Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash
6.0°C > 10.0°C: Another clear start. The Telford "hat" of low cloud soon moved in and only sporadically cleared after c.09:30. Moderate southerly wind. Good visibility.Sunrise: 08:12 GMT
photos will be added later
Priorslee Balancing Lake: 06:15 – 09:30
(299th visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- 24 Mallard flew in from the East in several concurrent small groups. I did not find all of them on the water so do have the complete sex breakdown.
- the early gull arrival took place out of line of sight from my chosen vantage point. I do know that birds were later than usual arriving, with none seen or heard until 07:30.
- an only slightly larger post 08:30 gull arrival again with many birds flying overhead.
- a Great (White) Egret present again and probably the bird seen at The Flash later.
- unusually I noted more Rooks than Jackdaws on their roost-dispersal flight. Many of Jackdaws were well to the East and I assume the "missing" birds were unseen even further East.
- one (or more) Redwings were heard calling from a traditional roost site in the north-east area. This seems to be being used very intermittently these days. Ten years ago counts of >150 birds seen leaving the area were not uncommon.
Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 6 Wood Pigeons only
- 2 Herring Gulls
- 95 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Cormorant
- 1 Sparrowhawk
- 126 Jackdaws
- 146 Rooks
Counts from the lake area:
- 7 Canada Geese
- 24 (>14♂) Mallard
- 31 (20♂) Tufted Duck
- 9 Moorhens again
- 44 Coots
- 4 Great Crested Grebes
- >75 Black-headed Gulls
- 14 || 9 Herring Gulls
- >250 || 26 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 4 Cormorants: arrived; one of them departed
- 1 Grey Heron
- 1 Great (White) Egret
Noted on the West end street lamp poles pre-dawn:
Moths:
- 1 Winter Moth Operophtera brumata
- 1 Winter Moth Operophtera brumata
Flies:
- 1 winter cranefly Trichocera sp.
Springtails:
- 1 globular springtail sp., possibly Dicyrtomina saundersi
Later on the Teece Drive fence or elsewhere:
Nothing noted
Either me or the waning Cold Moon has tilted since yesterday! Once again within thirty minutes it had clouded.
"I'm the Queen of the Castle". A female Siskin.
Another male is about to fall off his perch?
It makes my neck ache to look at it. I find eating easier when my food is on a plate!
Very little on the street lamp poles pre-dawn. This winter cranefly Trichocera sp. was about the best.
(Ed Wilson)
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Flies:
- no midges
Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 4 spiders: three usual suspects but...
1 lace-weaver spider Amaurobius sp.
That was a waste of a visit!
The Flash: 09:35 – 10:50
A change from the procession of Missing Sector Orb-web Spiders Zygiella x-notata I found this lace-weaver spider Amaurobius sp. I would not like to be more specific.
(Ed Wilson)
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(293rd visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- I did not seen the drake Shoveler.
- Neither did I see yesterday's feral-type drake Mallard.
- I did see a pair of (Common) Teal by the island.
- a Great (White) Egret seen in flight between various locations.
- a Kingfisher seen at the bottom end.
Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
Noted on / around the water:
- 6 Canada Geese
- still no Greylag Geese
- no Shoveler
- 29 (21♂) Mallard
- 7 (4♂) Pochard yet again
- 22 (13♂) Tufted Duck
- 5 (2♂) Goosander
- 7 Moorhens
- 43 Coots
- 4 Great Crested Grebes
- 43 Black-headed Gulls
- 4 Herring Gulls: various ages
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: (near) adults; arrived separately
- 2 Cormorants
- 2 Grey Herons
- 1 Great (White) Egret
- 1 Kingfisher
Noted around the area:
On street lamp poles:
Moths:
- 1 male Winter Moth Operophtera brumata
On the bank of Ivy:
Bees, wasps etc.:
- >3 Common Wasps Vespula vulgaris
- 1 male Winter Moth Operophtera brumata
On the bank of Ivy:
Bees, wasps etc.:
- >3 Common Wasps Vespula vulgaris
Hoverflies:
None
Flies
- >5 Common Blow Flies Calliphora vicina
- 1 Muscid fly Phaonia subventa/rufiventris
A drake Pochard stretching his wings...
...again.
A drake Tufted Duck...
...looking suspiciously at me...
...as Mr. Angry. His eyes appear different colours because one was in the shade.
A pleasing shot of a first-winter Herring Gull. Topside and...
...underside.
A finely-judged banking manoeuvre by this third(?)-winter Herring Gull just avoiding cartwheeling in to the water.
Pink legs on this species – with black toe-nails.
Probably a third-winter Lesser Black-backed Gull with black on both mandibles. Note how broad the while trailing-edge to the secondary wing feathers is on this species.
A Grey Heron quietly dozing.
Does not seem too happy to have his photo taken!
Another bird making my neck ache. The Great (White) Egret with an itch.
Now in flight.
Look: no legs!
Too distant to be any more than a record shot of this morning's Kingfisher.
Still a few Common Wasps Vespula vulgaris around on the Ivy.
Among a few Common Blow Flies Calliphora vicina (note its tongue on what is left of an Ivy flower)...
...I noted this Muscid fly Phaonia subventa or P. rufiventris. Separation requires examination of the rows of bristles! A species in this genus because of the slight bulge along the front of the wing edge.
Plane of the day. This Reims-built 1977 vintage Cessna is an FA152 Aerobat indicating it is built to be able to do aerobatics and capable of withstanding +6g and -3g forces. Very few seem to be used as such. This example belongs to the Sherburn Aero Club and was flying from their home airfield of Sherburn in Elmet (near Tadcaster in North Yorkshire) to Welshpool's Mid-Wales Airport before returning home via the scenic route, around the South of Birmingham.
(Ed Wilson)
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2013
Priorslee Lake
Scaup imm/fem
4 Yellow-legged Gull
(Gary Crowder)
2012
Priorslee Lake
3 Yellow-legged Gull
8 Great Black-backed Gulls
1 duck Gadwall
3 Goosander
4 Teal
1 Wigeon
1 Redshank
8 Pochard.
55 Tufted Ducks
1 Water Rail
172 Coots.
4 Great Black-backed Gulls .
36 Redwings
42 Fieldfares
453 Jackdaws
64 Rooks
(John Isherwood/Roger Clay/Ed Wilson)
Trench Lock Pool
35 Mute Swans
1 drake Wigeon
1 duck Goldeneye
2 drake Shoveler
40 Tufted Duck
1 Common Gull
6 Herring Gull
163 Lesser Black-backed Gull
128 Black-headed Gull
2 Great Black-backed Gulls
165 Coot
Lesser Black-backed Gull with a Dark Blue ring with Orange [red] numbers 567. This bird bred in Germany.
(Martin Grant/Ed Wilson)
2011
Priorslee Lake
Adult Caspian Gull
(Tom Lowe)
2009
Priorslee Lake
Black necked Grebe
1 Great Black-backed Gull
(John Isherwood)
2006
Priorslee Lake
5 Cormorants
18 Pochard
56 Tufted Ducks
27 Robins
23 Blackbirds
3 Fieldfares
2 Redwings
1 Willow Tit
2 Reed Buntings
(Ed Wilson)
2005
Priorslee Lake
Water Rail
750 Black-headed Gulls
1000 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
1 Little Grebes
5 Great Crested Grebes
15 Pochard
27 Tufted Duck
2 Redpolls
25 Siskins
15 Pied Wagtails
2 Redwings
32 Fieldfares
5 Reed Buntings
13 Robins
18 Blackbirds
11 Greenfinches
(Ed Wilson)