30 Sep 25

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

7.0°C > 12.0°C: Clear early with only a few patches of cloud and light mist over the water. More broken cloud later. Calm. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 07:10 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 – 09:10

(238th visit of the year)

Update
Yesterday I showed a photo of four flying ducks and noted "You will probably have to take my word for it that these are four Common Teal". You should not have taken my word for it and thankfully Tom Lowe didn't either. He has pointed out the long thin necks identifies them as $ Pintail. I am enormously grateful to Tom for putting me back on the straight and narrow yet again. As my school report use to say so often: "must try harder"! This brings my bird species total this year to 101 – so far.

Today's bird notes:
- eight Mallard (I hope!) flew off to the East around dawn. They may or may not have returned but are not included in the counts.
- back to four Great Crested Grebes. None of them is an immature.
- another large arrival of gulls commencing with at least 350 Lesser Black-backed Gull by 06:50 with up to 300 Black-headed Gulls by 07:00. There may have been more: a low-flying helicopter put them all to flight with many leaving. Among those settling back on the water could well have been new arrivals.
- when I went to check the football field I noted 45 Black-headed Gulls flying off: there was none on the grass.
- a small later arrival of large gulls after 08:00 produced the only Herring Gulls on the water.
- the Jackdaws and Rooks different again with three sizeable groups of Rooks and only a scatter of Jackdaws.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 32 Greylag Geese: inbound in three groups
- 49 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Herring Gull
- 21 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 43 Jackdaws only
- 176 Rooks
- 2 Pied Wagtails

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 Mute Swans
- 13 (5♂) Mallard
- 3 (0♂) Tufted Duck
- 7 Moorhens
- 39 Coots
- 4 Great Crested Grebes
- >300 Black-headed Gulls
- 4 Herring Gulls
- >350 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Grey Heron: seen briefly

Hirundines etc. noted:

None

Warblers recorded (the figure in brackets is birds noted singing):
- 1 (1) Cetti's Warbler
- 5 (1) Chiffchaffs
- 1 (0) Blackcap

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

Moths:
- *1 Garden Rose Tortrix Acleris variegana: same as yesterday

Springtails:
- *1 springtail Pogonognathellus longicornis

Other flies:
- 1 Spotted-winged Drosophila Drosophila suzukii
- 1 fly Dryomyza anilis
- 1 winter cranefly Trichocera sp.

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 Walnut Orb Weaver Nuctenea umbratica
- 1 harvestman Paroligolophus agrestis

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

Flies:
- 1 plumed midge Chironomus plumosus
- 1 cranefly Tipula confusa
- *1 unidentified fly

Slugs, snails etc.:
- 1 snail, not identified

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 27 spiders: usual suspects

Noted later elsewhere:

Bees, wasps, etc.:
- European Hornet Vespa crabro: at least 10 around the nest site

Flies:
- 2 craneflies Tipula confusa
- *1 dead European Cranefly Tipula paludosa in a spider web

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- *1 harvestman Paroligolophus agrestis

Fungus:
- *Shaggy Inkcap or Lawyer's Wig Coprinus comatus

Around dawn this was the view looking westward with cloud approaching. Mist hangs over the water. The disturbed area in the middle of the water is several hundred mainly Lesser Black-backed Gulls.

Here looking at the unspectacular sunrise. The disturbed area of water on the left is the few remaining Black-headed Gulls.

Well after sunrise with the cloud closer. The lake flat calm with all the gulls departed.

Confusing Mallard. Superficially they look like ducks but certainly the plain pale bills on the left two means they are drakes, likely from one of this year's broods. Both show long, plain primary feathers, also an indication of them being drakes.

An adult "king of the castle" Goldfinch.

Another chance to see....yesterday's Garden Rose Tortrix Acleris variegana was still in the same place but slightly less dew bespattered. The species part of the scientific name indicates it has a variety of forms. Most have the a significant part of the forewing white, wholly so in some instances.

The springtail Pogonognathellus longicornis. The dew is covering the banding normally obvious on the abdomen.

I found this fly on one wall of the Telford Sailing Club HQ. It looks a lot like a female Spotted-winged Drosophila Drosophila suzukii but is at least twice the size. Unidentified!

Neatly wrapped up is a dead European Cranefly Tipula paludosa in a spider web. It was a female – note the ovipositor.

A classic harvestman Paroligolophus agrestis. A small species with a pale line down the abdomen and legs that change width half way along.

I intended to show the progressive decline in the Shaggy Inkcap Coprinus comatus I photographed on Sunday and Monday. I could not locate its collapsed remains this morning. Here is a new one, split open (not by me!) to show the innards.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Flies:
- 1 moth fly Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly or Owl Fly]
- 1 winter cranefly Trichocera sp.
- 80 midges of various species

Arthropods:
- 14 White-legged Snake Millipedes Tachypodoiulus niger

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 5 spiders: usual suspects

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:15 – 10:20

(229th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- only eight Mute Swans noted.
- *a duck Common Teal (honest!) lurking by the island.
- ten Cormorants counted.

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

Noted on / around the water:
- 5 Canada Geese
- 4 Greylag Geese
- *8 Mute Swans
- 33 (10♂) Mallard
- *1 (0♂) Common Teal
- 23 (5?♂) Tufted Duck
- 10 Moorhens
- 91 Coots
- *7 Great Crested Grebes: not all aged
- 7 Black-headed Gulls
- 10 Cormorants
- no Grey Heron

Warblers recorded:

None

Noted around the area:

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

Flies:
- moth fly Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly or Owl Fly]

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- *1 female harvestman Leiobunum blackwalli

Little and large. In front of the Mute Swan is a duck Common Teal.

The juvenile Great Crested Grebes still show stripes on the head when close-to. Birds can be hard to age at a distance.

A view of a female harvestman Leiobunum blackwalli showing her unique dark saddle marking to good effect. Less obvious is the white around the oculum, present on both sexes.

(Ed Wilson)

29 Sep 25

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

6.0°C > 12.0°C: Clear with the forecast dense fog only visible in the distance. Calm. Very good visibility except in the direction of the fog bank.

Sunrise: 07:08 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 – 09:30

(237th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- a good number of Mallard with many of these flying in from the pools to the East.
- a continuing decline in the number of Coots. The count was now even smaller than it was in the breeding season when some (half?) of the birds were sitting on nests.
- just one Great Crested Grebe located.
- another change with the gulls. Lesser Black-backed Gulls were arriving early with at least 80 on the water by 06:30. At least 100 more arrived from the South with others from the East, these being mixed up with birds leaving and flying around. A conservative estimate of c.225. Only three Herring Gulls noted with them. Just four were noted flying by in the distance.
- also by 06:30 there were c.250 Black-headed Gulls on the water with many more streaming in and I reckon at least 700 were present by 06:50. Mist low over the water was doing its best to mask some of the birds. I checked the football field at 07:10 and counted 133 Black-headed Gulls and amongst them a first winter Common Gull – my first of the year here and my bird species #100 for the lake this year.
- two Skylarks over.
- all change with the Jackdaws and Rooks today. 72 of the Rooks were first overhead at 06:37 with just two Jackdaws with them. It was 15 minutes before several tight groups of Jackdaws passed. Usually it is Jackdaws first.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 4 Pintail
- 10 Wood Pigeons only
- 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 165 Jackdaws
- 118 Rooks
- 2 Skylarks
- 1 Pied Wagtail

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 Mute Swans
- 19 (12♂) Mallard
- 4 (1♂) Tufted Duck
- 8 Moorhens
- 38 Coots only
- 1 Great Crested Grebe
- *c.700 Black-headed Gulls: see notes
- 1 Common Gull
- 3 Herring Gulls
- >225 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 2 Grey Heron: one flew off West 07:20

Hirundines etc. noted:

None

Warblers recorded (the figure in brackets is birds noted singing):
- 1 (1) Cetti's Warbler
- 4 (1) Chiffchaffs

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

Moths:
- 1 $ Garden Rose Tortrix Acleris variegana
- 1 Square-spot Rustic Xestia xanthographa

Springtails:
- 1 springtail Pogonognathellus longicornis

Other flies:
- 1 plumed midge Chironomus plumosus
- 1 winter cranefly Trichocera sp.

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 Bridge Orb-web Spider Larinioides sclopetarius [Bridge Orbweaver]
- 1 Noble or False Widow Spider Steatoda nobilis
- 1 harvestman Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus

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

Flies:
- 1 male mosquito, perhaps Aedes punctor
- 1 winter cranefly Trichocera sp.

Slugs, snails etc.:
- 1 slug Arion sp.
- 2 snails, neither identified and not

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 26 spiders: usual suspects

Noted later elsewhere:

Bees, wasps, etc.:
**** I did not visit the area where the nest of the European Hornet Vespa crabro is located

Flies:
- 2 cranefly Tipula confusa

Fungus:
- $$ Shaggy Parasol Chlorophyllum rachodes
- Shaggy Inkcap or Lawyer's Wig Coprinus comatus

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

You will probably have to take my word for it that these are four Common Teal. I can just about see the white line at the side of the tail on the closest bird. Thank you to Tom Lowe for pointing out that these are actually Pintail.

A first winter Common Gull with Black-headed Gulls on the football field was my first of the year. At all ages this shows a rounded head and a dark-eye. In first winter note the two-tone bill. In our part of Shropshire "common" is a misnomer. Go to Ellesmere in a few months time and you can see over hundred in the gull roost.

Another view. When feeding the rounded head is not so obvious. Neither of these photos is exactly stunning. It was still c.07:10 and I was shooting through two layers of fencing around the football field.

Somewhat speckled with dew is this Garden Rose Tortrix moth Acleris variegana. Moth species #93 for me here this year and seen one day later than my single 2024 record of this species.

A Square-spot Rustic Xestia xanthographa on the overhanging light unit atop one of the street lamp poles.

A male mosquito with rather unusual-looking "double-decker" antennae. It is perhaps Aedes punctor. The females of this species do bite man but don't carry tropical diseases.

An Arion slug. Further identification eludes many experts with DNA the only reliable way.

Another (non)winner for Obsidentify that was 99% certain this is a Lapidary Snail Helicigona lapicida. Assuming the photos on NatureSpot are correctly labelled (and I am sure they are) this quite a different species.

A new species of fungus for me: Shaggy Parasol Chlorophyllum rachodes. You even get a side-elevation (not guilty m'lud – it was like that, honest).

Very distinctive and I doubt I have overlooked them previously.

Remember yesterday's Shaggy Inkcap or Lawyer's Wig fungus Coprinus comatus? This is it one day later, already starting to deliquesce.

A Bridge Orb-web Spider Larinioides sclopetarius.

Not sure about this spider. Obsidentify was 100% sure it was a money spider. I am 100% sure it isn't as it was far too large. Google Lens suggested Noble or False Widow Spider Steatoda nobilis but I think that is also wrong as it looks nothing like the other one I see every morning tucked up in a crack at the top of a street lamp pole.

I suspect this five-legged harvestman Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus has trouble walking in a straight line.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Flies:
- 86 midges of various species

Arthropods:
- 11 White-legged Snake Millipedes Tachypodoiulus niger

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 2 spiders only

(Ed Wilson)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Flash: 09:35 – 10:40

(228th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- a low count of Mallard. Had some gone to the Balancing Lake?

Bird(s) noted flying over here:

None

Noted on / around the water:
- 3 Canada Geese
- 11 Greylag Geese
- 10 Mute Swans
- 17 (9♂) Mallard
- 14 (2?♂) Tufted Duck
- 14 Moorhens
- 93 Coots
- 6 Great Crested Grebes: four adults and just two first winter birds
- 8 Black-headed Gulls
- 8 Cormorants
- 1 Grey Heron

Warblers recorded (the figure in brackets is birds noted singing):
- 1 (0) Chiffchaff

Noted around the area:

Bees, wasps, etc.:
- Tree Bumblebee Bombus hypnorum: apparently a queen on size
- Common Wasp Paravespula vulgaris: just one

Beetles:
- 7 Spot Ladybird Coccinella 7-punctata

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- Garden Spider Araneus diadematus [Garden Cross Spider]

I have not seen this species for a while. It is a Tree Bumblebee Bombus hypnorum and apparently a queen on size. The latest Field Guide notes this species sometimes has a second generation in which event queens may be seen in to October.

With wings a-whirr! Although it shows some pale hairs the abdomen is too black for a Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum.

Plane of the day. Flying at 20000' to the East of Stafford is a Lockheed C-130H Hercules of the Royal Saudi Air Force. It was flying from Dover Air Force Base in Delaware and landed at Birmingham. I am not entirely sure that Birmingham was its intended destination as it flew well past there before turning back to land. I surmise that RAF Brize Norton was the intended destination but was closed by fog.

(Ed Wilson)

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2010
Priorslee Lake
3 Pochard
2 Sparrowhawks
24 Swallows
Peregrine Falcon
(Ed Wilson)

2008
Priorslee Lake
Redwing
(Ed Wilson)

2005
Priorslee Lake
Siskin
105 Greenfinches
Swallow
House Martin
3 Chiffchaffs
Kingfisher
(Ed Wilson)

28 Sep 25

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

11.0°C > 12.0°C: Light sprinkles after overnight rain soon gave way to broken medium level cloud. Light westerly breeze. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 07:06 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 – 09:00

(236th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- all change again with the gulls. Very few Lesser Black-backed Gulls seen early with more passing north-east over than visiting the lake. A large number of Black-headed Gulls arrived and then moved off to the football field where I noted at least 550 (with one first-winter Herring Gull and one second-winter Lesser Black-back). Whether this enthusiasm for the grass was prompted by food availability after the overnight rain or merely by the relative lack of disturbance early on a Sunday morning is hard to say.
- two of the Great Crested Grebes were seen making a rather feeble attempt at displaying.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 24 Canada Geese: inbound in three groups
- 2 (1?♂) Tufted Duck
- 1 Feral Pigeon: an all-white bird
- 39 Wood Pigeons
- 68 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Cormorant
- 204 Jackdaws
- 142 Rooks
- 7 Starlings: together again – the same birds as yesterday?

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 Mute Swans
- 13 (5♂) Mallard
- 11 (7♂) Tufted Duck
- 7 Moorhens only
- 43 Coots only
- 4 Great Crested Grebes
- *>550 Black-headed Gulls: see notes
- *1 Herring Gull
- *42 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Grey Heron

Hirundines etc. noted:

None

Warblers recorded (the figure in brackets is birds noted singing):
- 1 (1) Cetti's Warbler
- 8 (1) Chiffchaffs

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

Moths:
- none

Springtails:
- 1 springtail Pogonognathellus longicornis

Four-winged flies:
- *1 Pond Olive mayfly Cloeon dipterum

Other flies:
- *1 plumed midge Chironomus plumosus
- 2 Spotted-winged Drosophila Drosophila suzukii
- *1 possible fruit-fly Dryomyza anilis
- *1 Muscid fly Phaonia sp.
- *2 winter craneflies Trichocera sp.

Beetles:
- *1 flea beetle, perhaps Cabbage-stem Flea Beetle Psylliodes chrysocephala

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- *1 Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp.
- *1 Missing Sector Orb-web Spider Zygiella x-notata [Silver-sided Sector Spider]

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

Flies:
- *1 European Cranefly Tipula paludosa
- 1 winter cranefly Trichocera sp.
- *1 midge with mark in wings

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 38 spiders: usual suspects plus
*1 Large House Spider-type from the Eratigena group

Noted later elsewhere:

Bees, wasps, etc.:
- Common Wasp Paravespula vulgaris
- European Hornet Vespa crabro: at least 5 around the nest site

Flies:
- no flies noted!

Fungus:
- *$ Shaggy Inkcap or Lawyer's Wig Coprinus comatus

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

One for cloud fans: Herringbone-type clouds. Meteorologically known as Cirrocumulus clouds apparently.

Just a small part of the c.550 Black-headed Gulls on the football field c.07:10. In the bottom middle is a lone second-winter Lesser Black-backed Gull. Directly above it is a first-winter Herring Gull. These were the only two non-Black-heads on the field.

I do not have any literature on how to identify mayflies. This most likely a Pond Olive mayfly Cloeon dipterum.

A slightly different species of midge with dark spot in each wing. No idea as to its identity. Possibly a female as it has "simple" antennae.

A "proper" male plumed midge Chironomus plumosus.

This is one of Muscid flies in the genus Phaonia. Another inhabitant of the West end street lamp poles pre-dawn.

An European Cranefly Tipula paludosa signalling to turn left.

One of the winter craneflies Trichocera sp. seen: this one on a street lamp pole.

Flea beetles are almost impossible to identify from good photographs. This not a good photograph. It is perhaps most likely a Cabbage-stem Flea Beetle Psylliodes chrysocephala.

Among all the other 33 spiders I noted on the walls of the Telford Sailing Club HQ I hound this Large House Spider-type from the Eratigena group. There are at least five different species of spider. Do they have separate niches? How else do they all get along?

A two-fer...

The bottom left is this Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp. The other...

...is a fly that I should know. It may be the fruit-fly Dryomyza anilis though pictures on the internet suggest it should have stronger venation and do not show the shading on the very tips of the wings.

A Missing Sector Orb-web Spider Zygiella x-notata unusually on a street lamp pole.

This fungus is known as Shaggy Inkcap or Lawyer's Wig Coprinus comatus.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Flies:
- 77 midges of various species

Arthropods:
- 2 White-legged Snake Millipedes Tachypodoiulus niger

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 7 spiders: usual suspects

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:05 – 10:05

(227th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- obtaining the correct number of Cormorants was a challenge. Bird perched on the trees were seen to take off and fly around before splashing down to fish. Meanwhile birds appeared out of the water and also flew around only to perch elsewhere in the trees. When they are fishing they are mostly submerged and travel some distances.

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

Noted on / around the water:
- 7 Canada Geese
- 14 Greylag Geese
- 10 Mute Swans still
- 30 (21♂) Mallard
- 8 (1?♂) Tufted Duck
- 13 Moorhens
- 94 Coots
- 9 Great Crested Grebes: four adults and five first winter birds
- 12 Black-headed Gulls
- 9 Cormorants
- 1 Grey Heron

Warblers recorded (the figure in brackets is birds noted singing):
- 4 (1) Chiffchaffs

Noted around the area:

Bees, wasps, etc.:
- Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris
- Common Wasp Paravespula vulgaris

(Ed Wilson)

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2011
Priorslee Lake
2 Skylarks
3 Meadow Pipits
26 Pied Wagtails
7 Siskins
2 Redpolls
142 Greylag Geese
320 Canada Geese
Common Sandpiper
45 Robins
(Ed Wilson)

2010
Priorslee Lake
Cormorant
A pair of Wigeon
220 Coots
Blackcap
Chiffchaff
(Ed Wilson)

2007
RAF Cosford
Juvenile Gannet flew over RAF Cosford
(Martin R Adlam)

2005
Priorslee Lake
3 Redpoll
Siskin
5 Chiffchaffs
Blackcap
Kingfisher
Buzzard
2 Kestrel
Meadow Pipit
(Ed Wilson)

27 Sep 25

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

10.0°C > 11.0°C: Clear to the East otherwise increasingly cloudy. Light south-easterly breeze, increasing moderate. Good visibility.

Sunrise: 07:05 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 – 09:30

(235th visit of the year)

The one that got away!
Big frustration from yesterday. At first light a bird was calling from deep in the vegetation along the dam face. It was an unfamiliar call. I fired up the Merlin app. and the sonogram was clearly showing the call even though the atmospherics were such that the M54 was an even noisier background than usual. Merlin failed to show any identity. It did pick up a Pied Wagtail passing over (even though it mis-labelled it as White Wagtail - the mainland Europe equivalent). I was unable to get a recording of anything other than the traffic noise. I saw the bird move twice, a small, warbler-like bird, flitting between cover. I heard and saw it no more despite searching and listening.

Searching around the internet I now suspect that it was a Yellow-browed Warbler, a species which is an increasingly common Autumn vagrant from Siberia to the UK. It is a species I have only previously encountered in Asia on its wintering grounds and that was more than 35 years ago.

Later at home I played calls of this species from the xeno-canto website. The Merlin app. again failed to identify them.

Without more conclusive evidence I will have to let it go. Drat – as they say!

Today's bird notes:
- after a few blank days both the usual species of geese noted.
- a chaotic start to the day. Apart from one tight group of Jackdaws these and the Rooks passed in small mixed groups interspersed with at least 100 Lesser Black-backed Gulls passing on a very similar flight line. While all this was going on at least 250 Black-headed and a similar number of Lesser Black-backed Gulls were streaming in to settle on the water.
- later two groups of c.125 Black-headed Gulls streamed in from the south-east and for the totals are assumed to be returning birds.
- none of the Black-headed Gulls seem interested in the football field at the moment. Has it dried out too much for the food availability – whatever it is they are attracted to?
- as for the past few days I could see no Herring Gulls among the early arrivals. Nine were noted later so some of the later arrivals of Lesser Black-backs are likely also new birds. But how many?
- the trio of passing Skylarks were, unusually, flying South. Typical Autumn passage is to the West.
- I noted at least six Barn Swallows flying South. I saw these while I was looking between trees and there could have been more. I usually record this species in small numbers in to October most years.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 12 Canada Geese: outbound together (after 09:15)
- 14 Greylag Geese: inbound together
- 2 Stock Doves: singles
- 121 Wood Pigeons
- 2 Collared Doves: singles
- >100 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Sparrowhawk
- 205 Jackdaws
- 118 Rooks
- 3 Skylarks: together
- 7 Starlings: together

Counts from the lake area:
- 12 Canada Geese: arrived as a duo and party of 10
- 2 Mute Swans
- 12 (5♂) Mallard
- 3 (1♂) Tufted Duck
- *14 Moorhens
- 56 Coots
- 4 Great Crested Grebes
- >250 Black-headed Gulls
- 9 Herring Gulls
- >250 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- no Cormorants
- 1 Grey Heron

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 6 Barn Swallows at least: see notes

Warblers recorded (the figure in brackets is birds noted singing):
- 1 (1) Cetti's Warbler
- 7 (0) Chiffchaffs
- 1 (0) Blackcap

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

Moths:
- none

Springtails:
- 1 springtail Pogonognathellus longicornis

Other flies:
- *1 male Spotted-winged Drosophila Drosophila suzukii
- *1 dark-winged fungus gnat Sciara sp.

Bugs:
- *1 planthopper, probably Eupteryx urticae

Arthropods:
- *1 White-legged Snake Millipede Tachypodoiulus niger

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 Noble or False Widow Spider Steatoda nobilis
- 1 female harvestman Leiobunum blackwalli
- 1 harvestman Paroligolophus agrestis

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

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 30 spiders: usual suspects

Noted later elsewhere:

Bees, wasps, etc.:
- Common Wasp Paravespula vulgaris
- European Hornet Vespa crabro: at least 5 around the nest site

Flies:
- *2 craneflies Tipula confusa
- no other flies seen at all.

Fungus:
- Brown Rollrim Paxillus involutus

Clear to the East so there was a decent sunrise.

I was not (quite) standing in the water!

An adult and juvenile Moorhen in the grass on the dam-top.

"What do you think of it so far?"

"I'm not impressed". Long-tailed Tits of course.

A reminder: almost all male Spotted-winged Drosophila flies Drosophila suzukii have dark tips to their wings: all females have unspotted wings. It is a small fly (up to 4mm). I did not realise before searching the internet today that this is an invasive species and potentially a serious pest to soft fruit trees. The fly introduced from its native Japan to the USA on imported fruit. From there it has been transported to Europe. It has only been known in Britain since 2012.

I believe this to be one of the dark-winged fungus gnat in the genus Sciara. There is no information about the individual species and how to identify them on the NatureSpot web site so I assume that it is not possible from photos.

Another chance to see... a cranefly Tipula confusa.

Two small insects here. Top left is a planthopper, probably Eupteryx urticae, as its scientific name suggests, it favours nettles which are plentiful in the area. Not sure about the other: a tiny cranefly with an orange-brown body? [the planthopper is just c.3mm]

Does this help? Not at all!

It makes a change to see a White-legged Snake Millipede Tachypodoiulus niger away from the Priorslee Avenue tunnel. This on one of the street lamp poles along the West side footpath pre-dawn.

Most of the spiders around the Telford Sailing Club HQ are too high for me to take decent photos. This Garden Spider Araneus diadematus was an exception.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

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

Flies:
- 3 moth flies Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly or Owl Fly]
- *1 winter cranefly Trichocera sp.
- 58 midges of various species

Arthropods:
- 6 White-legged Snake Millipedes Tachypodoiulus niger

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 4 spiders: usual suspects
- *1 female harvestman Leiobunum rotundum

One of the winter craneflies in the genus Trichocera. Not identifiable from photos..

The parallel-sided dark saddle means this is a female harvestman Leiobunum rotundum. Yet another harvestman with a leg missing.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:35 – 10:35

(226th visit of the year)

When I arrived the local Carrion Crows were flying around calling loudly and the Feral and Wood Pigeons were flying in all directions and the Black-headed Gulls departing. I could not see what might be causing the commotion.

Bird notes:
- still ten Mute Swans.
- what I believe to the four Mallard ducklings, now fully grown, were seen loosely together but no longer with their mother.
- six of the Tufted Ducks flew in together.
- it was a Pied Wagtail that was flying around today.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 5 Jackdaws
I no not specifically log the local movements of the pigeons

Noted on / around the water:
- 13 Canada Geese
- 16 Greylag Geese
- 10 Mute Swans
- *43 (29♂) Mallard: see notes
- *23 (5?♂) Tufted Duck
- 9 Moorhens
- 95 Coots
- 8 Great Crested Grebes: three adults and five first winter birds
- 4 Black-headed Gulls: departed
- 8 Cormorants again
- *3 Grey Herons

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

Of note around the area:

Nothing else

The bill colour indicates this is a drake Mallard. It is one of the four birds from the last brood and is still to complete growing his wing feathers and moult in to regular drake plumage. All four were still loosely together but their mother seemed to be no longer with them.

Meanwhile a drake Mallard had spotted where the food is being distributed.

Another drake arriving. Note how as he banks the head is kept level.

This duck Mallard has also spotted food. She is not quite so elegant!

Not quite the Torvill and Dean of the Mallard world. The drake has still to complete the moult in to breeding plumage.

A duck Tufted Duck...

 ...in close up!

I think this is called "splash down".

"Like water off a duck's back" - a drake Tufted Duck just surfacing after diving for food that the dabbling Mallard cannot reach.

Time for a scratch.

And another dive.

One Grey Heron is being chased away...

...while a third makes its way to a favoured perch up a tree on the island.

Plane of the day: this is a Vulcanair built Partenavia P.68 Observer 2 belonging to the Danish company Bio.Flight A/S - hence the OY- prefix to the registration. It is an Italian design which Bio.Flight uses for survey work. The basic design allowed for 11 seats but no doubt most of the fuselage is taken up with specialist equipment.

The FlightRadar24 data shows it was flying from Bournemouth to Chester (also known as Hawarden). Bio.Flight has up to six aircraft detached from their base at Roskilde to operate out of Chester while they surveying in the UK and Ireland.

(Ed Wilson)

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2013
Priorslee Lake
1 Teal
3 Wigeon
1 Kingfisher
(John Isherwood)

2011
Priorslee Lake
13 Meadow Pipits
3 Redpoll
Siskin
Common Sandpiper
(Ed Wilson)

2010
Priorslee Lake
Juvenile Common Scoter
3 Little Grebes
Drake Pintail x Mallard
(Ed Wilson/Andy Latham)