4.0°C > 6.0°C: Mostly overcast with several spells of rain. Moderate south-easterly breeze, abating somewhat. Very good visibility but moderate in rain.
Sunrise: 07:45 GMT
$ = my first sighting of the species for this year
$$ = my first ever recorded sighting of the species in the area
It was not the weather to get complete and accurate counts. With that proviso here we go...
Priorslee Balancing Lake: 06:20 – 09:35
$ = my first sighting of the species for this year
$$ = my first ever recorded sighting of the species in the area
It was not the weather to get complete and accurate counts. With that proviso here we go...
Priorslee Balancing Lake: 06:20 – 09:35
(284th visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- very few geese: a party of six Greylags flew East; and a duo few West much later
- yesterday's Mute Swans had gone.
- no (Common) Teal but a pair of Gadwall noted.
- many of the Mallard seen on the water flew off before it was light-enough to sex them.
- fewer gulls this morning with c.125 Lesser Black-backed Gulls by 06:55 and c.300 by 07:15. By his time there were also c.60 Black-headed Gulls. As yesterday there were mixed in with the larger gulls rather than the separate grouping they often form. A small passage of Lesser Black-backs passing to the East may account for some of the missing birds.
- no Song Thrush was heard singing. That may have been no more than I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
- the only notable fly-over was a single Meadow Pipit. A scarce species these last two years.
Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 8 Greylag Geese: seen notes
- 28 Wood Pigeons
- 2 Herring Gulls
- 74 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Cormorant
- 126 Jackdaws
- 128 Rooks
- 7 Redwings: together
- 1 Meadow Pipit
Birds seen leaving roosts around the lake
None
Counts from the lake area:
- no Mute Swans
- 2 (1♂) Gadwall
- 12 (>5♂) Mallard
- 6 (>2?♂) Pochard
- 51 (?♂) Tufted Duck
- 5 Moorhens
- 39 Coots
- 4 Great Crested Grebes
- c.60 Black-headed Gulls
- 16 Herring Gulls
- c.340 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: c.300 early on; c.40 arrived after 08:00
- 5 Cormorants: arrived separately
- 1 Grey Heron
Noted on the West end street lamp poles pre-dawn:
Counts from the lake area:
- no Mute Swans
- 2 (1♂) Gadwall
- 12 (>5♂) Mallard
- 6 (>2?♂) Pochard
- 51 (?♂) Tufted Duck
- 5 Moorhens
- 39 Coots
- 4 Great Crested Grebes
- c.60 Black-headed Gulls
- 16 Herring Gulls
- c.340 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: c.300 early on; c.40 arrived after 08:00
- 5 Cormorants: arrived separately
- 1 Grey Heron
Noted on the West end street lamp poles pre-dawn:
Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 $ probable Neriene peltata
- 1 Nursery Web Spider Pisaura mirabilis
- 1 unidentified small spider sp.
- 1 harvestman Paroligolophus agrestis
Later on the Teece Drive fence or elsewhere:
- 1 $ probable Neriene peltata
- 1 Nursery Web Spider Pisaura mirabilis
- 1 unidentified small spider sp.
- 1 harvestman Paroligolophus agrestis
Later on the Teece Drive fence or elsewhere:
Nothing noted
I was (and still am) puzzling over the large gull in the middle here. A large "black-back" with an unmarked white head and a very dark black back. I needed to see the bill to be sure...
I was not expecting this: a duck flew past while I was taking the photos. The white in the duck's wings and the dark tail is sufficient to identify it as a drake Gadwall.
The interesting gull is here clearly larger than the first-winter Herring Gull in front of it. To my eyes the bill is not robust-enough for a Great Black-backed Gull. There is some black in the bill so perhaps a fourth-winter. I will have to let this one go.
Four of the six Pochard here today. The two right-most birds are clearly adult drakes. I am not sure about the others. Adult ducks usually show "spectacles" which are not obvious here. The light was poor so..?
Looking along the dam at c.07:00. There seemed to be a few breaks in the cloud. They did not last!
(Ed Wilson)
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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel pre-dawn:
Still cold
Flies:
- 3 midges
- 3 midges
Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 spider only: Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp.
(Ed Wilson)
The Flash: 09:40 – 10:50
- 1 spider only: Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp.
(Ed Wilson)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Flash: 09:40 – 10:50
(278th visit of the year)
Ice gone
Bird notes:
- where were all the geese? just five Canadas noted and none heard from inside the island.
- a trio of (Common) Teal found lurking by the island.
- still just four brownhead Goosander. Hard to find today with three of them loafing around the island.
Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 2 Herring Gulls: together
- 3 Jackdaws: together
Noted on / around the water:
- 5 Canada Geese
- no Greylag Geese
- 24 (17♂) Mallard
- 3 (2♂) (Common) Teal
- 2 (2♂) Pochard still
- 29 (17♂) Tufted Duck
- 4 (0♂) Goosander: again
- 8 Moorhens: again
- 57 Coots only
- 3 Great Crested Grebes only
- 56 Black-headed Gulls
- 2 Herring Gulls: immatures
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: adult, briefly
- 7 Cormorants
- 1 Grey Heron
- 1 Little Egret
Noted around the area:
Nothing else, too cold, too dull and too windy
At the back against the island a trio of (Common) Teal: from the left a duck, a drake and the yellow tail area of another drake just visible behind the roots of the right-hand tree. Two adult-winter Black-headed Gulls looking on.
Photographing Little Egrets (any egret actually) can be Catch-22. If the weather is sunny the contrast is too much for the camera to handle. In dull weather there is less contrast but often not enough light to "freeze" the action. This morning was about right. Here are a few photos of "our" Little Egret in flight.
(Ed Wilson)
2013
Priorslee Lake
8 Wigeon
6 Gadwall
4 Teal
2 Shoveler
2 Pochard
116 Tufted Duck
2 Water Rails
222 Coots
1 Snipe
c.90 Lapwing over
4 Yellow-legged gulls
1 Great Black-backed Gull
A Ring-billed x Lesser Black-backed Gull hybrid
134 Fieldfare
22 Redwings
171 Jackdaws
3 Ravens
3 Siskins
3 Redpolls
(Ed Wilson/John Isherwood/JW Reeves)
Horsehay Pool
Caspian Gull
1 Yellow-legged Gull
2 Great Black-backed Gulls
1 Kingfisher
12 Goosander
Raven
(JW Reeves)
2012
Priorslee Lake
3 Gadwall
8 Pochard
24 Tufted Ducks
152 Coots
8 Redwings
(Ed Wilson)
2008
Priorslee Lake
8 Great Crested Grebes
1 Cormorant
56 Greylag Geese
12 Pochard
187 Tufted Duck
1 Goosander
2 Water Rails
149 Coot
c.800 Black-headed
c.2200 Lesser Black-backed
<20 Herring Gulls
1st winter Common Gull
50 Redwings
8 Fieldfare
1 Treecreeper
c.1000 Starlings left a roost
c.20 Siskins
(Ed Wilson)
2006
Priorslee Lake
1 Little Grebe
23 Greylag Geese
27 Pochard
55 Tufted Ducks
3 Buzzards
>1650 Black-headed Gull
>4022 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
246 Wood Pigeons
1 Kingfisher
26 Robins
27 Blackbirds
4 Fieldfares
34 Redwings
male Blackcap
1 Willow Tit
246 Jackdaws
160 Rooks
8 Reed Buntings
(Ed Wilson)
Adult drake Pochard here as well as at the Balancing Lake. Closer and in better light. But sleeping.
Calling here.
Back the other way.
Those talons look useful weapons.
Make up your mind!
(Ed Wilson)
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2013
Priorslee Lake
8 Wigeon
6 Gadwall
4 Teal
2 Shoveler
2 Pochard
116 Tufted Duck
2 Water Rails
222 Coots
1 Snipe
c.90 Lapwing over
4 Yellow-legged gulls
1 Great Black-backed Gull
A Ring-billed x Lesser Black-backed Gull hybrid
134 Fieldfare
22 Redwings
171 Jackdaws
3 Ravens
3 Siskins
3 Redpolls
(Ed Wilson/John Isherwood/JW Reeves)
Horsehay Pool
Caspian Gull
1 Yellow-legged Gull
2 Great Black-backed Gulls
1 Kingfisher
12 Goosander
Raven
(JW Reeves)
2012
Priorslee Lake
3 Gadwall
8 Pochard
24 Tufted Ducks
152 Coots
8 Redwings
(Ed Wilson)
2008
Priorslee Lake
8 Great Crested Grebes
1 Cormorant
56 Greylag Geese
12 Pochard
187 Tufted Duck
1 Goosander
2 Water Rails
149 Coot
c.800 Black-headed
c.2200 Lesser Black-backed
<20 Herring Gulls
1st winter Common Gull
50 Redwings
8 Fieldfare
1 Treecreeper
c.1000 Starlings left a roost
c.20 Siskins
(Ed Wilson)
2006
Priorslee Lake
1 Little Grebe
23 Greylag Geese
27 Pochard
55 Tufted Ducks
3 Buzzards
>1650 Black-headed Gull
>4022 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
246 Wood Pigeons
1 Kingfisher
26 Robins
27 Blackbirds
4 Fieldfares
34 Redwings
male Blackcap
1 Willow Tit
246 Jackdaws
160 Rooks
8 Reed Buntings
(Ed Wilson)