7 Jul 26

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

16.0°C > 20.0°C: Extensive high cloud blotting the sun out much of the time. Was clearing as I concluded the log. A moderate north-westerly breeze. Excellent visibility.

Sunrise: 04:55 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– 06:00 // 07:10 – 10:00

(155th visit of the year)

Note:
After finishing my usual walks around here I spent the next four hours at the invitation of the Severn Trent ecological and site management teams to discuss their management plans. The next action will be to cut much (but not all) the grass areas at the of this month. Another cut will be done in late September, weather permitting. The medium-term aim is to increase plant diversity in these areas while preserving the bird breeding areas and some of the scrubby areas favoured by many insects. I did not make any records during this time: there were many more butterflies around: no new species were noted.

Bird notes:
- still not sure what to say about the Greylag Geese. On my first circuit a loud hooting from a Kinaxia truck on Castle Farm Way was needed to move one (or more) of the geese from the roadway. At that time a lone adult was on the south-west grass. Later it was joined by another and these were the only two I confirmed.
- *just a single brand new Mallard duckling was noted with its mother.
- still Great Crested Grebe confusion. The third pair to hatch young were again seen with their three young. The single juvenile seen with an adult was the almost full-sized but still stripe-headed survivor from the first pair to hatch young. Only five adults were confirmed.
- two Common Sandpipers were noted in the south-west area.
- *a begging juvenile Black-headed Gull was being ignored by three adults. They all flew off together
- the warbler update:
two parties of juvenile Reed Warblers noted, one with a parent collecting food..

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 106 Wood Pigeons
- 40 Jackdaws
- 5 Rooks

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 Greylag Geese: see notes
- 2 Mute Swans
- 34 (?♂) + *1 (1 brood) Mallard
- 6 Moorhens: one of these a juvenile
- 47 Coots again
- 5 + 4 (2 broods) Great Crested Grebes: see notes
- 4 Black-headed Gulls: *one juvenile
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
- 1 Grey Heron: departed early

Hirundines etc. noted:
- c.15 Swifts: the first two arrivals at c.05:15 with numbers building
- 2 Barn Swallows
- 1+ House Martins: bird(s) heard at 04:50 with one seen high over Teece Drive

Warblers noted (the number in brackets refers to birds singing):
- 5 (5) Chiffchaffs
- *11 (6) Reed Warblers
- 10 (9) Blackcaps

Also noted: these ignore any sightings after 10:00.

Butterflies:
A good mix of species though numbers slightly reduced due to lack of sun.
- *1 Essex Skipper Thymelicus lineola
- 3 Small Skipper Thymelicus sylvestris
- 2 Green-veined White Pieris napi
- 1 Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria
- 3 Ringlet Aphantopus hyperantus
- *12+ Meadow Brown Maniola jurtina
- *13+ Gatekeeper Pyronia tithonus: I managed to find a female to photograph
- 3 Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta
- 1 Peacock Aglais io
- 1 Comma Polygonia c-album
- *1 ! Holly Blue Celastrina argiolus

Moths:
- 1 Common Marble Celypha lacunana
- 11 Garden Grass-moth Chrysoteuchia culmella: at least 10 "grass moths" got away.
- *1 Shaded Broad-bar Scotopteryx chenopodiata

Bees, wasps etc.:
- Honey Bee Apis mellifera
- Red-tailed Bumblebee Bombus lapidarius
- Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum
- Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris

Hoverflies:
- *Broad-banded Epistrophe Epistrophe grossulariae [Black-horned Smoothtail]
- Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus
- *Tapered Dronefly Eristalis pertinax
- Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax
- Migrant Field Syrph Eupeodes corollae [Migrant Hoverfly; Migrant Aphideater]
- Chequered Hoverfly Melanostoma scalare [Long-winged Duskyface]
- Common Twist-tail Sphaerophoria scripta [Long Hoverfly; Common Globetail]
- Syrphus sp. S. ribesii / S. vitripennis / S. torvus

Damsel / Dragon-flies:
- ! Brown Hawker Aeshna grandis
- *Emperor Dragonfly Anax imperator [Blue Emperor]
- *Azure Damselfly Coenagrion puella [Azure Bluet]
- Common Blue Damselfly Enallagma cyathigerum [Common Bluet]
- *Black-tailed Skimmer Orthetrum cancellatum
A dragonfly was hawking over the West end path by 04:55!
one or two other species of dragonfly seen in flight only

True flies:
A few including...
- long-legged fly Dolichopus ungulatus or similar
- dagger fly Empis livida
- greenbottle Lucilia sp.
- *Yellow Dung Fly Scathophaga stercoraria
other unidentified flies

Bugs:
- *Hawthorn Shieldbug Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale

Beetles:
- Rough-haired Lagria Beetle Lagria hirta
- Common Red Soldier Beetle Rhagonycha fulva

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

Plants:
- I ate my first wild Blackberry of the year: still a bit tart. I used to reckon on the last few days in July before I could do this.

On the West end street lamp poles around dawn:

Moths: (hooray!)
- *1 dead female Ghost Moth Hepialus humuli trussed up in a web.
- *1 Black Arches Lymantria monacha

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

I knew I did not have time to catch the red-sky's reflection in the lake before it faded so here it is across the football field.

When I appeared at a gap in the reeds the duck Mallard took off leaving her low new duckling calling and calling. After a few minutes she returned – as shown here.

"Feed me, feed me". A recently-fledged Black-headed Gull demands to be fed. It was unlucky and flew off with the adults when they departed.

Two families of Reed Warblers were jumping about in the reeds. I managed just one shot of this adult, mouth open and giving its chirring alarm-call. For a warbler this species has a long bill.

Yet another Essex Skipper Thymelicus lineola. A male this time with a short and straight scent gland in the forewing that runs parallel to the wing edge. On male Small Skippers T. sylvestris the scent gland is longer, slightly bowed and at a slight angle to the wing edge. It is not easy to see the black-tip to the antennae that also identifies this species so it is useful to have the confirmatory marking.

A Meadow Brown Maniola jurtina with one white dot in the wing's black circle.

A male Gatekeeper Pyronia tithonus. This species because there are two white dots in the wing's black circle. Smaller and brighter-toned than Meadow Brown. A male because the forewing has a dark area in its centre.

 I managed to find a female to photograph today. No dark in the centre of the forewing.

This is rather worrying: the sparse dotting on the underside of the wing of this "blue" butterfly means it is a Holly Blue Celastrina argiolus. Have I been misidentifying the "blues" recently? I am not sure. Holly Blue is known to fly high up in bushes etc. whereas as the Common Blue Polyommatus icarus usually stays "below shoulder-height" which is where I have seen them all – this included!

A female Ghost Moth Hepialus humuli being trussed up by a Bridge Orb-web Spider Larinioides sclopetarius. Male Ghost Moths are white and fly at dusk and dawn. I mostly see females.

A very smart-looking moth: a Black Arches Lymantria monacha. I see this species most years.

Shaded Broad-bar moths Scotopteryx chenopodiata always seem to be hiding deep in the grass. This was, as usual, head-down. I inverted the photo for easier viewing.

The wide and straight yellow bands on this hoverfly identify it as a Broad-banded Epistrophe Epistrophe grossulariae.

From this angle the Obsidentify name Black-horned Smoothtail makes sense

This Tapered Dronefly Eristalis pertinax does not look very "tapered" from this angle even though it is a male. The pale areas on the front legs confirm the ID.

A flash of blue and apple green is usually what you see when a male Emperor Dragonfly Anax imperator dashes by. I found this splendid creature perched. This species is our largest dragonfly.

A male Azure Damselfly Coenagrion puella showing the "U"-shaped black mark on the top visible body segment and the wide blue stripes on the thorax.

A posing Black-tailed Skimmer Orthetrum cancellatum.

It is several weeks since I last saw a Yellow Dung Fly Scathophaga stercoraria

A Hawthorn Shieldbug Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale. The scientific name of this species proves that some scientists have a sense of humour.

A Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp. and a male by the size of the pedipalps.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Moths:
none

Flies:
- 12 midges of several species
- 3 moth fly Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly or Owl Fly]: one a day but never in the same place on the wall
- 3 cranefly Tipula sp.

Arthropods:
- 9 White-legged Snake Millipede Tachypodoiulus niger

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:05 – 07:05

(152nd visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- almost all the Canada Geese were in a single tight group: try counting the heads!
- 18 Mute Swans!! Gulp. Where did they all come from. Home for waifs and strays. noted.
- only one of the 63 Coots noted was a dependent juvenile. Two (hopeful?) adults still sitting on nests.
- no Great Crested Grebe found.
- two Grey Herons happily together on the side of the island.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 1 Jackdaw again

Noted on / around the water:
- 193 Canada Geese
- 118 Greylag Geese
- 18 Mute Swans
- 24 (?♂) Mallard again
- 15 (?♂) Tufted Duck again
- 5 Moorhens
- 63 Coots
- no Great Crested Grebe
- 1 Black-headed Gull: departed
- 2 Grey Herons

Hirundines etc. noted:
None. Where have they gone?

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

Noted around the area:

Moths:
- *1 Bird-cherry Ermine Yponomeuta evonymella
- 6 Garden Grass-moth Chrysoteuchia culmella [was Garden Grass-veneer]

Bees, wasps etc.:
- *1 unidentified ichneumon

Hoverflies:
- 1 Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus

Damsel / Dragon-flies:
- 1 Blue-tailed Damselfly Ischnura elegans [Common Bluetail]

True flies:
- 1 greenbottle Lucilia sp.

Beetles:
- *1 Rough-haired Lagria Beetle Lagria hirta
- 19 Common Red Soldier Beetle Rhagonycha fulva

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- *1 money spider type
- *1 female harvestman Leiobunum rotundum

On a different street lamp pole to either example seen the previous two days is this Bird-cherry Ermine moth Yponomeuta evonymella.

 I cannot get an identity for this ichneumon.

A Rough-haired Lagria Beetle Lagria hirta just opening its wing-cases as it is about to depart.

 A tiny money spider type. The background is a small part of a street lamp identification sticker.

A female harvestman Leiobunum rotundum. Females of the species pair L. blackwalli / rotundum are easy to separate. They did not have the circular body of the males and the dark mark on back differs markedly. On rotundum it is, as here, parallel-sided almost the whole length of the body. On blackwalli it is shorter, widens posteriorly and then abruptly stops.

(Ed Wilson)

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2011
Priorslee Lake
Lesser Whitethroat
(John Isherwood)

2010
Priorslee Lake
2 Common Sandpipers
3 Common Terns
Kingfisher
50+ Swifts
(Ed Wilson)

2007
Priorslee Lake
1 drake Ruddy Duck
(Martin Adlam)