14 Jul 26

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

12.0°C > 19.0°C: Clear apart from a very few wispy low clouds. Light north-east breeze, increasing moderate later. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 05:03 BST

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

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 04:45– 05:55 // 07:00 – 09:35

(159th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- Initially six Canada Geese with another two flying in to join them. The lone adult Greylag remains.
- a part-grown Mallard duckling noted. Fewer adults though numbers hard to judge as they are now flying again and coming and going.
- ten Black-headed Gulls, all adults, were around most of the time. It was probably eight of these that visited the football field c.05:35.
- the trio of juvenile Great Crested Grebes seen again with their parents. A single similar-aged juvenile was noted with its parents. Also a full-sized but still stripe-headed independent immature bird.
- at least 25 Swifts were overhead c.05:15. Just two by 08:00 with none seen later.
- five Sand Martins were overhead Teece Drive c.05:50.
- many more Jackdaws and Rooks were seen passing over on roost dispersal. Partly due to the clear skies but also now that the sun rises later my arrival coincides with their dispersal.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 1 Canada Goose: flew East
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 116 Wood Pigeons
- 141 Jackdaws
- 56 Rooks

Counts from the lake area:
- 8 Canada Geese: of these two arrived
- 1 Greylag Goose
- 2 Mute Swans
- 23 (?♂) + 1 (1 brood) Mallard
- 6 Moorhens: two of these immatures
- 36 Coots
- *5 + 5 (3 broods) Great Crested Grebes: see notes
- 10 Black-headed Gulls: no juveniles noted
- 1 Herring Gull
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- no Cormorants
- no Grey Herons

Hirundines etc. noted:
- >25 Swifts
- 5 House Martins

Warblers noted (the number in brackets refers to birds singing):
- 4 (2) Chiffchaffs
- 6 (1) Reed Warblers
- 4 (2) Blackcaps

Also noted:

Butterflies:
- *1 Green-veined White Pieris napi
- 1 Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria
- 11 Meadow Brown Maniola jurtina
- 42+ Gatekeeper Pyronia tithonus: gulp!
- 4 Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta
- *1 Painted Lady Vanessa cardui
- *2 Peacock Aglais io

Moths:
- c.10 "grass moths": none stayed to be identified. Many fewer in today's sun than yesterday's cloud.

Bees, wasps etc.:
- Honey Bee Apis mellifera
- Red-tailed Bumblebee Bombus lapidarius
- *Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum
- Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris
- wasp sp.: either German Wasp Vespula germanica or Common Wasp V. vulgaris

Hoverflies:
- *Bumblebee Blacklet Cheilosia illustrata
- Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax
- *Common Copperback Ferdinandea cuprea [Bronze Sap Hoverfly; Eurasian Copperback]
- Chequered Hoverfly Melanostoma scalare [Long-winged Duskyface]
- *Tuberculate Stripe-back Parhelophilus frutetorum
- Syrphus sp. S. ribesii / S. vitripennis / S. torvus
- *Pellucid Fly Volucella pellucens [Pied Plumehorn; Great Pied Hoverfly]

Damsel / Dragon-flies:
- *Common Blue Damselfly Enallagma cyathigerum [Common Bluet]: just four males
- *Common Darter Sympetrum striolatum
two other species of dragonfly seen in flight only

Four-winged flies:
- *Common Green Lacewing Chrysoperia carnea

True flies:
very few including...
- greenbottle Lucilia sp.
a few other unidentified flies

Bugs:
- *instar of Common Green Shieldbug Palomena prasina

Beetles:
- 7 Spot Ladybird Coccinella 7-punctata
- *Rough-haired Lagria Beetle Lagria hirta
- Common Red Soldier Beetle Rhagonycha fulva : just one again

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
none

Mammals:
- *1 dead (European) Mole Talpa europaea

On the West end street lamp poles around dawn:

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- *1 Bridge Orb-web Spider Larinioides sclopetarius [Bridge Orbweaver]

"Where's breakfast?" The humbug Great Crested Grebe trio searching for a parent with food. By this time in their development juveniles are often seen in close company with their chosen adult. I always wonder whether they choose the same adult each day and what the sex relationship between the adult and any juvenile is. I doubt I will ever find out.

Here they are seen later playing happy sleepy families.

So where have all the "white" butterflies gone? A few days ago there were double figures and more. Today I saw just this one Green-veined White Pieris napi .

It was sunny today so it was even more unexpected to see a Painted Lady butterfly Vanessa cardui with its wings closed. The long tongue of this species has no trouble dealing with Knapweed Centaurea nigra.

It has taken me some while to realise why the "eyes" on the wings of a Peacock butterfly Aglais io look blurred in my photos. They are blurred.

A Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum also on Knapweed. How do they get at the nectar? Their tongue in miniscule compared with that of any butterfly?

 This is also a Common Carder Bee: presumably a worn specimen.

This hoverfly is a Bumblebee Blacklet Cheilosia illustrata.

A species of hoverfly I do not see very often: a Common Copperback Ferdinandea cuprea also known as a Bronze Sap Hoverfly or Eurasian Copperback.

So here is another photo of the same one. A distinctive species.

On date and location this hoverfly is most likely a Tuberculate Stripe-back Parhelophilus frutetorum, here deep inside a flower of Field Bindweed Convolvulus arvensis. There are several species in this genus of hoverfly that are difficult to separate.

On the left a Pellucid Fly Volucella pellucens also known as a Great Pied Hoverfly. Just about visible on the right is the orange "pile" on the thorax of another Common Carder Bee.

Here is 50% of the Common Blue Damselflies Enallagma cyathigerum I noted today – all males – are in this photo. Where were all the damselflies today?

A typical pose by a Common Darter Sympetrum striolatum. The strong sun has "blown out" the colour and markings on the abdomen and I cannot be sure whether this is an immature or an adult female.

I think, trying to hide, is a Common Green Lacewing Chrysoperia carnea even though it does not look very green. The body, largely obscured by the folded wings, does look greenish.

About to investigate one of my fingers is an early instar of a Common Green Shieldbug Palomena prasina. This year I have yet to see an adult of this usually common species.

This Rough-haired Lagria Beetle Lagria hirta was hiding under a leaf forcing me to use camera flash. At least it shows the hairy nature of this species.

The Bridge Orb-web Spider Larinioides sclopetarius choosing its breakfast from the larder. The dearth of moths on the street lamp poles here has me wondering whether the lights were working. I think the number of insects caught in the web suggests this one is.

Poor thing: a dead (European) Mole Talpa europaea I found on the path along the North side. A cat was suspiciously in the area. I cannot see any bad injury on the mole.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Moths:
- *1 Brown House-moth Hofmannophila pseudospretella

Flies:
- 6 midges of several species
- *2 mayfly, possibly Pond Olive Cloeon dipterum again
- 2 moth fly Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly or Owl Fly]: one a day but never in the same place on the wall

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 6 Missing Sector Orb-web Spider Zygiella x-notata [Silver-sided Sector Spider]
- *2 other unidentified spiders

A Brown House-moth Hofmannophila pseudospretella. This species seems to like the tunnel walls.

There were two mayflies, possibly Pond Olives Cloeon dipterum again. Something I had failed to notice yesterday was that neither had the "turbinate" eyes shown by males of many mayfly species.

Among all the Missing Sector Orb-web Spider Zygiella x-notata in the tunnel I noted this spider, clearly a male with large pedipalps. Neither of my apps gave me an identity with which I am happy. The way it is moving misled them in to thinking it is a species of crab spider which I don't believe it is.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:00 – 06:55

(156th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- "only" 14 Mute Swans noted.
- many of the Greylag Geese decided to rest on the East side of the island where the Coots have recently been congregating. I did not find where many of these Coots might be lurking instead.
- single Great Crested Grebes seen at both ends of the water. Later two seen around the island. So certainly two: perhaps three.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:

None

Noted on / around the water:
- 135 Canada Geese
- 85 Greylag Geese
- 14 Mute Swans
- 24 (?♂) Mallard
- 27 (?♂) Tufted Duck again
- 3 Moorhens only
- 39 Coots only: see notes. Of these five were dependent juveniles
- 2 (or 3?) Great Crested Grebes: see notes
- 2 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Grey Heron

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 4 House Martins, briefly

Warblers noted (the number in brackets refers to birds singing):
- no Chiffchaffs again
- 1 (1) Blackcap again

Noted around the area:

Butterflies:
- *2 Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta

Moths:
- 1 Garden Grass-moth Chrysoteuchia culmella [was Garden Grass-veneer]
- *1 Small Fan-footed Wave Idaea biselata

Nothing else!

If you look hard there are two Red Admiral butterflies Vanessa atalanta in the photo. The antennae of one can be seen toward the top left. I forgot to look at this area yesterday where this species has been sunning itself c.07:00 for several days.

This moth is another Small Fan-footed Wave Idaea biselata.

(Ed Wilson)

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2012
Priorslee Lake
Common Tern
Possible Otter
(Ed Wilson)

2011
Priorslee Lake
A female Ruddy Duck
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
A drake Ruddy Duck
(Ed Wilson)

2005
Priorslee Lake
Common/Arctic Tern
(Martin Adlam)