28 Nov 25

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

8.0°C > 10.0°C: Early cloud to the East otherwise clear skies until after 10:30. Moderate / fresh southerly wind. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 07:55 GMT

* = 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: 06:20 – 09:15 // 10:50 – 11:00

(290th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- much chasing about by the Great Crested Grebes early. They then settled as tow duos and a single.
- by c.07:00 there were already c.350 Black-headed Gulls and c.250 Lesser Black-backed Gulls and just a few Herring Gulls. Many more Lesser Black-backs arrived before most departed.
- after c.08:15 there was a smaller than usual arrival of Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls.
- I revisited briefly c.10:50 as I was passing to re-check the gulls. More had arrived.
- the gulls on these three visits are expressed as <total_1> || <total_2> || <total_3> in the table.
- a higher count of Jackdaws and Rooks passing over. Again there were no large groups, just many small mixed groups over a protracted period.
- Redwing and Fieldfare were seen flying over in small numbers.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 23 Wood Pigeons
- 4 Herring Gulls
- 31 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 179 Jackdaws
- 144 Rooks
- 6 Starlings: together
- 5 Redwings: singles
- 13 Fieldfare: together

Counts from the lake area:
- 10 Canada Geese: seven throughout; a duo and then a single arrived
- 9 (5♂) Mallard
- 5 (2♂) Pochard again
- 54 (32♂) Tufted Duck
- 5 Moorhens
- 44 Coots
- 5 Great Crested Grebes
- c.350 Black-headed Gulls: no specific counts later: small numbers
- 8 || 29 || 44 Herring Gulls
- c.520 || c.65 || c.250 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 2 Cormorants: arrived together; one departed
- 1 Grey Heron

Noted on the West end street lamp poles pre-dawn:
After yesterday's bonanza the slightly lower temperature produced many fewer sightings.

Moths:
- 4 Winter Moths Operophtera brumata
- 1 Mottled Umber Erranis defoliaria

Flies:
- 2 Spotted-winged Drosophila Drosophila suzukii: both males
- 1 winter cranefly Trichocera regelationis

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 harvestman Paroligolophus agrestis

Noted on and around the Telford Sailing Club HQ building pre-dawn:
It has been a while since I checked this area. I wished I hadn't bothered.

Flies:
- *1 plumed midge

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 7 spiders only: mostly Missing Sector Orb-web Spiders Zygiella x-notata

Later on the Teece Drive fence or elsewhere:

Nothing noted

 Some "noise" from the low-light photo of the lake at early dawn.

There was colour for a very short time on the clouds to the East.

My check of the Telford Sailing Club HQ pre-dawn netted fewer spiders than I expected and otherwise just this male plumed midge.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel pre-dawn:

Flies:
- 3 midges

Arthropods:
- *3 Common Shiny Woodlouse Oniscus asellus

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 17(!) spiders: apparently all Missing Sector Orb-web Spiders Zygiella x-notata

One of three woodlice I noted in the tunnel. I now think they were all Common Shiny Woodlice Oniscus asellus. I have previously logged those here as Common Rough Woodlouse Porcellio scaber but I now read that species often has an orange base to the antennae and may have faint orange patches on the body. I need a better shot of the end part on the antennae to be 100% sure.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:20 – 11:45

(283rd visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- only four Great Crested Grebes seen. These acting as two pairs including display and inspecting traditional nesting sites. None of these birds has acquired head-plumes.
- a Great Tit was heard in song!

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 2 Herring Gulls

Noted on / around the water:
- 6 Canada Geese
- 30 (21♂) Mallard
- 3 (2♂) (Common) Teal again
- 2 (2♂) Pochard
- 19 (10♂) Tufted Duck
- 5 (0♂) Goosander again
- 9 Moorhens
- 57 Coots
- *4 Great Crested Grebes
- 85 Black-headed Gulls
- 15 Herring Gulls: all immatures
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: adult and immature, both departed
- 4 Cormorants
- 2 Grey Herons

Noted around the area:
The bank of Ivy was busy, mostly with flies.

Bees, wasps etc.:
- *>10 Common Wasps Vespula vulgaris

Hoverflies:
- *1 Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax
Tapered Dronefly Eristalis pertinax

Other flies:
- *1 Anthomyiidae – Root-maggot fly
- *>20 Common Blow Flies Calliphora vicina
- >20 other flies of several species.

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 harvestman Paroligolophus agrestis

These two Great Crested Grebes were already displaying.

Plenty more Winter to come yet guys and gals.

 If I concentrate really hard...

...perhaps I can drown! A first-winter Herring Gull takes the plunge.

Immature large gulls, especially Herring Gulls, seem to like playing with sticks, as here.

The four Cormorants at rest on the island,

I think a Common Wasp Vespula vulgaris. The yellow on the side of the thorax does not look entirely parallel-sided. There are no other features visible from this angle to make me change my mind and log it as a German Wasp V. germanica

I did a double-take over this hoverfly. The abdomen looked slightly tapered so both I and Obsidentify thought Tapered Dronefly Eristalis pertinax. Then I noticed that the eyes (more or less) meet and it is therefore a male. The male of this species should be much more tapered.

This photo confirms that it is a Common Dronefly E. tenax. In addition to confirming it is a male the front legs are dark as they should be for this species. Obsidentify also changed its mind.

This fly is one of the Anthomyiidae family known as Root-maggot flies. Most species cannot be identified from photos.

A Common Blow Fly Calliphora vicina rubbing its "hands" with glee perhaps.

Plane of the day: this is a 1982-built Cessna 152 II owned by the couple who run Derby Airfield at Eggington, a few miles south-west of Derby centre. Not surprisingly it was on a local flight from there.

(Ed Wilson)

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2012
Priorslee Lake
3 Gadwall
7 Pochard
24 Tufted Ducks
1 Goldeneye
c.373 Wood Pigeons
2 Woodcock
17 Redwings
29 Fieldfares
c.490 Jackdaws
56 Rooks
9 Reed Buntings
(Ed Wilson)

The Flash
2 Pochard
48 Tufted Duck
10+ Goosander
(Ed Wilson)

2009
The Wrekin
Firecrest
(Martin & Ian Grant)

2006
Priorslee Lake
1 Little Grebe
26 Pochard
47 Tufted Ducks
1 drake Ruddy Duck
1 Water Rail
64 Coots
895 Black-headed Gulls
48 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
35 Fieldfares
24 Redwings
191 Jackdaws
123 Rooks
53 Starlings
16 Greenfinch
13 Goldfinches
7 Reed Buntings
(Ed Wilson)

2005
Priorslee Lake
2 Little Grebes
A duck Wigeon
Cormorant
c.75 Lapwing
2 Fieldfares
1 duck Pochard
34 Tufted Duck logged.
200 Coot
(Ed Wilson)