31 Dec 25

The Flash only

1.0°C > 3.0°C: Mostly sunny. Light westerly breeze. Very good visibility.
Sunrise: 08:22 GMT yet again!

A Happy New Year to all my readers. Thanks again for your interest. And particular thanks to Martin Adlam. He has performed another year of sterling work updating the web site and posting on Facebook my ramblings.

* = a species photographed today

Priorslee Balancing Lake:

(no visit)

Fall on sword time. I am once again indebted to Tom Lowe for pointing out that the two egrets I photographed flying over on Monday were Little Egrets and not the Great (White) Egrets I recorded. My wimpish excuse is that because they were against the light I could not see any of the bare part colouration. Looking again the legs are too short, there is too little 'keel' to the neck folded back in flight and the bill is too slender. As I have reminded myself before "never assume...".  Add that to my New Year resolutions.

Correction: not much light when these two Little Egrets flew over. Re-identified as this species by the relatively short legs, no bulging 'keel' from the neck held back in flight and a thinner bill. Apologies for getting them wrong.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:25 – 10:35

(311th visit of the year)

About 20% ice

Bird notes:
- *two Mute Swans present, perhaps a pair and seemingly content with each other's presence.
- no Shoveler located.
- some of the Pochard seem to have departed.
- only four Great Crested Grebe seen.
- the overflying Herring Gull was trailing several feel of, possibly, string, fishing line?
- *a Great (White) Egret (honest!) present
- a Marsh Tit was calling in squirrel alley. I failed to locate it: I did find both Nuthatch and *Tree Creeper and among the tit flock.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 1 Herring Gull: see notes
- 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: all (near) adults, singly

Noted on / around the water:
- 8 Canada Geese
- *2 Mute Swans
- no Shoveler
- 31 (21♂) Mallard
- 5 (2+♂) Pochard only
- 45 (23♂) Tufted Duck
- 4 Moorhens only
- 42 Coots
- 4 Great Crested Grebes
- 43 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Herring Gull: first-winter, departed
- 2 Grey Herons
- *1 Great (White) Egret

Noted around the area:

Flies:
- *1 Common Blow Fly Calliphora vicina: the only insect on the sun-lit Ivy.

Springtails:
- *1 springtail Tomocerus vulgaris

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- *1 Araneus-type Orb-weaver spider probably from the genus Zygiella.: same as yesterday

One of the two Mute Swans present today. This I believe to be a cob (male) by the size of the swelling at the base of the bill. The colour of the bill suggests a full adult in breeding condition.

Close behind was what appears to be a pen (female). There is a smaller swelling at the base of the bill and the neck is noticeably thinner.

Yes: it really is a Great (White) Egret. It cannot be anything else with a long, dagger-like yellow bill.

A not very cooperative Long-tailed Tits distracted me from the...

...Treecreeper getting stuck in to the task of digging morsels out of the moss and lichen on the tree trunk.

The slender curved bill helps get in the nooks and crannies. Note the stiff tail-feathers being used as a prop.

 Another view showing the bill-shape.

 Poking away.

Tail-on view of a Common Blow Fly Calliphora vicina: the only insect on the sun-lit Ivy.

Same insect head-on.

A springtail Tomocerus vulgaris on the same street lamp pole as yesterday.

The same Araneus-type Orb-weaver spider in a very similar place, also on the same street lamp pole as yesterday. The only change was that it was in the sun.

(Ed Wilson)

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2013
Priorslee Lake
Two 1st-winter female Scaup
(Ian Grant)

2012
Priorslee Lake
Drake Scaup
(Jim Almond and Paul Spear)

2010
Priorslee Lake
c.1500 Black-headed Gulls
1 Common Gull
1 Great Black-backed Gull
Water Rail
(Ed Wilson)

2005
Priorslee lake
11 Great Crested Grebes
31 Pochard
48 Tufted Duck
237 Coot
Golden Plover
1 Water Rail
700 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
c.1250 Black-headed Gulls
300 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
1 Yellow-legged Gull
37 Herring Gulls
6 Great Black-backed Gull
374 Jackdaws
178 Rooks
1 Kingfisher
1 Willow Tit
2 Redpolls.
2 Redwings
14 Robins
19 Blackbirds
13 Greenfinches
5 Reed Buntings
(Ed Wilson)

30 Dec 25

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

3.0°C > 4.0°C: Overcast again at medium-low level with occasional very, very light drizzle. Almost calm. Good visibility.

Sunrise: 08:22 GMT still

* = a species photographed today

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 07:00 – 09:30

(318th visit of the year)

Yet another quiet day.

Bird notes:
- the first five of c.50 Black-headed Gulls arrived at 07:47.
- there were five Lesser Black-backed Gulls on the water by 07:32 only to leave soon after. Had they roosted here? At least 120 of eventually c.225 arrived c.07:48.
- a later passage of Lesser Blacked Gulls was noted. All were heading south-west and many were in small tight-knit groups. How were all these orientating along the same line over a period of at least an hour? They were carrying two Black-headed Gulls and two Herring Gulls among them
- four Song Thrushes were singing, again pre-dawn only.
- seven Redwings flushed out of bushes along the North side pre-dawn. Later a party of c.50 flew East. 17 flew north-west and a single flew South.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 17 Canada Geese: south-east together
- 10 Greylag Geese: West in two groups
- 7 Wood Pigeons
- 2 Black-headed Gulls
- 2 Herring Gulls
- 144 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 52 Jackdaws
- 70 Rooks
- c.68 Redwings: see notes

Counts from the lake area:
- 6 Canada Geese: again arrived together
- 11 (8♂) Mallard
- 27 (15♂) Tufted Duck
- 6 Moorhens
- 15 Coots only
- 3 Great Crested Grebes again
- >50 Black-headed Gulls
- 15 Herring Gulls
- >225 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 4 Cormorants: arrived singly
- 1 Grey Heron

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

Flies:
- 2 winter craneflies Trichocera sp.
- 2 female small plumed midge

Springtails:
- 1 possible springtail Entomobrya intermedia
- 1 unidentified tiny springtail

Beetles:
- 3 possible Cabbage-stem Flea Beetle Psylliodes chrysocephala
- 1 Rove beetle Stenus sp.
- 1 unidentified Ground Beetle

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp.
- 1 harvestman from the species pair Dicranopalpus ramosus / D. caudatus
- 1 harvestman Paroligolophus agrestis

Noted later:

Moths:
- 1 Mottled Umber Erranis defoliaria
This on one of the street lamp poles at c.09:10. I am 90+% certain that it was not present when I checked all the poles in both directions pre-dawn!

Another grey day starts.

One of numerous small groups of Lesser Black-backed Gull all heading in the same southerly direction. From where to where? Have they heard there is cold weather on the way?

Today's Mottled Umber moth Erranis defoliaria.

One of two female small plumed midges on the street lamp poles. No males today.

This is possibly the springtail Entomobrya intermedia, one of the smallest I have seen. The markings on the abdomen seem to be variable from the photos on NatureSpot.

An even smaller and unidentified springtail. Obsidentify's best suggestion was an Otter (where did that come from?). Google Lens suggested a Thrip but that group does not have antennae.

One day I will get a good photo of these possible Cabbage-stem Flea Beetles Psylliodes chrysocephala. But not today!

A Rove beetle Stenus sp. I can't get to species-level with this photo.

An unidentified Ground Beetle. There are very many similar species.

This Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp. has been in (more or less) the same place for at least six days.

Yesterday's harvestman from the species pair Dicranopalpus ramosus / D. caudatus seems not to have moved. It was still there two hours later.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:35 – 10:35

(310th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- no Mute Swans seen.
- yesterday's duck Shoveler still present
- no (Common) Teal located.
- the Pochard were all moving around among the Tufted Duck with much diving. I believe there were 12 birds present today with seven of these clearly adult drakes.
- no Goosander noted.
- a sixth Great Crested Grebe noted.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:

None

Noted on / around the water:
- 6 Canada Geese
- 1 Greylag Goose: arrived – noisily
- no Mute Swan
- 1 (0♂) Shoveler
- 27 (20♂) Mallard
- 12 (7+♂) Pochard: see notes
- 38 (17♂) Tufted Duck
- no Goosander
- 11 Moorhens
- 44 Coots
- 6 Great Crested Grebes
- 62 Black-headed Gulls
- no Herring Gulls
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: (near) adult, visited very briefly
- no Cormorants
- 1 Grey Heron

Noted around the area:
All on the same street lamp pole!

Flies:
- 1 female small plumed midge

Springtails:
- 2 springtails Orchesella cincta
- 1 springtail Tomocerus vulgaris

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 Araneus-type Orb-weaver spider probably from the genus Zygiella.

All photographed on the same street lamp pole.

One of two springtails Orchesella cincta I noted. These can be recognised by the yellow band across the abdomen. The amount of yellow is variable.

This springtail is Tomocerus vulgaris

I think this might be an Araneus-type Orb-weaver spider probably from the genus Zygiella. Obsidentify did not help. It suggested two species, neither known to NatureSpot, and possibly not even spiders. Google Lens was more helpful with the family but not more specific.

(Ed Wilson)

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2013
Priorslee Lake
2 female Scaup
1 Yellow-legged Gull
3 Great Black-backed Gulls
7 Gadwall
(John Isherwood/Dawn Balmer)

The Flash
5 Goosander
(John Isherwood)

Little Wenlock, Candles Landfill Site
Yellow-legged Gull
(Dawn Balmer)

Horsehay Pool
12 Goosander
(Dawn Balmer)

2012
Priorslee Lake
4 Yellow-legged Gulls
(Jim Almond/Chris Ballance)

2011
Priorslee Lake
1 adult Yellow-legged Gull
9 Great Black-backed Gulls
Water Rail
(John Isherwood)

2010
Priorslee Lake
Yellow-legged Gull
Redpoll
(Ed Wilson)

2009
Priorslee Lake
Caspian Gull
(Jason)

2006
Priorslee lake
2 Great Crested Grebes
19 Pochard
34 Tufted Ducks
>300 Black-headed Gulls
>298 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
12 Herring Gull
33 Robins
13 Blackbirds
10 Fieldfares
45 Redwings
3 Reed Buntings
(Ed Wilson)

2005
Priorslee lake
2 Little Grebes
11 Great Crested Grebes
1 Cormorant
2 Mute Swans
35 Pochard
84 Tufted Duck
243 Coot
c.250 Black-headed Gulls
c.700 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
1 Yellow-legged Gull
32 Herring Gulls
(Ed Wilson)

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)

28 Dec 25

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

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

Sunrise: 08:22 GMT still

* = a species photographed today

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 07:05 – 09:35

(316th visit of the year)

Another day with relatively few gulls to be seen.

Bird notes:
- two Canada Geese flew in from the West, stayed c.10 minutes and flew off East.
- two adult Mute Swans flew in from the West at 09:15, probably from The Flash (though one flew in there later).
- no Pochard seen: gone back to The Flash?
- for several weeks four Great Crested Grebes have been off the dam acting as two pairs and occasionally displaying. Over the last few days one of them has paddled off to the West end. I have not always been able to locate it. Today there were just two singles by the dam and I could find no other.
- the first of just 32 Black-headed Gulls arrived c.07:55.
- the first of only 52 Lesser Black-backed Gulls arrived at 07:44. Four Herring Gulls were with them.
- four small parties of Redwings flew very low overhead going East giving me little opportunity to count them. So low in fact that they may well have flown out of trees along the North side where one was head calling earlier.
- a different Song Thrush from yesterday braved the cold to sing.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 8 Wood Pigeons again
- 6 Herring Gulls
- 71 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Grey Heron
- 48 Jackdaws only
- 132 Rooks
- 1 Fieldfare
- c.35 Redwings: see notes

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 Canada Geese: briefly
- 2 Mute Swans, arrived: see notes
- 2 (1♂) Mallard
- 34 (21♂) Tufted Duck
- 7 Moorhens
- 21 Coots
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- 32 Black-headed Gulls
- 4 Herring Gulls
- 52 Lesser Black-backed Gulls only
- 6 Cormorants again: arrived a four singles and a duo
- 1 Grey Heron

Noted on the West end street lamp poles pre-dawn:
The higher temperature brought out a few creatures:

Flies:
- *2 winter craneflies Trichocera sp.
- *1 male and 1 female small plumed midge
- *1 unidentified fly

Bees, wasps etc.:
- *1 unidentified ichneumon

Springtails:
- 1 springtail sp., probably Dicyrtomina saundersi
- *1 springtail Tomocerus vulgaris-type
- *2 other very small springtails

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

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- *1 money spider, probably an Erigone sp.
- 1 Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp.
- *1 Neriene sp. probably N. peltata: a Money Spider
- *3 harvestmen Paroligolophus agrestis

Seen later:

Nothing

One of the two winter craneflies Trichocera sp. noted. All today's photos at the Balancing Lake are of creatures on the west-end street lamp poles before dawn.

The male of a species of small plumed midge. There was a female as well, with "simple" antennae.

I have photographed this unidentified fly species before. It is still unidentified!

Not a good photo of an unidentified ichneumon. I doubt a better photo would have led to any specific identification.

Sitting on the white background to a lamp identification label is a springtail of the Tomocerus vulgaris-type. To its right at the very edge of the label is a tiny springtail of a different and unidentified species. Yet another springtail is beside it, adjacent to the label.

The possible Cabbage-stem Flea Beetle Psylliodes chrysocephala. The obvious swollen femur on the hind legs can be seen, those allowing the beetle to "jump like a flea" when it feels in danger. Hence the name given to this group of essentially unidentifiable beetles (unless you have a microscope handy).

A money spider without any markings on its dark abdomen and with plain legs means it is probably an Erigone sp. There are a lot to choose from!

This spider seems to be a Neriene sp. probably N. peltata. Another of the many so-called money spiders.

One of three harvestmen Paroligolophus agrestis this being the exception in having all eight legs present and correct. Also showing a clean pale stripe down its abdomen.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:40 – 10:30

(309th visit of the year)

No ice remains.

Bird notes:
- initially no Mute Swans. Later one was noted on the water. I did not see it arrive.
- yesterday's pair of (Common) Teal not found.
- most of the Pochard seem to have returned.
- I made a careful count of the Coots and came up with a more typical recent total of 45.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 1 Herring Gull: (near) adult

Noted on / around the water:
- 5 Canada Geese
- 1 Mute Swan: see notes
- 23 (15♂) Mallard
- 9 (6+♂) Pochard
- 37 (19♂) Tufted Duck
- 10 Moorhens
- 45 Coots
- 5 Great Crested Grebes
- 52 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Herring Gull: a first-winter. Not the same as the bird seen many days recently: visited only briefly
- no Cormorants
- *2 Grey Herons
- *1 Kingfisher

Noted around the area:
Nothing else

Another not-quite so perfect a reflection of a Grey Heron.

I thought I might move to get a head-on photo but the bird started to move. I assumed it was uncomfortable with my presence and was looking carefully at me.

Not so. It was looking in the water and caught a fish.

I am not sure these two do see eye-to-eye!

The hatch is open for the fish to disappear in to. Poor fish!

No mistaking a Kingfisher even at long range. I did not see or hear it again.

There were friendly Robins around this morning. This one at the top end has unusually pale legs and feet.

This one was but a few feet away. This is odd in that both male and female Robins normally defend separate Winter feeding territories and do not come close. Both sexes are reputed to sing in defence of their territory but since I cannot tell the sexes apart I cannot confirm this suggestion.

"Perhaps this is my better side?"

This one was so tame it flew towards me and I thought it was going to land on my camera.

"So where is my food then?"

Another Robin, this one at the bottom end, by the academy.

It was hopping about unconcernedly by my feet picking up several morsels. I know its eyes are closer to the ground but it seemed to have an amazing ability to see and pick things up that I could not see. It was also so quick that most times when I pressed the shutter whatever it had found was long since devoured. Just once I got a quick look. The Robin seems to have found a small larva.

Morsel long gone? Or it is just happy?

(Ed Wilson)

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2013
Priorslee Lake
7 Gadwall
10 Pochard
64 Tufted Ducks
1 Scaup
1 Goosander
218 Coots
28 Redwings
386 Jackdaws
209 Rooks
(Ed Wilson)

2012
Priorslee Lake
1 drake Scaup
4 Gadwall
19 Pochard
1 Peregrine
(John Isherwood)

Priorslee Flash
4 Goosander
1 Pochard
(John Isherwood)

Little Wenlock, Candles Landfill Site
1 Caspian Gull
2 Yellow-legged Gulls
15+ Great Black-backed Gulls
(Dawn Balmer & Pete Wilson)

Horsehay Pool
1 Yellow-legged Gull
(Kriss Webb)

2011
Priorslee Lake
1 Caspian Gull
9 Yellow-legged Gulls
(Dawn Balmer/Peter Wilson/David Fairhurst)

2009
Priorslee Lake
Black necked Grebe
4 Gadwall
1 Water Rail
(John Isherwood)

2008
Priorslee Lake
1 Peregrine
2 Wigeon
(John Isherwood)

Trench Pool
1 Yellow-legged Gull
1 Great Black-backed Gull
1 Gadwall
(John Isherwood)

2007
The Flash
11 Goosander
(Martin Adlam)

Priorslee Village
9 Siskins
7 Redwing
(Martin Adlam)

2006
Priorslee lake
1 Great Crested Grebe
1 Pochard
15 Tufted Ducks
13 Lapwings
c.100 Black-headed Gulls
c.1100 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
26 Herring Gulls
2 Yellow-legged Gulls
1 Great Black-backed Gull
12 Pied Wagtails
6 Redwing
1 Fieldfare
160 Jackdaws
97 Rooks
20 Chaffinches
5 Reed Buntings
(Martin Adlam)

2005
Priorslee lake
30 Pochard 30
32 Tufted Duck
6 Great Crested Grebe
200+ Coot
1 Water Rail
c.3000 Black-headed Gulls
c.2000 Lesser Black-backs
4 Herring Gulls
21 Pied Wagtails
247 Rooks
172 Jackdaw
5 Redwing
5 Fieldfare
46 Siskin
19 Reed Bunting
(Martin Adlam)