0.0°C > 3.0°C: A small amount of thin high cloud, otherwise clear. Very light mainly south-westerly breeze. Very good visibility.
Sunrise: 07:43 GMT
With the keen wind having abated I braved the cold for a "normal" visit.
Priorslee Balancing Lake: 06:15 – 09:25
(283rd visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- six Canada Geese throughout. Perhaps the six I noted yesterday did not leave: but hid.
- a small returning Greylag Geese flock of 15 birds after singles had flown both westbound and eastbound. One of the mainly-white feral geese was with the flock.
- an adult Mute Swan flew in with four first-winter cygnets.
- a duck (Common) Teal was noted.
- just two small groups of passage Wood Pigeons.
- a large number (>400?) gulls were already present by 06:40 with more streaming in from the South and north-east. Unusually many of the Black-headed Gulls were scattered among the Lesser Black-backs. They usually mostly form separate groups. Best effort at estimating the total and the separate species counts. Later my third Common Gull – another first-winter - was found.
- only only Song Thrush was heard singing in the cold conditions.
- another fly-over Lesser Redpoll. I have yet to record Linnet here this year even though I have seen them as close as in Woodhouse Lane
Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 17 Greylag Geese: seen notes
- 1 mainly white feral goose with Greylags
- 49 Wood Pigeons: of these 33 were noted in two migrant groups
- 52 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 4 Cormorants: two duos
- c.150 Jackdaws
- 40 Rooks
- 1 Pied Wagtail
- 1 Lesser Redpoll
Birds seen leaving roosts around the lake
None
Counts from the lake area:
- 6 Canada Geese
- 1 + 4 Mute Swans: arrived – see notes
- 20 (12♂) Mallard
- 1 (0♂) (Common) Teal
- 2 (2?♂) Pochard
- 48 (25♂) Tufted Duck
- 4 Moorhens
- 44 Coots
- 5 Great Crested Grebes
- c.200 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Common Gull
- 24 Herring Gulls
- c.800 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: c.750 early on; c.50 arrived after 08:00
- 3 Cormorants: arrived separately; one departed
- 1 Grey Heron
On the West end street lamp poles pre-dawn:
Nothing noted on frost-covered poles
Later on the Teece Drive fence or elsewhere:
Counts from the lake area:
- 6 Canada Geese
- 1 + 4 Mute Swans: arrived – see notes
- 20 (12♂) Mallard
- 1 (0♂) (Common) Teal
- 2 (2?♂) Pochard
- 48 (25♂) Tufted Duck
- 4 Moorhens
- 44 Coots
- 5 Great Crested Grebes
- c.200 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Common Gull
- 24 Herring Gulls
- c.800 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: c.750 early on; c.50 arrived after 08:00
- 3 Cormorants: arrived separately; one departed
- 1 Grey Heron
On the West end street lamp poles pre-dawn:
Nothing noted on frost-covered poles
Later on the Teece Drive fence or elsewhere:
Nothing noted
What I have logged as a duck (Common) Teal. I am slightly worried about the striping on the face which recalls duck Garganey. That would be very unusual at this date and probably only resolved had I seen the bird in flight.
An adult-winter Lesser Black-backed Gull with "max. head-streaking". The amount of streaking is very variable and as far as I know the reason for the is unknown. This bird is also slightly unusual in that it shows a slight dark mark on the bill and the wings have not completed their post-breeding moult – on the right wing it is easy to see that the outer two primaries are shorter than they should be.
Song Thrushes are often quite shy when they are not singing. I had to force the camera to focus between the branches.
(Ed Wilson)
In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel pre-dawn:
Cold again
The adult Mute Swan with the four first-winter cygnets.
Most of the cygnets up-ended and revealed that none of them was ringed.
"Don't look at me in that tone of voice".
Behind the Great Crested Grebe is a gull with a dark eye. It seemed ages before...
...it turned its head and also revealed the rounded head of a Common Gull – a first-winter.
An adult Cormorant keeping a close-eye on me while standing on a frost-covered pier.
Compare: less head-streaking; no black on the bill; and the primary feathers fully-developed.
(Ed Wilson)
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Cold again
Flies:
- 1 midges
- 1 midges
Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 2 spiders only including, unusually, a Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp.
(Ed Wilson)
The Flash: 09:30 – 10:50
- 2 spiders only including, unusually, a Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp.
Not a spider I see too often in the tunnel: it is a Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp.
(Ed Wilson)
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The Flash: 09:30 – 10:50
(277th visit of the year)
About 10% thin ice
Bird notes:
- confirming my log from yesterday: there are currently no Mute Swans here.
- no (Common) Teal noted.
- two trios of Cormorants were diving as groups, presumably to corral their prey.
- a Common Buzzard was hounded out of trees at the top end by Magpies and Carrion Crows and briefly perched in full view.
Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 1 Herring Gull
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
Noted on / around the water:
- 6 Canada Geese: more inside the island?
- 4 Greylag Geese: more inside the island?
- 1 all-white feral goose
- no Mute Swans
- 20 (12♂) Mallard
- 2 (2♂) Pochard again
- 30 (13♂) Tufted Duck
- 4 (0♂) Goosander
- 8 Moorhens
- 68 Coots
- 5 Great Crested Grebes
- 39 Black-headed Gulls
- 3 Herring Gulls: immatures
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: adult, briefly
- 10 Cormorants
- 2 Grey Herons
- 1 Little Egret
Noted around the area:
Bees, wasps etc.:
- 3 Common Wasps Vespula vulgaris
- 3 Common Wasps Vespula vulgaris
Flies:
- >10 blowflies of at least two species.
Apologies these "grab-shots" are out of focus. I thought them worth showing. A Cormorant has caught a sizeable fish.
The camera finally focussed on something other than the water just as the evidence was about to disappear.
The Common Buzzard that was forced out of its hiding place by Magpies and Carrion Crows and oddly sat elsewhere in the open. I assumed I was not going be able to get close...
A Long-tailed Tit with a rush of blood to the head. I am not sure I have ever noted the rufous vent on this species before.
A first-winter male Blackbird – the yellow eye-ring but a dark bill. He is looking to eat a few Hawthorn berries.
- >10 blowflies of at least two species.
Unlike so often with Great Crested Grebes this Cormorant swallowed it straight down.
Just a slightly swollen neck!
Wrong! A fierce gaze!
Looks almost cuddly?
A view of the bill. Looks like the implement on my Swiss knife to get stones out of horses hooves.
And now the right way up...
...in close-up.
Oops. Dropped that one!
That one looks possible....
Got it! Now to swallow it...
Well that does not look promising...
Dropped that one too!
A Common Blow Fly Calliphora vicina. Why do they always sit on shiny leaves.
(Ed Wilson)
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2013
Priorslee Lake
5 Gadwall
1 Pochard
125 Tufted Duck
3 Water Rails
15 Moorhens
221 Coots counted again
1 Snipe
23 Fieldfare
8 Redwings
196 Jackdaws
4 Rooks
2 Ravens
Redpoll
(Ed Wilson)
2012
Priorslee Lake
3 Gadwall
8 Pochard
27 Tufted Ducks
9 Moorhens
142 Coots
(Ed Wilson)
2011
Priorslee Lake
2 Yellow-legged Gulls
1st winter Great Black-backed Gull
3 female Goosander
3 Wigeon
(John Isherwood)
2008
Priorslee Lake
7 Great Crested Grebes
2 Cormorants
30 Greylag Gees
16 Pochard
166 Tufted Duck
3 Goosander
Water Rail
148 Coot
c.700 Black-headed
c.1300 Lesser Black-backed
<20 Herring Gulls
93 Redwings
c.500 Starlings left a roost
(Ed Wilson)
2006
Priorslee Lake
3 Great Crested Grebes
33 Pochard
69 Tufted Ducks
6 Buzzards
>1750 Black-headed Gulls
2251 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
26 Robins
32 Blackbirds
96 Fieldfares
4 Song Thrushes
13 Redwings
384 Jackdaws
216 Rooks
22 Greenfinch
2 Siskins
2 Reed Buntings
(Ed Wilson)