9.0°C: Might I suggest that the Met. men open the door and look outside and do not believe what their AI-powered computers tell them. "Light cloud and gentle breeze" it promised. Not so. Very overcast with a moderate, occasionally fresh, northerly breeze. Very good visibility.
Sunrise: 05:44 BST
* = a species photographed today
$ = a new species for me in this area
Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:20 – 06:30 // 07:25 – 09:30
(103rd visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- the pair of Greylag Geese still with seven small goslings.
- two broods of Mallard ducklings one very new brood of four; another brood of three several day old ducklings.
- two adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls were again bathing by the south-west grass at 05:30. Otherwise a single immature and later an adult flew over.
- two Sedge Warblers but only three Reed Warblers heard today.
- no Lesser Whitethroat again.
- yesterday I thought Common Whitethroats were paired: no sight or sound of any today.
- I am confused about the Garden Warbler. Both the Merlin app and my ears heard it in the usual general area around dawn but the song apparently morphed in to that of a Blackcap. Visual confirmation was needed but it was too dark at the time. I made several visits later without hearing or seeing anything other than Blackcaps. The literature suggests that the songs of these two species are very similar. I normally have no trouble identifying the Garden Warbler's more throaty and flowing, fluty song. One to work on.
- just one Starling seen on food ferrying duty to a nest in the estate. Three is the largest number I have seen so far this year: many fewer than usual.
Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 2 Canada Geese: a pair flew East again
- 2 Greylag Geese: a pair flew West again
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 6 Wood Pigeons only
- 2 Jackdaws
Counts from the lake area:
- 2 Canada Geese: a pair throughout harassed by the cob Mute Swan.
- 4 + 7 (1 brood) Greylag Geese: the resident family: a pair flew in.
- 2 Mute Swans
- 8 (5♂) + 7 (2 broods) Mallard: see notes
- 2 (1♂) Tufted Duck
- 4 Moorhens only
- 24 Coots
- 6 Great Crested Grebes
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Grey Heron: seen once at c.08:40 only
Hirundines etc. noted:
About 100 birds all wheeling about. Some Barn Swallow seen to leave (and return). Approx. minimum numbers:
- 2 Swifts
- *>>50 Sand Martins
- *>>25 Barn Swallows
- *6 House Martins
Warblers noted (the number in brackets refers to birds singing):
- 16 (16) Chiffchaffs
- 2 (2) Sedge Warblers
- 3 (3) Reed Warblers
- 25 (23) Blackcaps
- no Common Whitethroat
- 1? (1) Garden Warbler: see notes
On the West end street lamp poles post-dawn:
Breezy again:
Moths:
- *1 Swallow Prominent Pheosia tremula
- *1 Swallow Prominent Pheosia tremula
Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- *1 probable Laceweb spider Amaurobius fenestralis
- *2 Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp.
Around the area later:
Nothing noted
- *1 probable Laceweb spider Amaurobius fenestralis
- *2 Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp.
Around the area later:
Nothing noted
I failed to find even a fly in the overcast and breezy conditions
So little light to try and photograph the very many dashing and darting hirundines. But you have to try (well: I do). My best Sand Martin photo of the morning.
This is a Swallow Prominent moth Pheosia tremula. It is only my second record of this species here though I see it every year at the top end of The Flash. The larval food plants are Aspen and various poplars.
There is a very similar species, the Lesser Swallow Prominent P. gnoma, that I also see in the area. Size is no help: it is the marking at the top edge of the wing that separates the species which have very similar flight periods. On the Lesser there is a broader, paler wedge at the wing-tip and the other lines are indistinct.
What is probably a Laceweb spider Amaurobius fenestralis. I suspect I see this spider frequently. It either scuttles in to the fold in the lamp pole or the camera is confused by the opening and fails to focus on the spider. The oval pale ring on the spider's abdomen is the identification clue. This species likes hunting from cracks, especially around windows – hence the "fenestralis" part of its scientific name. There is of course a similar species not separable from photos!
The better-marked example of the two Long-jawed Orb-web Spiders Tetragnatha sp. on street lamp poles this morning. At the top of the photo is a plastic tie placed on the pole many years to hold a private advert and never removed.
(Ed Wilson)
Noted in the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:
(101st visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- no Mallard duckling seen.
Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 2 Jackdaws
Noted on / around the water:
- 11 Canada Geese: of these a pair departed
- 2 Greylag Geese
- 2 Mute Swans (the pen still not seen and presumed to be on the island)
- 20 (17♂) Mallard
- 9 (6♂) Tufted Duck
- 3 Moorhens only again
- 19 Coots
- *2 Great Crested Grebes
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: adult, briefly
Warblers noted (the number in brackets refers to birds singing):
- 6 (5) Chiffchaffs
- 7 (6) Blackcaps
Noted around the area:
A first year Lesser Black-backed Gull identifiable at long range at this age by the solid dark tail band.
A Barn Swallow.
And another. A male judging by the length of the tail streamers.
Even worse: a House Martin. A tubbier body with the white of the rump wrapping around to a white underside.
(Ed Wilson)
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Noted in the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:
Flies:
- 1 female plumed midge Chironomus plumosus
- 13 smaller midges of several species
- *3 unidentified craneflies
- 1 female plumed midge Chironomus plumosus
- 13 smaller midges of several species
- *3 unidentified craneflies
Arthropods
- 1 Common Shiny Woodlouse Oniscus asellus
- 1 Common Shiny Woodlouse Oniscus asellus
There were three craneflies on the wall of the tunnel none of which, like this one, displayed any discernable markings on the wings or the abdomen to aid identification.
(Ed Wilson)
The Flash: 06:35 – 07:20
(Ed Wilson)
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The Flash: 06:35 – 07:20
(101st visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- no Mallard duckling seen.
Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 2 Jackdaws
Noted on / around the water:
- 11 Canada Geese: of these a pair departed
- 2 Greylag Geese
- 2 Mute Swans (the pen still not seen and presumed to be on the island)
- 20 (17♂) Mallard
- 9 (6♂) Tufted Duck
- 3 Moorhens only again
- 19 Coots
- *2 Great Crested Grebes
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: adult, briefly
Warblers noted (the number in brackets refers to birds singing):
- 6 (5) Chiffchaffs
- 7 (6) Blackcaps
Noted around the area:
Flies:
- *1 St. Mark's Fly or Hawthorn Fly Bibio marci
- *1 an unidentified midge
You have to look hard at this photo, taken on full zoom and the result edited, to see the Great Crested Grebe asleep / resting on its nesting platform.
This hairy black fly is a St. Mark's Fly or Hawthorn Fly Bibio marci , so named for its remarkable ability to emerge in large numbers on or around St. Mark's Day (25 April). When flying it is easily recognised as the long back legs dangle under its body.
A midge that I see frequently and for which I can never find an ID. It looks distinctively squat and with a dark spot in each wing. Obsidentify suggested "unidentified non-biting midge". Well done! Google Lens thought a cockroach(!).
(Ed Wilson)
2014
Nedge Hill
2 Lesser Whitethroat
10 Wheatear
(John Isherwood)
2013
Priorslee Lake
2 Cormorants
2 Swans
5 Greylag Geese
1 Common Sandpiper
8 Swallows
1 Swift
2 Reed Warblers
2 Common Whitethroat
17 Blackcaps
8 Chiffchaffs
4 Willow Warblers
1 Common Redstart
1 Nuthatch
(Ed Wilson)
The Flash
3 Greylag Goose
1 Richardson's / Cackling-type Canada Goose
1 Pochard
11 Tufted Duck
4 Blackcaps
3 Chiffchaffs
5 Willow Warblers
(Ed Wilson)
2012
Priorslee Lake
6 Goosanders
6 Greylag Geese
2 Tufted Duck
6 Goosander
1 Grasshopper Warbler
2 Sedge Warbler
18 Blackcaps
4 Willow Warblers
14 Chiffchaffs
1 Wheatear
1 Swift
Swallow
House Martin
Sand Martin
1 Skylark
1 Yellowhammer
(Ed Wilson, Phil Walters)
Priorslee Flash
4 Greylag Geese
27 Tufted Duck
5 Blackcaps
4 Willow Warblers
3 Chiffchaffs
(Ed Wilson)
2011
Priorslee Lake
5 Reed Warblers
2 Common Whitethroat
10 Blackcaps
10 Chiffchaffs
1 Willow Warbler
(Ed Wilson, John Isherwood)
Priorslee Flash
3 Blackcaps
4 Chiffchaffs
1 Willow Warbler
1 Reed Bunting
(Ed Wilson, John Isherwood)
2010
Priorslee Lake
1 Sedge Warbler
2 Reed Warbler
2 Common Sandpiper
(John Isherwood)
Nedge Hill
1 Whinchat
2 Lesser Whitethroat
18+ Wheatear
(John Isherwood)
2007
Priorslee Lake
6 Great Crested Grebes
6 Tufted Ducks
Ruddy Duck
Kestrel
Sparrowhawk
1 Grey Wagtail
1 Lesser Whitethroat
Sedge Warbler
Reed Warblers
2 House Sparrows
(Ed Wilson, John Isherwood)
2006
Priorslee Lake
5 Great Crested Grebes
1 Heron
2 Tufted Ducks
2 Ruddy Duck
1 Kestrel
1 Common Sandpiper
1 Cormorant
1 Stock Dove
3 Sand Martins
10 Swallows
1 Grey Wagtails
5 Sedge Warbler
2 Reed Warblers
7 Blackcaps
1 Garden Warbler
4 Chiffchaffs
4 Willow Warblers
1 Lesser Whitethroat
3 Reed Buntings
(Martin Adlam)
- *1 St. Mark's Fly or Hawthorn Fly Bibio marci
- *1 an unidentified midge
This Long-tailed Tit will be in trouble. It is returning to the nest site empty-beaked!
(Ed Wilson)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2014
Nedge Hill
2 Lesser Whitethroat
10 Wheatear
(John Isherwood)
2013
Priorslee Lake
2 Cormorants
2 Swans
5 Greylag Geese
1 Common Sandpiper
8 Swallows
1 Swift
2 Reed Warblers
2 Common Whitethroat
17 Blackcaps
8 Chiffchaffs
4 Willow Warblers
1 Common Redstart
1 Nuthatch
(Ed Wilson)
The Flash
3 Greylag Goose
1 Richardson's / Cackling-type Canada Goose
1 Pochard
11 Tufted Duck
4 Blackcaps
3 Chiffchaffs
5 Willow Warblers
(Ed Wilson)
2012
Priorslee Lake
6 Goosanders
6 Greylag Geese
2 Tufted Duck
6 Goosander
1 Grasshopper Warbler
2 Sedge Warbler
18 Blackcaps
4 Willow Warblers
14 Chiffchaffs
1 Wheatear
1 Swift
Swallow
House Martin
Sand Martin
1 Skylark
1 Yellowhammer
(Ed Wilson, Phil Walters)
Priorslee Flash
4 Greylag Geese
27 Tufted Duck
5 Blackcaps
4 Willow Warblers
3 Chiffchaffs
(Ed Wilson)
2011
Priorslee Lake
5 Reed Warblers
2 Common Whitethroat
10 Blackcaps
10 Chiffchaffs
1 Willow Warbler
(Ed Wilson, John Isherwood)
Priorslee Flash
3 Blackcaps
4 Chiffchaffs
1 Willow Warbler
1 Reed Bunting
(Ed Wilson, John Isherwood)
2010
Priorslee Lake
1 Sedge Warbler
2 Reed Warbler
2 Common Sandpiper
(John Isherwood)
Nedge Hill
1 Whinchat
2 Lesser Whitethroat
18+ Wheatear
(John Isherwood)
2007
Priorslee Lake
6 Great Crested Grebes
6 Tufted Ducks
Ruddy Duck
Kestrel
Sparrowhawk
1 Grey Wagtail
1 Lesser Whitethroat
Sedge Warbler
Reed Warblers
2 House Sparrows
(Ed Wilson, John Isherwood)
2006
Priorslee Lake
5 Great Crested Grebes
1 Heron
2 Tufted Ducks
2 Ruddy Duck
1 Kestrel
1 Common Sandpiper
1 Cormorant
1 Stock Dove
3 Sand Martins
10 Swallows
1 Grey Wagtails
5 Sedge Warbler
2 Reed Warblers
7 Blackcaps
1 Garden Warbler
4 Chiffchaffs
4 Willow Warblers
1 Lesser Whitethroat
3 Reed Buntings
(Martin Adlam)