet.

Moths:
*1 unidentifiable micro-moth

Flies:
*1 dead plumed midge Chironomus plumosus
*2 Spotted-winged Drosophila Drosophila suzukii

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
4 Bridge Orb-web Spiders Larinioides sclopetarius [Bridge Orbweaver]
*1 possible Cricket Bat Spider Mangora acalypha
1 Noble or False Widow Spider Steatoda nobilis

Noted elsewhere:

Butterflies:
- Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta

Moths:
- none

Bees, wasps, etc.:
- Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum
- European Hornet Vespa crabro

Hoverflies:
- none

Other flies:
- *Root-maggot fly Anthomyia procellaris or similar
- Greenbottle Lucilia sp.
- Flesh fly Sarcophaga sp.
- *crane fly Tipula paludosa
- very few other flies: I counted just four, none identified

Bugs:
- Red-legged Shieldbug Pentatoma rufipes again

Coming up to half-moon.

Sunrise with several dead contrails. As often happens as the air is warmed by the sun the trails are no longer visible.

A first-winter Herring Gull. This bird has recently completed its first moult and the feathers are looking very neat.

A much darker-looking first-winter Lesser Black-backed Gull.

This bird in flight. Note that all the primary and secondary feathers are dark as are their respective coverts making two rows of dark feathers along the trailing edge of the wing.

Frustrating: a micro-moth with the wing pattern totally obscured by rain drops and / or dew.

Another Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum clearly with its tongue pushed down the trumpet of a flower on one of the few remaining spikes of the Butterfly-bush Buddleja davidii alongside Teece Drive.

A view of the banded underside of the abdomen of a female dead plumed midge Chironomus plumosus courtesy of a spider's web.

A busy pole! On the right are two Spotted-winged Drosophila Drosophila suzukii. The others...

The spider might be a Cricket Bat Spider Mangora acalypha. I am sure I have seen the fat-bodied, rounded-winged fly before but cannot trace it.

This is a Root-maggot fly from the genus Anthomyia, possibly A. procellaris though the thoracic marking look slightly wrong for that species.

This is almost certainly the crane fly Tipula paludosa. This is the classic and often abundant Autumn cranefly. It is visually difficult to separate from T. oleracea, a species with a flight period in mid- to late- Summer.

"Plane" of the day: this is an Autogyro Cavalon: a gyrocopter mixing the rotor of a helicopter to provide the lift with a small engine to provide the horizontal push. It was flying from its base at Shobdon Airfield in Herefordshire to Rufforth East Airfield near York. That airfield specialises in training for gyrocopter pilots. The trace on flight trackers shows this craft making many circuits there before flying back to base later today.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Moths: [45 species here before today; no addition]
*2 White-shouldered House Moths Endrosis sarcitrella
*1 Common Marbled Carpet Chloroclysta truncata: presumed same as yesterday

Four-winged flies:
*1 unidentified mayfly

Flies:
1 moth fly Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly or Owl Fly]
20 midges of various species

Arthropods:
4 White-legged Snake Millipedes Tachypodoiulus niger

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
*1 Garden Spider Araneus diadematus [Garden Cross Spider]
*1 possible wolf spider Zora spinimana [aka Zoropsis spinimana]
*5 other spiders mostly Missing Sector Orb-web Spiders Zygiella x-notata [Silver-sided Sector Spider]
*1 harvestman Opilio canestrinii

One of two White-shouldered House Moths Endrosis sarcitrella.

And the other.

A Common Marbled Carpet Chloroclysta truncata: presumed same as yesterday.

An unidentified female mayfly.

The cross on the abdomen of this Garden Spider Araneus diadematus shows well here illustrating why its alternative name is Garden Cross Spider.

Obsidentify's suggestion for this male spider was the wolf spider Zoropsis spinimana which other internet sites call Zora spinimana. I cannot find an illustration of a confirmed male: this species has a distinctive pointed head which is obscured here. I cannot therefore be sure of its identity.

 Surprise! A Missing Sector Orb-web Spider Zygiella x-notata.

Another harvestman Opilio canestrinii. This species seems to like it here even if this is another with a leg missing.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:30 – 10:30

(214th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- the duck Mallard with four almost full-grown off-spring in tow (can't really call them ducklings when they are almost the same size!)
- three additional Tufted Duck noted. Numbers remain lower than usual for this date.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
- 1 Jackdaw

Noted on / around the water:
- >30 Canada Geese
- >2 Greylag Geese
- 11 Mute Swans
- *38 (23?♂) + 4 (1 brood) Mallard
- 10 (2?♂) Tufted Duck
- 10 Moorhens again
- 90 Coots
- 3 + 5 (2 broods) Great Crested Grebes
- 2 Black-headed Gulls only
- *6 Cormorants: all sitting in trees today
- 1 Grey Heron

Warblers recorded (the figure in brackets is birds noted singing):
- 3 (0) Chiffchaffs

Noted around the area:

Moths:
- 1 Chevron Grass Moth Agriphila geniculea [previously Elbow-stripe Grass-veneer]

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

Flies:
- *probable Paykullia maculata

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- none

A drake Mallard coming in to breeding plumage flies in to proffered food...

...and shows the species' blue speculum as it slows down.

The duck Mallard (on the right) with her four (look carefully!) well-grown immatures.

Three of today's six Cormorants perched in a tree. It always seems improbably that what appears to be a large and ungainly bird can perch on small branches. They do of course nest in trees – which their guano eventually kills!

A perky Wren. There is always a branch in the way.

Well maybe not so perky! Caught mid-blink.

The distinctive darkened veins in the wings of this small and bristly fly suggest it is most probably Paykullia maculata. It is from the family Rhinophoridae all of which attack woodlice. It was right at the top of a tall street lamp pole so is not as clear as I would have liked.

(Ed Wilson)

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2007
Priorslee Lake
Shoveler
Redwing
(Ed Wilson)