13 Oct 25

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

9.0°C > 11.0°C: Low cloud and mist throughout with drizzle "in the air" at times. Light easterly wind. Moderate visibility at best, often poor.

Sunrise: 07:33 BST (really?!)

* = 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: 05:45 – 09:45

(249th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- *a trio of Mute Swans circled the water at c.08:05 and, probably wisely, decided not to upset the residents and flew on.
- twelve ducks flew from the East, made it to overhead the dam and flew back. One was significantly smaller than the others. If I had to guess I would say 11 Mallard and a Common Teal but...
- two Goosanders flew West in the murk at 07:45
- no Cormorants noted.
- at least one Skylark calling overhead: not chance of seeing it / them.
- just one Song Thrush heard singing quietly.
- now two days without any calling Chiffchaffs noted. It seems a bit early for them to have stopped calling. Perhaps they don't like the weather either.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- *c.75 Greylag Geese: inbound together
- *3 Mute Swans
- 12 unidentified ducks: see notes
- 2 Goosanders: together
- 24 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Sparrowhawk: at 07:13
- 16 Jackdaws
- 57 Rooks
- 1+ Skylark
- 6 Starlings: together
- 2 Pied Wagtails

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 Mute Swans
- 14 (9♂) Mallard
- 4 (1♂) Tufted Duck
- 9 Moorhens
- no meaningful count of Coots possible
- 4 Great Crested Grebes
- c.250 Black-headed Gulls
- 5 Herring Gulls
- c.100 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- *2 Grey Herons

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

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

Moths:
- 2 Common Plumes Emmelina monodactyla: both on the same pole as yesterday's example
- 4 November Moth types Epirrita sp.: in different places and / or different poles to yesterday

Springtails:
- 1 springtail Pogonognathellus longicornis-type

Flies:
- 1 fly Dryomyza anilis
- 1 moth fly Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly or Owl Fly]
- 1 cranefly Tipula confusa
- *1 unidentified cranefly
- 2 fungus gnat-types

Beetles:
- *1 probable Cabbage-stem Flea Beetle Psylliodes chrysocephala

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- *2 Bridge Orb-web Spiders Larinioides sclopetarius [Bridge Orbweaver]
- *1 Orb-web spider Metellina segmentata
- *1 Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp.
- 1 unidentified spider
- *1 harvestman Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus
- *1 male harvestman Leiobunum blackwalli
- *1 female harvestman Leiobunum rotundum
- 1 harvestmen Paroligolophus agrestis

Noted later elsewhere:

Bees, wasps, etc.:
- European Hornet Vespa crabro: three noted at the nest site

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- *2 harvestmen Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus

Plants:
- *Common (or Field) Forget-me-not Myosotis arvensis

Fungi:
- *new Weeping Widow Lacrymaria lacrymabunda

Even on wide-angle I could not fit all the returning Greylag Geese in to the frame with a few off to the left. There are 76 here. Sad but true!

Not staying then? A trio of Mute Swans decide not to visit.

This needs good balance. Several of the local birds have mastered the trick. When three were disputing territory on Saturday two of them managed to stand on different buoys at the same time.

A Grey Wagtail. Reminder: wagtail species are named after the colour of the back so this is not a Yellow Wagtail which is only a summer visitor to the UK.

In the breeding season males and, I am led to believe, some older females have a black bib. This example has a black smudge in the middle of its breast which may be relevant or may simple be discolouration.

This cranefly will have to remain unidentified. On size it is one of the Limonid species. It is devoid of any helpful markings. It is hard to see under the folded wings: does it have a banded abdomen? If so that hinders rather than helps.

With its small size and swollen hind femurs this is a flea beetle and probably a Cabbage-stem Flea Beetle Psylliodes chrysocephala.

The ventral view of one of two Bridge Orb-web Spiders Larinioides sclopetarius tending their webs around the street lights before dawn.

The Orb-web spider Metellina segmentata

A Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp. The abdomen pattern is variable in intensity. There are always dots apparently at random along the legs.

A six-legged harvestman Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus on the street lamp poles pre-dawn.

Another with six legs, this time on the Teece Drive fence.

This is a male harvestman Leiobunum blackwalli only separable from a male harvestman L. rotundum by looking at the colour of the surround to the oculum. This photo is not as clear as I would have liked, the camera having too many legs and shadows to decide where to focus. You will probably have to take my word for it that the surround shows white here.

This female harvestman Leiobunum rotundum is easy to identify. Females of both this species pair have a very differently-shaped abdomen to the very rounded males. Also the dark saddle mark differs between the two species. L. rotundum has a black surround to the oculum.

Today's puzzle. At the time I thought I was looking at the discarded exoskeleton of a spider, discarded as it outgrows its body. Not so. It seems to a spider with very red legs wrapped around a prey item. I have no further idea.

Not a species I expected to see in flower in October. It is Common (or Field) Forget-me-not Myosotis arvensis (the camera apologizes for putting the wrong spike in focus).

More Weeping Widow fungus Lacrymaria lacrymabunda . I will try and remember to revisit them to see them "weeping". Always assuming the council don't mow them down like they did with the Shaggy Inkcaps Coprinus comatus .

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Moths:
- *1 November Moth type Epirrita sp. My 47th moth species logged in the tunnel this year

Flies:
- 2 moth flies Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly or Owl Fly]
- *73 midges of various species

Arthropods:
- 3 White-legged Snake Millipedes Tachypodoiulus niger

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 3 spiders: usual suspects again

My first November Moth type Epirrita sp. in the tunnel this year and amazingly my 47th moth species logged inside the tunnel in 2025.

I log them as "midges of various species". In reality almost all of them are like these two. Described as "unidentified non-biting midge" by Obsidentify. I am glad about the "non-biting" label.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:50 – 11:00

(246th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- just nine Mute Swans today.
- 19 Goosanders today, now including two drakes
- only three Great Crested Grebes seen, two of which were displaying

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 1 Jackdaw

Noted on / around the water:
- 5 Canada Geese
- >73 Greylag Geese: more inside the island?
- 9 Mute Swans
- 29 (22♂) Mallard
- 7 (3?♂) Tufted Duck
- *19 (2♂) Goosander
- 14 Moorhens
- 98 Coots
- *3 Great Crested Grebes
- 8 Black-headed Gulls
- *2 Herring Gulls: adult-winter and second-winter, perhaps
- *1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: adult-winter, perhaps
- 9 Cormorants
- 1 Grey Heron

Warblers recorded.

None

Noted around the area:

Moths:
- none

Bees, wasps, etc.:
- none

Flies:
- *1 unidentified fly

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

Fungi:
- *probable Conifer Mazegill Gloeophyllum sepiarium

A brownhead Goosander.

Another. This species may be confused with Red-breasted Merganser though this latter species primarily inhabits salt-water coastal lagoons. Once learned separation is easy at any age and for either sex: Goosander, as here, has a sharp dividing line on the neck between the head colour and the breast colour. On Red-breasted Merganser the change is gradual.

Two brownhead and a drake in front of two winter-plumage Herring Gulls. Unless I am looking at two different gulls my initial identification of second-winter and adult-winter was incorrect. The right-most bird has a black smudge in its yellow bill and most likely a third-winter bird. The left hand bird shows only a small pale area at the bill-tip and is therefore a first-winter.

Closest to the camera is a typical first-winter Black-headed Gull with retained brown feathers in the folded wing and a black tail band. The adult-winter behind it provides a good comparison in bill and legs colour between the two ages.

Another gull conundrum. I looked at the back and folded wing and thought "adult" Lesser Black-backed Gull. Not with a bill that dark it isn't. Well I suppose it isn't but I simply don't know what else it might be. There is not sign of immaturity in any other part of the anatomy. Most odd.

These two Great Crested Grebes were seen displaying. The bird on the right is a winter-plumage adult. The left most bird has less head and neck plumes and may well be a first-winter bird. Cradle-snatcher.

This is probably Conifer Mazegill fungus Gloeophyllum sepiarium here growing on the wooden fence along the West side path. I have seen it here in previous years. I need to try for an underneath photo to see the "maze gills".

Obsidentify was 91% sure this is "Fly unknown / Mosquito unknown / Midge unknown". Thank you but I'd got further than that: 100% "fly unknown". Google Lens said it was a House Fly Musca domestica. It isn't but I don't know what it is.

(Ed Wilson)

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2011
Nedge Hill
1 Fieldfare
100+ Redwing
(John Isherwood)

2010
Priorslee Lake
10 Cormorants
3 Wigeon
15 Pochard
84 Tufted Ducks
Snipe
Kingfisher
8 Redwings
5 Jays
Siskins
(Ed Wilson)

2009
Priorslee Lake
7 Wigeon
500+ Lesser Black-backed Gull
52 Mute Swan
1 Little Grebe
(Mike Cooper)

2007
Priorslee Lake
3 Pochard
42 Tufted Duck
Treecreepers
19 Blackbirds
57 Robins
7 Song Thrushes
5 Redwings
2 Chiffchaffs
Siskins
3 Reed Buntings
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
Skylarks
Several Redwings
3 Pochard
46 Tufted Ducks
50 Robins
9 Song Thrushes
8 Redwings
1 Treecreeper
(Ed Wilson)