29 Dec 25

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

4.0°C > 5.0°C: Overcast at medium-low level. Light north-easterly breeze. Good visibility.

Sunrise: 08:22 GMT once again!

* = a species photographed today

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 06:55 – 09:30

(317th visit of the year)

Another quiet day. There always seem to be one or two bright spots.

Bird notes:
- a group of 21 Greylag Geese flew East c.07:35: the first sizeable group for many days. Five distant unidentified geese flew to the south-west a few minutes later.
- six Canada Geese flew in from the North c.08:20 and stayed.
- no Mute Swans seen.
- a Water Rail was glimpsed in the Wesley Brook.
- I was in the wrong position to see the first of the Black-headed Gulls arrive. I counted 137 at 08:05.
- all of the c.90 Lesser Black-backed Gulls arrived together at 07:48, preceded by one of only two Herring Gulls.
- *two Little Egrets flew east together at 08:25.
- three Song Thrushes and a Blackbird were singing pre-dawn only.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 21 Greylag Geese
- 5 unidentified geese
- 1 Wood Pigeon only!
- 3 Herring Gulls
- 19 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- *2 Little Egrets: together
- 149 Jackdaws
- 112 Rooks
- 3 Fieldfares
- 10 Redwings

Counts from the lake area:
- 6 Canada Geese: arrived together
- no Mute Swans
- 8 (6♂) Mallard
- 27 (18♂) Tufted Duck
- 1 Water Rail
- 5 Moorhens
- 16 Coots only
- 3 Great Crested Grebes
- 137 Black-headed Gulls
- 2 Herring Gulls
- c.90 Lesser Black-backed Gulls only
- 6 Cormorants yet again: three of these departed together
- 1 Grey Heron

Noted on the West end street lamp poles pre-dawn:

Flies:
- *1 barkfly Ectopsocus briggsi agg.
- *3 winter craneflies Trichocera sp.
- *1 male small plumed midge

Springtails:
- *2 springtails Tomocerus vulgaris-type

Beetles:
- *1 possible Cabbage-stem Flea Beetle Psylliodes chrysocephala

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- *1 probable Running crab spider Philodromus sp., possibly a male Turf Running Spider P. cespitum
- *1 possible Rabbit Hutch Spider Steatoda bipunctata
- 1 Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp.
- *1 harvestman from the species pair Dicranopalpus ramosus / D. caudatus
- 1 harvestman Paroligolophus agrestis

Noted later:
While in the north-east area around dawn I had another sighting of a small unidentified mammal. I assumed it was an aquatic animal, as it was swimming close to the shore, until it saw me and dived. I did not see it again. My best suggestion on size would be an European (or Northern) Water Vole Arvicola amphibius. This species is also known as a Water Rat ("Ratty" from the Kenneth Grahame's book Wind in the Willows).

 Not much light when these two Little Egrets flew over.

The light was no better peering in to the Wesley Brook. I was waiting in vein to see whether the Water Rail might reappear when this Grey Wagtail arrived.

It started chasing around after flies which does not make for clear photos.

A Grey Wagtail because the back is grey. Yellow Wagtails, on which the complete back is yellow or yellow-olive, are migrants. At the moment they are in Africa and Asia. A few will be in our area from mid-April.

Dots on the edge of rounded transparent wings identify this as a barkfly from the Ectopsocus briggsi aggregate. Out with the microscope for full identification. To give some idea of size it is on a plastic zip-tie left behind many years ago.

One of three winter craneflies Trichocera sp. I noted. This one shows a "dot" in the wing and is therefore very likely T. regelationis.

This Trichocera sp. lacks the "dot" in the wing and cannot be identified to species level.

As yesterday a photograph of the male small plumed midge. I should have shown my photograph of the female yesterday when I noted both sexes. I did not see a female today.

One of two small springtails of the Tomocerus vulgaris-type. Perhaps too small for that species?

Yet another not-very-good photo of a possible Cabbage-stem Flea Beetle Psylliodes chrysocephala. Just visible in its 10 o'clock is another (out of focus) small springtail that I did not notice at the time.

This is probably a Running crab spider Philodromus sp., possibly a male Turf Running Spider P. cespitum. Obsidentify's suggestion of P. dispar would only work if it were a female: I am sure the size of the pedipalps (boxing gloves) makes it a male.

Another spider puzzle. Obsidentify suggested Rabbit Hutch Spider Steatoda bipunctata, a species that should not really be away from habitation and on a street lamp pole. That species should also show a white band around the front of the abdomen. The white here is almost certainly reflections of my torch and / or the camera flash. I recall at the time it appearing glossy black all over.

A full-legged harvestman from the species pair Dicranopalpus ramosus / D. caudatus. A few harvestman species are still extant despite the harvest being long gone. I have only once (in 2019/2020) recorded this species after the turn of the year. Will the forecast cold snap prevent any January 2026 records?

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:35 – 10:45

(309th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- one adult Mute Swan throughout
- *a duck Shoveler was a new arrival
- *I noted a pair of (Common) Teal splash down near the island. I did not see them again however they may have been among the six birds that flew around and splashed down at the top end a few minutes later. These stayed less than five minutes, flying off South together.
- I remain confused about the sexes of the Pochard. Initially I thought five of the nine were adult drakes. Later I thought just three of the nine were adult drakes. Looking at some of the others more closely several seem to be acquiring more of a normal drake plumage. I suspect there is only one duck among drakes of various ages. It is normal for drakes to very significantly outnumber ducks in this species.
- A lone brownhead Goosander was seen.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 2 Stock Doves
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull

Noted on / around the water:
- 14 Canada Geese: of these nine departed together
- 1 Mute Swan
- *1 (0♂) Shoveler
- 31 (22♂) Mallard
- *6 (1?♂) (Common) Teal: see notes
- 9 (5+♂) Pochard: see notes
- 37 (17♂) Tufted Duck
- 1 (0♂) Goosander
- 15 Moorhens
- 46 Coots
- 5 Great Crested Grebes again
- 77 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Herring Gull: (near) adult, visited very briefly
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: (near) adult, departed
- no Cormorants
- 1 Grey Heron

Noted around the area:

Nothing else

The duck Shoveler. I have not seen the long-staying and moulting drake for some days and I assume he has gone.

Look hard: the pair of (Common) Teal that splashed down near the island – the drake on the right.

Look even harder! Along the back edge of the disturbed water are three duck and one drake (Common) Teal. I could not get all six in one shot as I they were too far away to see with the naked eye and difficult to find in the camera viewfinders. Within a few minutes all six flew off south together.

(Ed Wilson)

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2012
Priorslee Lake
Drake Scaup
2 Yellow-legged Gulls
3 Great Black-backed Gulls
(Martin Grant)

2011
Priorslee Lake
4 Yellow legged Gull
22 Great Black-backed Gulls
(John Isherwood)

Priorslee Flash
Tundra Bean Goose
(John Isherwood)

Holmer Lake
9 Goosander
(John Isherwood)

2009
Priorslee Lake
1 Black-necked Grebe
4 Gadwall
2 Water Rail
2 Caspian Gull
Yellow-legged Gull
Ring-billed Gull
(John Isherwood/Richard Vernon/Dawn Balmer/Peter Wilson)

2007
Priorslee Lake
1 Cormorant
3 Wigeon
30 Tufted Duck
4 Pochard
180+ Coot
3 Yellow-legged Gulls
4000+ Lesser Black-backed Gulls
65 Herring Gulls
1000+ Black-headed Gulls
(Martin Adlam)

2006
Priorslee lake
1 Little Grebe
3 Pochard
10 Tufted Ducks
1 Lapwing
>550 Black-headed Gulls
>108 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
1 Great Black-backed Gull
c.40 Redwings
(Ed Wilson)

2005
Priorslee lake
c.3200 Lesser black-backed Gulls
c.1700 Black-headed Gulls
c100 Herring Gulls
8 Great Black-backed Gulls
4 Yellow-legged Gull
(Martin Adlam/Ed Wilson/John Isherwood)