3 Jun 26

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

11.0°C > 13.0°C: Initially bright under broken high cloud. Lowering cloud soon arrived from the south-west with light rain c.07:45 turning moderate by 09:00. Light / moderate southerly breeze. Good visibility.

Sunrise: 04:50 BST

* = a species photographed today
! = a first sighting of the species this year
$ = a new species for me in this area

Another abbreviated visit cut short by rain

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 04:50– 05:50 // 06:45 – 09:05

(130th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- two Canada Geese arrived: the only Canadas seen from here today.
- once again the seven Greylag Geese goslings were present and correct with a third adult present throughout.
- a trio of independent Mallard ducklings seen; only two of the recent brood of small ducklings were seen but they were weaving in and out of reeds and it is possible there were more about.
- only a drake Tufted Duck seen.
- once again I suspect some (most?) of the juvenile Coots were sheltering from the rain: only one noted.
- two Lesser Black-backed Gulls were on the football field at 05:30. One of them looked to be the very worn/faded sub-adult seen a few days ago.
- a Grey Heron was on the south-west grass c.05:20. I assumed it was this one that flew West at 05:40 and that this was likely the bird seen later at The Flash. That bird flew off East at c.06:30. *A bird was again of the south-west grass here after 07:40. Were these sightings all the same bird?
- *not "bird of the day" but interesting was an all-white Racing Pigeon that flew on to the dam-face c.05:15 and stayed until c.08:25.
- when the Reed Warblers arrived at the end of April several were singing from the fresh growth of reeds along the dam face. For most of last month this area was quiet. In the last few days there has been as many as three birds singing from these reeds.
- only the new (South side) Common Whitethroats was heard singing and then only ahead of the rain.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 4 Greylag Geese: a pair flew East and later a pair flew West.
- 1 Herring Gull
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 8 Wood Pigeons
- 7 Jackdaws together
- 1 Rook

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 Canada Geese: arrived
- *3 + 7 (1 brood) Greylag Geese
- 2 Mute Swan: assuming the pen is still on the hidden nest
- *17 (14♂) + 5 (2 broods) Mallard: see notes
- 1 (1♂) Tufted Duck
- 1 Moorhen only
- 24 + 1 (1 brood) Coots
- 6 Great Crested Grebes: two birds were seen displaying
- *1+? Grey Heron: see notes

Hirundines etc. noted:
- c.15 Swifts
- *1? Sand Martin
- *>4 Barn Swallows
- *>20 House Martins
I might not have been able to find many insects. Clearly these were having a fine time feeding over the water.

Warblers noted (the number in brackets refers to birds singing):
- 10 (8) Chiffchaffs
- 9 (9) Reed Warblers
- 8 (8) Blackcaps
- 1 (1) Common Whitethroat: see notes

Also noted:
Rain stopped play!

Butterflies:
none

Moths:
none

Bees, wasps etc.:
none

Hoverflies:
none

Damsel / Dragon-flies:
none

Other flies:
- *fly Minettia longipennis from the Lauxaniidae family
- Yellow Dung Fly Scathophaga stercoraria
- *wood gnat Sylvicola sp.
- otherwise only a very few unidentified fly species

Bugs:
none

Beetles:
none

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp.

On the West end street lamp poles around dawn:
typical!.

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp.

Photos from today and a few from yesterday, all noted as such. An adult Greylag Goose and a Grey Heron shared look-out duties today.

Yesterday there were these seven small Mallard ducklings. Today I only could see two though they were weaving in and out of the reed stems and there could have been more.

At 05:30 on the football field I noted these two pigeons among some twenty Wood Pigeons. The dark marks on the wing of the left-hand bird identify it as a Stock Dove. The other bird is a juvenile yet to acquire the markings.

This bird flew in at a distance and I thought "egret". Not so. It is a Racing Pigeon, either lost or just having a rest.

Part of the identity ring that identifies its owner is visible. Racing Pigeons are well used to people and often allow a close-approach.

Very smart!

After working yesterday's soaking vegetation looking for food a Long-tailed Tit emerges to dry out.

"Who me?"

A head-and-shoulders portrait.

I made yet another attempt to photograph the feeding martins and swallows. In the light rain there was not really enough light for sharp photos. This bird was a surprise as I was sending many of the photos to the trash can. The chest-band identifies it is a Sand Martin. I had not noticed any while I was looking at the feeding flock.

 Barn Swallows were going this way...

...and that.

One dipping a spread tail-streamer in the water and displaying the white spots at the base of the tail only visible when the tail is spread...

...as here.

A worn-looking individual.

There was an unusually high number of House Martins flying at low-level. Here is one.

The bright white rump is easily seen at long range.

Another speeds by.

Always puzzling. At this time of year the House Sparrows from the Teece Drive area of the estate fly all the way to the dam-face to collect both nesting material and food. This female looks to have caught two damselflies, a Blue-tailed Damselfly Ischnura elegans to the left. I did not see any damselflies flying in this morning's rain.

A glimpse of the sun yesterday and a Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria emerged to soak up the warmth.

I think I saw this fly last Sunday and misidentified it. It is not as I then thought one of the lance flies (also known as spear-wings). The wings are long but not lance- or spear- shaped and the white half-moon to the scutellum did not match. I now think it is a Minettia longipennis from the Lauxaniidae family. The rubric in NatureSpot mentions a dark base to the wings but the photos in their gallery includes an individual which, like this, ha wing-bases barely tinged darker. The family has no vernacular name. Most have bright red eyes and many have patterned wings.

This seems to be a wood gnat from the genus Sylvicola. I am not used to seeing them other than by torch-light on the street lamp poles and I have never thought of them as anything but black. Clearly not. Though that does not help further identification.

Yesterday's new-for-the-year moth here was this Straw Dot Rivula sericealis bringing my 2026 moth species total here to 32. A species I see annually, often in some number, disturbed from grassy areas during the day.

Despite the soaking wet vegetation yesterday there were dozens of damselflies on the wing. This is a Red-eyed Damselfly Erythromma naja, the least common of the "blue damselflies" and best spotted by the all-black top to the thorax. The eye-colour is not easy to see with the naked eye.

Also from yesterday, here is a lacewing Chrysopa perla identified by the ice-blue colour and dark top to the abdomen.

The sole inhabitant on the street lamp poles yesterday was this Bridge Orb-web Spider Larinioides sclopetarius also known as a Bridge Orbweaver.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Moths:
- *1 Spectacle Abrostola tripartita: as yesterday

Flies:
- 7 midges only of several species

Beetles:
- 1 unidentified small black weevil (there are many species!)

There were two "first for the year" moths in the tunnel yesterday morning almost doubling my 2026 moth species count here to five. This is a Treble Brown Spot Idaea trigeminata. (Don't blame me: I didn't name it!)

The other moth was this Spectacle Abrostola tripartita. I have seen this species in my back garden though this is my first in the Priorslee area. My initial thought was that it was another of the many "Minor" species (I saw one here two days previously) and thus I failed to get a photo of the reason it is so-named. But...

...luckily it was still present today and I photographed it from head-on and then inverted the image to show the "spectacles".

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 05:55 – 06:40

(127th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- I found the Canada Goose gosling again: with its parents in a front garden. A high count of Canada Geese as they gather ahead of their annual moult. *Several moulted large primary feathers were noted scattered around the edges.
- four Greylag Geese all together.
- *now eight visiting Mute Swans.
- I noted eight of the drake Mallard standing on the same roof in Hollyoak Grove.
- eleven juvenile Coots found from five broods. Four of these were in a brood new to me and a second brood from their parents. I could not find any of the four erstwhile independent juveniles from the first brood.
- the two Great Crested Grebes were again close together throughout with no display seen.
- a Chaffinch was heard in song from somewhere away to the West. My first song of this species here this year was on 30 March and I cannot recall hearing one sing here since then.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:

None

Noted on / around the water:
- 107 + 1 (1 brood) Canada Geese: of these 10 departed in two groups
- 4 Greylag Geese
- *10 Mute Swans: assuming the pen is still on the hidden nest.
- 19 (15♂) Mallard
- 1 Moorhen only
- 41+ 11 (5 broods) Coots
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- 1 Grey Heron: departed

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 8 Swifts
- 4 House Martins

Warblers noted (the number in brackets refers to birds singing):
- 4 (4) Chiffchaffs again
- 2 (2) Blackcaps only again

Noted around the area:
The lowing cloud and wet vegetation meant I was again unable to find even an unidentified fly to report.

A primary feather from a Canada Goose. As previously noted geese and ducks shed their all their primary feathers before the new ones grow and the birds become flightless. One or two feathers missing and they can, and do, fly. In a week or so from now most of the geese will be grounded (watered?) for a few weeks.

Six of the now eight visiting Mute Swans. As far as I could tell this photo includes the four arrivals since yesterday. The other two visitors, long behaving as a pair, were in their usual spot to the left of this view.

(Ed Wilson)

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2009
Priorslee Lake
Oystercatcher
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
Possible Marsh Harrier
11 Reed Warblers
(Ed Wilson)