20 Jan 26

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

7.0°C > 8.0°C: A few breaks in the clouds and occasional sunny bits. Moderate south-easterly wind gusting fresh. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 08:09 GMT

* = a species photographed today

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 07:05 – 09:20

(17th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- six Canada Geese remain.
- *a trio of adult Mute Swans flew in from the East c.07:45 settling on the water as a pair and a single. At c.08:15 another adult flew in from the West. All four were then sometimes together, sometimes raising wings in threat and sometimes looking "friendly" before all four flew off West together c.09:05.
- at c.07:35 there were 14 Tufted Duck (11 drakes) and 5 drake Pochard in the middle of the water. Some of these Tufted Duck (there were others elsewhere) and all the Pochard departed, perhaps to The Flash?
- the pair of Goosander still here. Also an unsexed bird flew East c.07:45.
- another small gull arrival. The early arrival of Black-headed Gulls began at 07:45 with just five birds, slowly increasing to 24. By 08:30 there were 75.
. the large gulls started arriving at 07:35 with 10 Herring Gulls and 46 Lesser Black-backs noted. A higher number of Lesser Black-backs flew South to the East early. Almost no gulls flew over later.
- the first sizeable passage of Jackdaws and Rooks for some while. Probably at least in part because for the good visibility.
- at least one Redwing was calling pre-dawn from the hedge between the lake and the M54. Seems a noisy place to roost.
- the only "finches" noted here today were Siskins. These were possibly only flying over.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 1 Greylag Goose: flew East
- 1 (?♂) Goosander
- 17 Wood Pigeons
- 4 Herring Gulls
- 94 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 348 – er, let's say c.350 Jackdaws
- 166 Rooks

Counts from the lake area:
- 6 Canada Geese
- *4 Mute Swans: arrived and departed – see notes
- 16 (9♂) Mallard
- 5 (5♂) Pochard: departed
- 26 (18♂) Tufted Duck: some of these departed
- 2 (1♂) Goosander
- 3 Moorhens
- 18 Coots
- c.75 Black-headed Gulls
- 10 Herring Gulls
- 46 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- *3 Cormorants
- 2 Grey Heron
- *1 Great (White) Egret: chased away by one of the herons.

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

Flies:
- *1 midge, perhaps a Cerotelion species

Springtails:
- *1 springtail sp., probably Dicyrtomina saundersi

Spiders / harvestmen etc.:
- *1 money spider, perhaps Erigone sp.

Later on the wet Teece Drive fence:

Nothing noted

A sunny interlude gave the North side an autumnal look.

One of the pair of Mute Swans that flew in from the East. This is a cob (male).

This is probably his intended.

Here the fourth Mute Swan flies in. Also a cob I suspect.

All four together with cobs book-ending the group.

The pairs getting friendly, the bird on the left with tail raised.

And away they go, more or less synchronised.

Not easy to identify at this angle...

...is an immature Cormorant with the early morning sun on it.

The Great (White) Egret was chased away by one of the Grey Herons. The low morning sun gives it pale yellow tone.

And from this angle the bone structure of the wings is revealed.

Two Mistle Thrushes, almost certainly a pair, in trees above the Wesley Brook bridge. I assume the two birds that were on the south-west grass earlier.

Obsidentify suggested a cranefly for this insect. I think not: there seem to be no craneflies with spurs on their legs and the curved antennae are unusual to say the least. Going back to the "old school" Collins Guide to the Insects of Britain and Western Europe it looks to be a midge, quite possibly one of the Cerotelion species. While Collins suggests a 6 – 10 (months) flight period the iNaturalist web site shows records from all Winter months.

This springtail is probably Dicyrtomina saundersi.

I have logged this spider as possibly one of the money spider Erigone group though this one looks larger and longer bodied than individuals I have seen previously.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:25 – 10:40

(13th visit of the year)

New Bird Species
Three additions to my 2026 bird species list for here:
- a pair of Ravens tumbled over and calling while flying West.
- a Jay was heard calling at the top end.
- *a Common Buzzard flew over
This brings this year's bird species count to 46.

Bird notes:
- no Mute Swans again
- *nine (eight? drake) Pochard. Some of these as seen earlier at the lake?
- nine Goosander (five drakes) today.
- after several days with high counts of Moorhens I was struggling to find many today.
- I could not find the Little Grebe.
- *three Cormorants today, one an adult in breeding condition.
- there may have been a dearth of finches at the lake but *Chaffinch, *Greenfinch, Bullfinch and *Goldfinch were all seen here.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
- *1 Common Buzzard
- 1 Jackdaw
- 2 Ravens

Noted on / around the water:
- 11 Canada Geese
- no Mute Swans
- 27 (20♂) Mallard
- *9 (8?♂) Pochard
- *28 (12♂) Tufted Duck
- 9 (5♂) Goosander
- 7 Moorhens
- 36 Coots
- 1 Great Crested Grebe
- 36 Black-headed Gulls
- *3 Cormorants: two departed separately
- 2 Grey Herons

Noted around the area:

Springtails:
- 1 springtail Orchesella cincta

A drake Pochard at rest but keeping careful watch.

Possibly a duck Pochard. A few weeks ago there seemed, most unusually, to be more ducks than drakes present. There aren't now and I suspect that most of the putative ducks were late-moulting drakes, likely first year birds. I still worry that the rear end of this bird is too black to be a duck.

"My what a big tuft you have!". Drake Tufted Duck of course.

Birds on the island challenge the camera. Two Cormorants. The bird on the right has well-developed whine head-plumes with a small part of the white thigh patch visible. The bird on the left has just a few wisps or its head plumes and a smidgeon of the white thigh patch visible. Both will likely breed this year.

Species #46 here this year – a fly-over Common Buzzard.

A Song Thrush with its mouth closed. More intent on feeding than singing.

A male Chaffinch. If you were to paint this species you would need a wide palette.

Mrs. Chaffinch is more subdued! Note her bill is dark.

I don't usually take photos of birds at feeders. This was the only opportunity I had to photograph a smart male Greenfinch. The tail-on bird is a female Greenfinch. She is much paler green with streaking down her back....

...and her front. Usually described as "flammulated".

Another Mrs. Chaffinch included because top left is a female Greenfinch in flight showing that she is in fact significantly green.

A Goldfinch tucks in to an Alder cone for the seeds.

(Ed Wilson)

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2014
Priorslee Lake
2 Greater Scaup
1 Velvet Scoter
117 Coots
1 Great Black-backed Gull
4 Redwings
c.274 Jackdaws
(Ed Wilson / Mike Stokes)

2013
Priorslee Lake
1 Little Grebe
1 Greater Scaup
1 Goldeneye
26 Wigeon
4 Gadwall
1 Shoveler
22 Pochard
76 Tufted Ducks
157 Coots
1 Common Gull
144 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
74 Herring Gulls
4 Great Black-backed Gulls
(Ed Wilson)

2010
Priorslee Lake
Adult Caspian Gull
1 Yellow-legged Gull
(Andy Latham)

2009
Priorslee Lake
Juvenile Glaucous Gull
Juvenile Iceland Gull
(Observer Unknown)

2007
Priorslee Lake
2 Pochard
36 Tufted Ducks
c.195 Black-headed Gulls
48 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
34 Herring Gulls
1 Yellow-legged Gull
3 Great Black-backed Gulls
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
2 Gadwall
5 Pochard
11 Tufted Duck
132 Coot
2 Water Rail
c.1600 Black-headed Gulls
1 Great Black-backed Gull
428 Jackdaws
438 Rook
300 Wood Pigeons
14 Robin
80 Fieldfare
30 Redwing
11 Blackbird
1 Willow Tits
6 Greenfinch
65 Siskins
6 Redpolls
8 Reed Buntings
(Ed Wilson)