Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash12.0°C > 15.0°C: Medium-level cloud with only a few breaks. Moderate / fresh westerly wind. Very good visibility.
Sunrise: 06:46 BST
* = a species photographed today
$ = my first sighting of the species for this year
$$ = my first ever recorded sighting of the species in the area
Today the Wesley Brook was running well as it passes under Priorslee Avenue. More rain seems to have topped up The Flash and the two intermediate pools.
Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:35 – 09:35
(224th visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- a visiting Mute Swan arrived apparently unseen by the residents c.07:30 when it splashed down where it was not visible from their position. When it broke cover both residents chased it around for at least 15 minutes and then gave up.
- yesterday's duck Tufted Duck not found today.
- the number of Coots continues to reduce. There is now only a small raft feeding on floating weed. Many birds are back around the edges defending territories.
- c.55 Black-headed Gulls arrived and then flew off East. Another c.55 were on the south-west grass c.06:30 but I suspect most of these were among the 88 on the football field c.06:50.
- at least 35 hirundines today. 16 Barn Swallows flew through c.06:45. By 07:30 c.20 birds were hawking insects over the North wooded area. Numbers varied: it was unclear whether birds were moving on and being replaced by fresh arrivals or where feeding over a wider area. All three species were involved, most of them being Barn Swallows.
- the Jackdaws and Rooks were difficult to check in the windy conditions. Mixed groups were swirling around.
Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- no Canada Geese
- 219 Greylag Geese: 78 outbound in three groups; 141 counted from photos inbound in three groups
- 30 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Herring Gull
- 9 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 97 Jackdaws
- 117 Rooks
- 1 Pied Wagtail
Counts from the lake area:
- *3 Mute Swans: one arrived; see notes
- 16 (7♂) Mallard
- 9 Moorhens again
- 69 Coots
- 4 Great Crested Grebes
- >140 Black-headed Gulls: see notes
- 1 Herring Gull
- 35 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Grey Heron
Hirundines etc. noted: minimum numbers
- >2 Sand Martins
- *>25 Barn Swallows
- >10 House Martins
Warblers recorded (the figure in brackets is birds noted singing):
- 1 (1) Cetti's Warbler
- 13 (2) Chiffchaffs
- 2 (0) Blackcaps
Noted on the West end street lamp poles around-dawn:
Moths:
- none
Flies:
- 2 male plumed midges Chironomus plumosus
- *1 Grass Fly or Yellow Swarming Fly Thaumatomyia notata
Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 2 Bridge Orb-web Spider Larinioides sclopetarius [Bridge Orbweaver]
- 1 Walnut Orb Weaver Nuctenea umbratica
- 1 Missing Sector Orb-web Spider Zygiella x-notata [Silver-sided Sector Spider]
- *1 female harvestman Leiobunum blackwalli
- *2 harvestmen Paroligolophus agrestis
Noted elsewhere:
In the dull and chilly conditions just...
Moths:
- *1 Common Nettle-tap Anthophila fabriciana
Bees, wasps, etc.:
- Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum
- Common Wasp Paravespula vulgaris
- *European Hornet Vespa crabro: I know where the nest is so >15!
- *small ichneumon
Flies:
- moth fly Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly or Owl Fly]
- otherwise only unidentified flies.
Bugs:
- *Red-legged Shieldbug Pentatoma rufipes
Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- *female harvestman Leiobunum rotundum
Fungus:
- *possible Agaricus bitorquis but certainly an Agaricus sp.
- *probable Rosy Bonnet Mycena rosea
Mammals:
- 1 pipistrelle-type bat
A correction to the caption of a photo from yesterday. The White Crab Spider Misumena vatia was not on a flower of Knapweed Centaurea nigra but of Creeping Thistle Cirsium arvense.
Visitors not welcome. The resident cob Mute Swan on the warpath.
One of the many Barn Swallows over the North wood. This a juvenile without tail streamers.
Only moth around the lake today: yet another Common Nettle-tap Anthophila fabriciana.
A Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum apparently asleep on the job.
A European Hornet Vespa crabro either asleep or moribund outside its nest site.
Not enough light for the camera to "freeze" the action. A hornet carrying something – prey? nesting material? - and following another in to the nest site.
I agree with Obsidentify: "Ichneumonid unknown".
This is a Grass Fly, also known as the Yellow Swarming Fly
Thaumatomyia notata. I do not see very many – but then they are small and unobtrusive. I have never found one pre-dawn on a street lamp pole before.
A very small fly with long wings. The hind legs have a slightly swollen tarsus. No idea as to species but interestingly different.
The Teece Drive fence is a popular place for Red-legged Shieldbugs Pentatoma rufipes to rest.
Note the shape of the dark saddle on this female harvestman
Leiobunum blackwalli. Note this one has only seven legs.
Compare with the full-length parallel-sided dark saddle of a female harvestman
Leiobunum rotundum. Males have unmarked and more circular bodies and are more difficult to separate. Another seven-legged individual.
One of two harvestmen
Paroligolophus agrestis I noted this morning. A smaller species than most with a distinctive change of width in the legs.
Obsidentify suggested
Agaricus bitorquis for this fungus, a species not illustrated in NatureSpot. Elsewhere on the web it gives some vernacular names - torq, banded agaric, spring agaric, banded agaricus, urban agaricus, or pavement mushroom. Since we are not in Spring; the cap is not obviously banded and there are no close pavements perhaps I should stick with
Agaricus species.
This fungus may be Rosy Bonnet
Mycena rosea. Obsidentify was not sure and if it isn't sure then neither am I.
(Ed Wilson)
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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:
Moths: [45 species here before today; no addition]
- none
Flies:
- 1 moth fly Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly or Owl Fly]
- 4 midges of various species
- *1 possible fruit fly sp.
Arthropods:
- 3 White-legged Snake Millipedes Tachypodoiulus niger
Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- *12 spiders of various usual species: have they eaten all the flies!?
I can't get an ID for this small fly with distinctively marked wings. It may one of the Tephritidae or Fruit flies though most of those species have more complex markings on the wings.
Close-up and personal with a Garden Spider
Araneus diadematus, this one not showing much of the "cross" marking associated with its alternative name of Garden Cross Spider
And close-up and personal with a Missing Sector Orb-web Spider
Zygiella x-notata. Not all show so clearly a white "tuning fork" mark at the front of the abdomen.
(Ed Wilson)
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The Flash: 09:40 – 10:35
(217th visit of the year)
Highlights
Two highlights here, neither birds!
- *my first Painted Lady butterfly of the year: actually my first since 2022.
- *a Hummingbird Hawk-moth: my first in the area since 10 June 2015.
Bird notes:
- more geese heard from inside the island.
- the duck Mallard with four almost full-grown off-spring seen again.
- after yesterday's Tufted Duck arrival most had gone leaving even fewer.
- *just as I was about to depart two Cormorants appeared overhead. One of them circled and descended. settling on the water. The other decided against fishing here and flew on.
- as so often happens it was alarm-calling Long-tailed Tits that alerted me to the Sparrowhawk cruising through the tree-tops.
Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- *1 Cormorant
- 1 Common Buzzard
- 1 Sparrowhawk
Noted on / around the water:
- >9 Canada Geese
- >2 Greylag Geese
- 10 Mute Swans
- 23 (15?♂) + 4 (1 brood) Mallard
- 3 (1♂) Tufted Duck
- 6 Moorhens
- 78 Coots
- 4 + 5 (2 broods) Great Crested Grebes
- 18 Black-headed Gulls
- *4 Cormorants
- 1 Grey Heron
Warblers recorded (the figure in brackets is birds noted singing):
- 1 (1) Chiffchaff
Noted around the area:
Butterflies:
- *Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria
- *$ Painted Lady Vanessa cardui
Moths:
- *1 $ Hummingbird Hawk-moth Macroglossum stellatarum
Bees, wasps etc.
- Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum
- Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris
- Honey Bee Apis mellifera
- Common Wasp Paravespula vulgaris
Hoverflies:
- *Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax
Other flies:
- *Flesh fly Sarcophaga sp.
Bugs:
- *Common Green Shieldbug Palomena prasina
Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- female harvestman Leiobunum rotundum
Fungus:
- *Weeping Widow
Lacrymaria lacrymabundaA Cormorant arrives...
...undercarriage down.
This immature Cormorant decided against staying. 18 tail feathers on this species – not often you see the tail spread like this. Note also that primary feather #10 is missing, almost certainly as part of the annual moult as there is clearly a primary feather also missing from the left wing.
A Speckled Wood butterfly Pararge aegeria
A battered, worn and faded Painted Lady
Vanessa cardui: my first for four years. I am surprised it could still fly.
Definite find of the morning: my first Hummingbird Hawk-moth
Macroglossum stellatarum for just over 10 years.
Still not quite enough light to "freeze" the action.
Where does it put that long tongue?
Rolling it up helps but it still has to have a home inside its mouth.
Perhaps a sign of things to come as the Ivy begins to flower: a Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax.
A Flesh fly
Sarcophaga sp. These seem to rest with their hind legs held behind them such that it looks like a tail.
A Common Green Shieldbug Palomena prasina
I believe this fungus to be very fresh examples Weeping Widow
Lacrymaria lacrymabunda. After a day or so the edges of the cap will start to deliquesce and drip black goo from which the vernacular name is derived.
(Ed Wilson)
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2013
Priorslee Lake
Ringed Plover
(Ed Wilson)
2007
Priorslee Lake
Nuthatch
Kingfisher
(Ed Wilson)
2006
Priorslee Lake
Kingfisher
(Ed Wilson)
