2.0°C > 3.0°C: Dull and more dull. Light south-easterly wind. Moderate / good visibility.
Sunrise: 08:02 GMT
* = a species photographed today
Priorslee Balancing Lake: 06:55 – 09:15
* = a species photographed today
Priorslee Balancing Lake: 06:55 – 09:15
(23rd visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- four Canada Geese flew in from the West, spending the rest of the time as a single and a trio.
- otherwise one Canada Goose flew East and two separate Greylag Geese flew West.
- six Goosanders with three drakes again. As yesterday one of the ducks/brownheads was consistently apart from all the others.
- the / a Great Crested Grebe was seen again.
- the numbers of gulls on the water declined yet again: depressing.
- a single Black-headed Gull arrived at 07:40 increasing to only three by 07:45 and a maximum of 21 by 08:00. After 09:00 26 were on and around the football field, the academy's own playing field and the roofs of the academy.
- five Herring Gulls and as yesterday no Lesser Black-backed Gulls joined the Black-heads on the water.
- a tight group of at least 60 Starlings flew low East over the dam c.08:00. It is just possible these were leaving a roost site around the lake. Previous groups seen this year have been flying much higher and heading South. This whole Winter period I can only recall three days with a Starling roost here.
- after yesterday's bumper total of 14 singing Song Thrushes I heard only nine in today's colder conditions (and no Blackbird song).
Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 1 Canada Goose
- 2 Greylag Geese
- 12 Wood Pigeons
- 16 Black-headed Gulls
- 8 Herring Gulls
- 9 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 131 Jackdaws
- 109 Rooks
- >60 Starlings: together
Counts from the lake area:
- 10 (6♂) Mallard
- 6 (3♂) Tufted Duck
- 6 (3♂) Goosander again
- 4 Moorhens again
- 17 Coots only
- 1 Great Crested Grebe
- 21 Black-headed Gulls: see notes
- 5 Herring Gulls
- no Lesser Black-backed Gulls again
- 3 Cormorants
- 1 Grey Heron again
- 1 Great (White) Egret again
Noted on the West end street lamp poles pre-dawn:
It was colder and also with very light rain while I was checking the poles.
Springtails:
- 3 globular springtails of the Dicyrtomina saundersi-type
- 1 other springtail
Seen later:
- 3 globular springtails of the Dicyrtomina saundersi-type
- 1 other springtail
Seen later:
Nothing of note
(19th visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- two Mute Swans present and obvious throughout.
- no Cormorant, Grey Heron or Great (White) Egret noted
- I expected more at the feeding station in the colder conditions. Not so: apart from the usual Blue and Great Tits I only noted a single male and one female Chaffinch.
Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 1 Herring Gull: immature
Noted on / around the water:
- 7 Canada Geese
- 2 Mute Swans
- 28 (20♂) Mallard
- 8 (6♂) Pochard
- 54 (29♂) Tufted Duck
- 4 (2♂) Goosander again
- 14 Moorhens
- 37 Coots
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- 21 Black-headed Gulls
- no Cormorant
- no Grey Heron
- no Great (White) Egret
Around the area:
It was so gloomy this morning that once I had checked the street lamp poles along the West end footpath pre-dawn I did not unleash the camera on anything else. I'll spare you more photos of unidentified globular springtails and show this photo of a different but still unidentified springtail. Obsidentify suggests it is most likely a Signal Crayfish. I think not!
(Ed Wilson)
The Flash: 09:20 – 10:20
(Ed Wilson)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Flash: 09:20 – 10:20
(19th visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- two Mute Swans present and obvious throughout.
- no Cormorant, Grey Heron or Great (White) Egret noted
- I expected more at the feeding station in the colder conditions. Not so: apart from the usual Blue and Great Tits I only noted a single male and one female Chaffinch.
Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 1 Herring Gull: immature
Noted on / around the water:
- 7 Canada Geese
- 2 Mute Swans
- 28 (20♂) Mallard
- 8 (6♂) Pochard
- 54 (29♂) Tufted Duck
- 4 (2♂) Goosander again
- 14 Moorhens
- 37 Coots
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- 21 Black-headed Gulls
- no Cormorant
- no Grey Heron
- no Great (White) Egret
Around the area:
Nothing else of note
(Ed Wilson)
2014
Priorslee Lake
Velvet Scoter
2 Scaup
(Martin and Ian Grant)
2013
Priorslee Lake
39 Wigeon
8 Gadwall
24 Pochard
74 Tufted Ducks
1 Greater Scaup
173 Coots
169 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
18 Herring Gulls
1 Great Black-backed Gull
(Ed Wilson)
2008
Priorslee Lake
Iceland Gull
(Observer Unknown)
(Ed Wilson)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2014
Priorslee Lake
Velvet Scoter
2 Scaup
(Martin and Ian Grant)
2013
Priorslee Lake
39 Wigeon
8 Gadwall
24 Pochard
74 Tufted Ducks
1 Greater Scaup
173 Coots
169 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
18 Herring Gulls
1 Great Black-backed Gull
(Ed Wilson)
2008
Priorslee Lake
Iceland Gull
(Observer Unknown)