18 Jan 26

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

5.0°C: Overcast with rain, sometimes heavy, after 07:30. Light easterly wind. Initially moderate visibility: later the cloud descended with poor visibility.

Sunrise: 08:11 GMT

* = a species photographed today

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 07:05 – 09:10

(15th visit of the year)

New Bird Species
One addition to my 2026 bird species list for here:
- *at least seven (Eurasian) Wigeon (three drakes) were present around dawn. I could not locate them later.
These bring this year's total species to 56.

Bird notes:
- six Canada Geese again.
- *a trio of Shoveler (one a breeding plumage drake).
- the pair of Goosander again.
- a very small gull arrival. The early arrival of Black-headed Gulls only began to arrive after 07:51 with eventually 64 counted. These mostly departed. At c.08:50 41 arrived from the West: I have assumed they were returning birds.
- four Cormorants seen in flight low over the water. Coming or going?
- apparently 14 Song Thrushes in song (and another seen).

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 2 Wood Pigeons
- 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 16 Jackdaws
- 18 Rooks

Counts from the lake area:
- 6 Canada Geese
- *3 (2♂) Shoveler
- *7 (3♂) (Eurasian) Wigeon
- 4 (2♂) Mallard
- *13 (7♂) Tufted Duck
- 2 (1♂) Goosander
- 6 Moorhens
- 18 Coots
- 64 Black-headed Gulls
- 10 Herring Gulls
- 26 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 4 Cormorants
- 2 Grey Heron
- 1 Great (White) Egret

Noted on the West end street lamp poles pre-dawn:
The poles were again damp.

Flies:
- *3 winter cranefly Trichocera sp.

Springtails:
- 2 very small unidentified springtails

Spiders / harvestmen etc.:
- *1 harvestman Paroligolophus agrestis

Later on the wet Teece Drive fence
Nothing noted

All the duck photos I took this morning were when it was still very dark. The camera revealed more than I could see through my binoculars. Later when it was brighter the mist had descended and I could not see any of them. Here we see seven (Eurasian) Wigeon with three pale drakes with yellow crowns and four subdued-plumaged ducks.

Behind the adult Lesser Black-backed Gull is a trio of Wigeon. I could not be sure whether the trio (of two drakes) were part of the seven I photographed earlier or different individuals.

Here are two pairs of (Eurasian) Wigeon to further confuse. The bird in the foreground is a duck Tufted Duck.

On the left a trio of Shoveler. The left-most bird is an adult drake; the centre bird looks to be an immature drake with rufous flanks; the other a duck. On the right a pair of (Eurasian) Wigeon. In the middle a duck Tufted Duck. Not 100% sure about the back left bird – a Coot?

This winter cranefly Trichocera sp. is one I found on the wall of the Priorslee Avenue tunnel.

And one that was on the West end street lamp poles. What an odd-shaped head.

 A harvestman Paroligolophus agrestis.

(Ed Wilson)

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Noted in the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

My first visit this year was not rewarding. The paint(?) on the ceiling is peeling making it difficult to see things.

Flies:
- 2 winter cranefly Trichocera sp.

Spiders
- 2 probable Missing Sector Orb-web Spider Zygiella x-notata [Silver-sided Sector Spider]

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:15 – 10:00

(11th visit of the year)

All counts affected by the limited visibility.

New Bird Species
Yet another addition to my 2026 bird species list for here:
- a Little Grebe was diving near one of the footbridges. It did not want to be photographed.
This brings this year's bird species count to 43.

Bird notes:
- many Canada Geese flew off as I arrived. Not sure of the exact number.
- two Mute Swans present. They went for an extended fly around in the mist and then returned.
- where were many of the Mallard hiding?
- five drake Pochard today.
- seven Goosander (three drakes) today.
- Moorhens seemed to like the wet grass with many out feeding.
- a Great Spotted Woodpecker was drumming alongside squirrel alley.
- after the 14 singing Song Thrushes at the lake there were another four here – and two non-singing birds feeding on the grass.
- I noted my first post-freeze Goldcrest. This species suffers in such conditions as it needs to feed more or less continually to keep warm.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
None

Noted on / around the water:
- c.36 Canada Geese: see notes
- 2 Mute Swans
- 16 (12♂) Mallard
- 5 (5♂) Pochard
- 19 (8♂) Tufted Duck
- 7 (3♂) Goosander
- 14 Moorhens
- [Coots not counted]
- 1 Little Grebe
- 1 Great Crested Grebe again
- 38 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Grey Heron again

Of note around the area:
Nothing else

(Ed Wilson)

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2014
Priorslee Lake
1 female Velvet Scoter
3 Scaup
2 Yellow Legged Gulls
4 Great Black-backed Gulls
(Ed Wilson, John Isherwood)

2012
Priorslee Lake
1 Yellow-legged Gull
3 Great Black-backed Gulls
(Ed Wilson)

2010
Priorslee Lake
Glaucous Gull
Yellow-legged Gull
Probable "intermedius" Lesser Black-backed Gull.
At least 1 Ring-billed Gull look-alike
(Andy Latham / Ian Grant)

2008
Priorslee Lake
2 Wigeon
5 Gadwall
25 Pochard
100 Tufted Duck
3 Water Rails
1000 Black-headed Gulls
1 Great Black-backed Gull
c.400 Wood Pigeons
Blackcap
1000 Starlings
30 Siskin
(Ed Wilson)

2007
Priorslee Lake
14 Pochard
55 Tufted Duck
1 Great Black-backed Gull
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
1 Little Grebe
11 Great Crested Grebes
6 Pochard
26 Tufted Duck
208 Coot
c.900 Black-headed Gulls
c.450 Lesser Black-backed Gull
2 Great Black-backed Gull
13 Herring Gull
2 Yellow-legged Gull
1 Kingfisher
53 Siskins
3 Reed Buntings
(Ed Wilson. Martin Adlam)