24 Sep 25

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

9.0°C > 12.0°C: Medium / low overcast descended for a while to become very murky before clearing only after 09:30. Light and variable breeze. Mostly good visibility.

Sunrise: 07:00 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: 05:35 – 09:20

(232nd visit of the year)

Bird notes:
*Highlight today was seeing perhaps as many as 27 Eurasian Wigeon. I first noticed a group of 15 apparently flying off from the lake at c.06:45, circling higher and higher. At 07:00 I noted six on the water at the West end, these were flushed off when a cyclist arrived down the concrete ramp(!?). As they departed they joined with other ducks and I counted 27 in the distance from a photo. Whether they were all this species is impossible to say. My instinct says they were.

Other bird notes:
- now nine Tufted Duck.
- a lone Lapwing flew over and then off West at 09:00.
- different behaviour from the gulls again. No more than 30 arrived early and it was 06:55 before c.75 streamed in from the South. None was seen on the football field c.07:10. At least 75 arrived from the north-east after 08:30 with some of the many large gulls. These may or may not have been returning birds.
- at least 120 Lesser Black-backed Gulls arrived from either the East or, mainly, the South before 07:00. Then after 08:30 when these had long departed c.90 arrived from the South closely followed by c.80 from the north-east with a smattering of Herring Gulls among them.
- one Grey Heron present throughout. Another flew over and was warned off and carries on. Two others(?) (or the same one twice) briefly visited and were chased away.
- where have all the Song Thrushes gone? In Spring up to 13 were singing around the area with at least nine present during the breeding season. Birds were seen carrying food to nests. After fledging several birds were seen along the north-side path at dawn. I have not seen or heard any for several weeks.
- a lone Siskin flew East c.07:50: my first of Autumn.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 9 Feral Pigeon: East together
- 26 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Lapwing
- 1 Herring Gull
- 36 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 2 Cormorants
- 1 Grey Heron
- 93 Jackdaws
- 192 Rooks
- 1 Pied Wagtail
- 1 Siskin

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 Mute Swans
- *27? (?♂) Eurasian Wigeon: as highlighted
- 14 (8♂) Mallard
- 9 (3?♂) Tufted Duck
- 9 Moorhens
- 45 Coots only
- 4 Great Crested Grebes
- c.200 Black-headed Gulls
- 9 Herring Gulls
- c.300 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 5 Cormorants: arrived together; three soon departed, the others staying
- 3? Grey Herons: see notes

Hirundines etc. noted:

None

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

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

Moths:
- *1 $ Sallow Cirrhia icteritia

Flies:
- 1 male and 1 female Spotted-winged Drosophila Drosophila suzukii: on different lamp poles!
- 1 fly Dryomyza anilis
- *1 fly Tephrochlamys rufiventris or similar

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 harvestman Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus
- 1 harvestman Paroligolophus agrestis

Noted on the walls of the sailing club HQ pre-dawn:

Flies:
- *1 female European Cranefly Tipula paludosa: in the jaws of a spider
- 1 male midge sp.

Slugs, snails etc.:
- *1 Tawny Soil Slug Arion owenii

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 29 spiders: usual suspects including
*Bridge Orb-web Spider Larinioides sclopetarius

Noted later elsewhere:

Bees, wasps, etc.:
- Common Wasp Paravespula vulgaris
- European Hornet Vespa crabro: again at least 8 around the nest

Bugs:
- *leafhopper, possibly Lindbergina aurovittata

Flies:
- a very few unidentified flies

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- *probable Velvet Mite Eutrombidium rostratus

My first sighting of 15 Eurasian Wigeon and the best the camera could manage at 06:50. On the top two in the middle the white area on the forewing of adult drakes of this species can just about be seen.

With trees as a background it is clear that there are seven adult drakes in the group.

I then found these six on the water with #2 and #6 from the left clearly adult drakes.

All 27 birds leaving. Were they all Eurasian Wigeon? Probably. If so this is by far the largest number I have ever recorded here.

Thank you to Tom Lowe for pointing out that the birds circled in red are in fact 14 Teal

A lone Lapwing flies over. Only my third record of this much declined species this year.

This moth was resting on vegetation under the lit street lamps. It took much editing to expose the detailed patterning to allow me to conclude it is a Sallow Cirrhia icteritia. It is moth species #91 here this year: this equals last year's final species tally. Most specimens of this moth are more heavily marked and easier to ID. At this time of year there are several species of "sallow" moth active, all with predominately yellow colouration.

So many flies, so little time! The top suggestion from Obsidentify was the fly Tephrochlamys rufiventris. Looking at NatureSpot this seems the right area to be looking though my example has a grey scutellum.

A tiny leafhopper, possibly Lindbergina aurovittata. There are many similar species.

A Tawny Soil Slug Arion owenii I found on one wall of the Telford Sailing Club HQ pre-dawn.

Even smaller than the leafhopper was this probable Velvet Mite Eutrombidium rostratus. This 3mm insect was running around. This was the sharpest photo of the series I attempted. As it has eight legs it is grouped with spiders and an Arachnid.

A Bridge Orb-web Spider Larinioides sclopetarius making a meal of a female European Cranefly Tipula paludosa.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

A milder morning and many more insects etc. found

Moths: [46 species here before today; no addition]
- none

Flies:
- *1 probably Pond Olive mayfly Cloeon dipterum
- 1 moth fly Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly or Owl Fly]
- 37 midges of various species

Arthropods:
- 4 White-legged Snake Millipedes Tachypodoiulus niger

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 15 spiders including
*Missing Sector Orb-web Spider Zygiella x-notata.

I only noticed this was not a midge when I was editing my photo so there was no opportunity to obtain a different view to confirm it is what I think it is – a female Pond Olive mayfly Cloeon dipterum.

The only spider that posed for a photo was this Missing Sector Orb-web Spider Zygiella x-notata.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:25 – 10:20

(224th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- very confusing: now ten Mute Swans.
- significant arrival of Tufted Duck since yesterday.
- just two adult and one juvenile Great Crested Grebes confirmed.
- a Grey Wagtail in the middle of Derwent Drive briefly.
Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 16 Jackdaws: fifteen of these together

Noted on / around the water:
- 5 Canada Geese
- 14 Greylag Geese
- 10 Mute Swans
- 29 (20♂) + 4 (1 brood) Mallard
- 29 (7?♂) Tufted Duck
- 13 Moorhens again
- 91 Coots
- 2 + 1 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes: see notes
- 5 Black-headed Gulls
- 6 Cormorants
- no Grey Heron

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

Noted around the area:

Moths:
- 1 Brindled Green Dryobotodes eremita: sixth day

Bees, wasps etc.
- Common Wasps Paravespula vulgaris

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- *1 $$ probable Long-jawed Orb-web spider Pachygnatha listeri
- 2 harvestmen Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus

The only thing to trouble the camera here was this small spider. I found it on a street lamp pole. Obsidentify was 99% sure it is Long-jawed Orb-web spider Pachygnatha listeri. It does not look much like the only photo on the NatureSpot web site though there are very similar photos so-labelled from a Google search. A new species for me.

(Ed Wilson)

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2011
Priorslee Lake
1 Common Sandpiper
(John Isherwood)

Nedge Hill
1 Wheatear
1 Yellow Wagtail
(John Isherwood)