11 Mar 26

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

7.0°C > 9.0°C: Broken cloud. Sunny intervals. Moderate / fresh westerly breeze. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 06:34 GMT

* = a species photographed today
$ = a new species for me in this area

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:45 – 09:05

(55th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- only three brownhead Goosanders.
- the Great (White) Egret arrived late at 06:55 and, unusually. from the East. It departed to the East at 07:10.
- the Grey Heron also stayed only for a short time: between 06:20 and 07:15.
- two Cormorants approached the lake from the North together. One carried on; the other visited to go fishing.
- nearly all the Jackdaws passed to the East in six concurrent groups at varying distances from my vantage point. Impossible to count!
- two Reed Buntings heard in song, neither along the South side. One along the North side and later, what I presumed to be a different bird, at the West end. Both traditional nesting areas.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 7 Canada Geese: a quintet flew East; a pair flew South
- 1 Herring Gull
- no Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Cormorant
- 1 Sparrowhawk
- 44 Wood Pigeons
- >450 Jackdaws
- 44 Rooks
- 10 Starlings: a group of nine and a single

Counts from the lake area:
- 4 Canada Geese: two pairs at opposite ends of the water
- 2 Mute Swans
- 17 (11♂) Mallard
- 12 (9♂) Tufted Duck
- 3 (0♂) Goosander
- 7 Moorhens
- 26 Coots
- 7 Great Crested Grebes
- 21 Black-headed Gulls
- no Herring Gulls
- 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: all (near) adults
- 1 Cormorant
- 1 Grey Heron: see notes
- 1 Great (White) Egret: see notes

Warblers noted (the number in brackets refers to birds singing):
- 1 (1) Cetti's Warbler
- 9 (9) Chiffchaffs

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

Flies:
- *1 male plumed midge Chironomus plumosus
- *1 moth fly Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly or Owl Fly]

Beetles:
- *1 possible Lesser Thorn-tipped Longhorn Beetle Pogonocherus hispidus

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- *1 money spider

Of note later:

Bees, wasps etc.:
- *2 Honey Bees Apis mellifera
- 3 bumblebees, seen only in flight: likely queens looking for nest sites.

Flies:
- *vary many unidentified flies sunning on the lamp posts

Fungus:
- *Glistening Inkcap Coprinellus micaceus

Flowers:
- *Dandelion Taraxacum officinale-type

Not as interesting a sunrise as yesterday.

Just as touch of colour as the sun just pokes above the horizon (between the trees)

 Just one bird was prepared to pose for me here. A Blue Tit.

 A Honey Bee Apis mellifera here on the flowers of Blackthorn Prunus spinosa

Another scrabbling around on the ground. This is my earliest date for this species: my previous earliest record was 14 March 2022.

I think this is a male plumed midge Chironomus plumosus. It is more robust that those I have recently logged as "small plumed midges" and, more importantly is has a banded abdomen.

One of the 100 or so species of moth fly Psychodidae sp. not specifically identifiable from photos.

Later when the sun came out the sheltered street lamp poles attracted many flies. At least three species involved, none of which I can begin to identify.

A horrible photo but it did look a mess anyway, sitting a long way up a street lamp pole. The two pale areas are good fit for a Lesser Thorn-tipped Longhorn Beetle Pogonocherus hispidus. The 'longhorns' look to be folded back along the side of the body. This species is active in Spring.

One of the very many species of money spiders. No idea which.

My first flowers of Dandelion Taraxacum officinale-type. Dandelions are a complex of hundreds of species that only a few specialists can begin to identify. They are unusual in that all the offspring of any one flower are genetic clones of that flower irrespective of its pollination.

These I believe to be Glistening Inkcap fungus Coprinellus micaceus

A few in close-up. I photographed some in the same place on 26 January. They soon deliquesced. I know this new eruption was not present over the weekend as I removed some discarded cans from the area. I did not notice them yesterday.

(Ed Wilson)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Flash: 09:10 – 10:25

(53rd visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- still one drake Pochard.
- only one Great Crested Grebe confirmed.
- the feeding station was devoid of birds.
- *a few Siskins were in Alders at various locations around the lake

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 2 Jackdaws

Noted on / around the water:
- 23 Canada Geese
- no Greylag Geese
- 2 Mute Swans
- 28 (23♂) Mallard
- no (Common) Teal
- 1 (1♂) Pochard
- 36 (23♂) Tufted Duck
- 7 Moorhens
- 30 Coots
- 1 Great Crested Grebe
- 14 Black-headed Gulls

Warblers noted (the number in brackets refers to birds singing):
- 5 (5) Chiffchaffs
- no Blackcaps

Otherwise noted around the area:

Bees, wasps etc.:
- *1 Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris

Flies:
- *1 Common Blow Fly Calliphora vicina
- *1 root-maggot fly
- an infestation of small flies/midges annoying everyone.

Bugs:
- *1 Leafhopper, perhaps Acericerus heydenii

Beetles:
- *1 7 Spot Ladybird Coccinella 7-punctata

Two "point blank" images of a male Siskin feeding in Alders. #1

 #2.

I now believe this to be a Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris. At the time my thought was that the tail was too extensively coloured to be that species and it was more likely to be an Early Bumblebee B. pratorum. However this latter species has golden yellow bands on its neck and abdomen. Whilst concentrating on photographing the flying bumblebee I failed to notice the 7 Spot Ladybird Coccinella 7-punctata that appears in the top left of the photo.

Among the very many unidentified flies and midges was this Common Blow Fly Calliphora vicina and...

...and this root-maggot fly. There are c.250 species in the group and examination of the bristles and the genitalia is needed to specifically identify many of them.

This Leafhopper was given an 85% rating by Obsidentify to be Acericerus heydenii. The Shropshire bug recorder tells me that this genus of leafhopper needs hand-lens examination to be specifically identified.

(Ed Wilson)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2014
Leighton
1 Common Sandpiper
Green Sandpiper
(BirdGuides)

2013
Wellington
Woodcock
(J Reeves)

2011
Priorslee Lake
10 Pochard
25 Tufted Duck
1 Chiffchaff singing
(Ed Wilson)

Priorslee Village
Blackcap
2 Redwing
Frog spawn
(Martin Adlam)

The Flash
5 Great Crested Grebe 5
2 Pochard
31 Tufted Duck
10 Goosander
1 Sparrowhawk
2 Buzzard
(Ed Wilson)

2010
Priorslee Lake
Lapwing
Sparrowhawk
8 Linnets
15 Reed Buntings
(Ed Wilson)

2007
Priorslee Lake
6 Cormorant
17 Tufted Duck
29 Wren
35 Robin
25 Blackbird
14 Redwing
2 Chiffchaff singing
47 Magpie
9 Greenfinch
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
6 Great Crested Grebes
1 Shelduck
6 Pochard
40 Tufted Ducks
1 Goldeneye
1 Goosander
1 Ruddy Duck
114 Coots
1 Water Rail
221 Lesser-black Backed Gulls
c.500 Black-headed Gulls
5 Herring Gull
4 Yellow-legged Gulls
1 Common Gull
159 Jackdaws
c.80 Fieldfares
12 Redwings
10 Greenfinches
3 Siskins
3 Redpoll
4 Reed Buntings
(Ed Wilson, Martin Adlam)