Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash
9.0°C > 8.0°C > 10.0°C: A clear start. Then a heavy shower c.07:10 clearing after 08:00. Moderate south-westerly breeze gusting strong at times. Very good visibility except during shower.
Sunrise: 08:11 GMT
Photos to be added later.
Priorslee Balancing Lake: 06:20 – 09:30
(298th visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- the number of Coots remains unusually low for reasons that are unclear. Those that are present seem to have plenty of food available.
- viewing the early gull arrival was thwarted by needing to shelter from the shower. I think c.250 Black-headed Gulls and >450 Lesser Black-backed Gulls. I could not find any Herring Gulls at this time.
- again the usual post 08:30 gull arrival was almost non-existent with birds flying overhead.
- one Great (White) Egret present for a while. Flew off West c.09:00.
- unusual for this time of year was hearing and then seeing House Sparrows away from the gardens in Teece Drive. Several had invaded the hedge around the academy.
Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 1 Stock Dove
- 25 Wood Pigeons
- 8 Herring Gulls
- 64 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 2 Cormorants: together
- 185 Jackdaws
- 91 Rooks
Counts from the lake area:
- 8 Canada Geese
- 11 (?♂) Mallard
- 38 (24♂) Tufted Duck
- 9 Moorhens
- 38 Coots
- 4 Great Crested Grebes
- c.250 Black-headed Gulls
- ? || 5 Herring Gulls
- >450 || 7 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 4 Cormorants: arrived separately
- *1 Grey Heron
- *1 Great (White) Egret
Noted on the West end street lamp poles pre-dawn:
Moths:
- 2 male Winter Moths Operophtera brumata
Flies:
- *1 very small unidentified fly
- *1 small fly (or perhaps an ichneumon)
Springtails:
- 1 globular springtails sp., possibly Dicyrtomina saundersi
- 1 springtail Pogonognathellus longicornis-type
Later on the Teece Drive fence or elsewhere:
Nothing noted
(Ed Wilson)
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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel pre-dawn
Flies:
- no midges
Arthropods:
- 1 Common Shiny Woodlouse Oniscus asellus
Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 12 spiders: usual suspects
(Ed Wilson)
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The Flash: 09:35 – 10:35
(292nd visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- *what I presume is the same drake Shoveler was seen again.
- *a feral-type Mallard with white on the breast and more rufous flanks was a bird I cannot recall seeing previously.
- so where were all the Herring Gulls today?
- at least four Chaffinches noted. A good number these days.
Bird(s) noted flying over here:
None
Noted on / around the water:
- 7 Canada Geese
- no Greylag Geese
- *1 (1♂) Shoveler
- *32 (22♂) Mallard
- *1 (1♂) hybrid Mallard
- *7 (4♂) Pochard again
- 35 (15♂) Tufted Duck
- *8 (3♂) Goosander
- 9 Moorhens
- 41 Coots
- 4 Great Crested Grebes
- 38 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Herring Gull only
- 1 Cormorant
- 1 Grey Heron
Noted around the area:
On the bank of Ivy:
Bees, wasps etc.:
- >5 Common Wasps Vespula vulgaris
Hoverflies:
- *1 Tapered Dronefly Eristalis pertinax
- *1 Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax
Flies
- >20 Common Blow Flies Calliphora vicina
(Ed Wilson)