29 Nov 25

The Flash and Priorslee Balancing Lake

6.0°C: Overcast. At very low-level initially. Light westerly breeze. Moderate visibility becoming very good.

[Sunrise: 07:56 GMT]

I decided on another "Winter schedule" visit in a mostly successful attempt to avoid the rain. Once again it was The Flash that proved most interesting.

* = a species photographed today

All the photos not included with the logs for the last week or so have now been added on the website by a recuperating Martin Adlam to whom I am, as ever, very grateful. Go to:
https://friendsofpriorsleelake.blogspot.com/
and scroll down using the "Older posts" link at the bottom of the page as necessary

$ = my first sighting of the species for this year
$$ = my first ever recorded sighting of the species in the area

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 09:25 – 10:30

(291st visit of the year)

Only from the dam-top area.

Bird notes:
- of the five Pochard two are obviously; two are ducks and I cannot make my mind up about the fifth. I suspect a first-winter drake but...
- I took gull counts when I arrived. They tended to move between the water and the south-west grass. There seemed to be little, if any, arriving or departing.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
No detailed counts were taken bit I noted:
- >30 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Jackdaw

Counts from the lake area:
- 7 Canada Geese
- 4 (2♂) Mallard
- 5 (2♂) Pochard
- 46 (30♂) Tufted Duck
- 6 Moorhens
- 49 Coots
- 5 Great Crested Grebes
- 18 Black-headed Gulls
- *1 Great Black-backed Gull
- *11 Herring Gulls
- 62 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- *4 Cormorants
- 2 Grey Herons

An adult Great Black-backed Gull. Perhaps the bird seen on several other days? Behind it a bathing Herring-type Gull. It looks slightly darker on the back than a typical Herring Gull. Candidates would be Caspian or Yellow-legged Gull neither of which should show the obvious head-streaking of this individual.

A Cormorant swimming, typically, partly submerged. This species has less preen-oil on its feathers than most birds thought to aid its ability to chase fish underwater. The water clearly is not "running off its back like a duck". It may also explain why they spend time "hanging their wings out to dry" though this has also been explained as a mechanism to help them digest food.

 Here again...

...and again. On this view it looks as if it possibly starting to gain the crest on its nape indicating it is coming in to breeding condition. Adults will start to show the white thigh patch from early-December.

Typical of many of my Cormorant photos. One way to separate Cormorant from Shag is to see how they dive. The smaller Shag leaps clear of the water, though it is almost exclusively a salt-water species and unlikely to be seen inland. I did see one here in September 1992!

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 10:40 – 11:25

(284th visit of the year)

The visibility was often poor and the light-level low.

Bird notes:
- a first-winter drake Shoveler was a new arrival.
- no (Common) Teal were seen though a drake was heard giving its bell-like call-note.
- a drake Goosander was a new arrival, consorting with four brownheads. At this date it is probably safe to say the brownheads are all ducks (females).
- Coot numbers apparently still in decline.
- a Great (White) Egret present.
- a Siskin heard.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 2 Herring Gulls
- 7 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
probably more "lost in the mist"

Noted on / around the water:
- 5 Canada Geese
- *1 (1♂) Shoveler
- 26 (19♂) Mallard
- (Common) Teal heard only
- 2 (2♂) Pochard
- 21 (10♂) Tufted Duck
- 5 (1♂) Goosander
- 9 Moorhens
- 40 Coots
- 3 Great Crested Grebes
- 11 Black-headed Gulls
- *5 Herring Gulls: ages not determined
- *1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: (near) adult
- *5 Cormorants
- 1 Grey Heron
- *1 Great (White) Egret

Around the area:

Nothing noted. I was not surprised to draw a blank after the overnight deluge and the cloudy conditions

Clearly a Shoveler with only partial drake plumage. I would have thought that an adult drake would be in more-or-less full breeding plumage at this date suggesting this is a first-winter bird.

A drake Goosander: the first here for several days.

I have mentioned the predilection of immature gulls, especially Herring Gulls, to "play" with sticks and other objects that are clearly not edible. Here two second-winter Herring Gulls are tussling over something while a third-winter looks on.

A Lesser Black-backed Gull. Two things suggest to me it is not a full adult. First the tail seems to be sullied with faint black markings. Secondly it is "playing" with a stone: I do not recall adults "playing" like this. I cannot make out the bill markings which might help. Note with the right wing fully spread the inner webs of the inner primaries are exposed as pale grey. This would not be seen when a bird was at rest or in normal flight.

Today four Cormorants were crowding on the set of tree roots at the edge of the island. There was little wind so why were they not sitting in the trees?

The Great (White) Egret peers down on a brownhead Goosander (and a Coot).

A Robin adding a touch of colour to a grey morning. It does not look very happy.

(Ed Wilson)

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2012
Priorslee Lake
Black Tern
(Arthur Harper)

2010
Priorslee Lake
Yellow Wagtail
Kingfisher
(Ed Wilson)