1 Jul 26

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

14.0°C > 14.0°C: Early cloud to the north-east soon cleared to good sunny periods. More cloud later. Light / moderate mainly north-westerly breeze. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 04:51 BST

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

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 04:50– 06:00 // 07:05 – 09:50

(151st visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- all seven Greylag Geese goslings were trying their wings this morning, managing lift-off for a few yards.
- another new brood of six Mallard ducklings seen early only. No other ducklings seen.
- *to my surprise a single juvenile Great Crested Grebe from the first pair to hatch their young appeared out of the reeds. Where has that been hiding? The other two pairs each with a trio of juveniles were also present and correct.
- a Common Sandpiper seen [a fishermen who arrived yesterday noted one then: the same?]
- an adult Black-headed Gull was present at dawn. By 07:15 a different(?) adult was feeding *two begging juveniles on the boating platforms.
- the warbler update: noticeably less song today.
I visited the Garden Warbler area on two occasions without hearing anything.
a brief burst of a Common Whitethroat song appeared to come from the original south-west location. Nothing seen.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 7 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 6 Cormorants: together
- 71 Wood Pigeons
- 5 Jackdaws only
- no Rooks

Counts from the lake area:
- 4 + 7 (1 brood) Greylag Geese
- 2 Mute Swans
- *34 (?♂) + 6 (1 brood) Mallard
- 3 Moorhens
- 48 Coots: of these at least seven were obvious juveniles from five broods.
- *6 + 7 (3 broods) Great Crested Grebes: see notes
- 1 Common Sandpiper
- *2 + 2 (1 brood) Black-headed Gulls: see notes
- 5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: very scruffy birds dropped in together, briefly
- 1 Grey Heron: later only

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 6 Swifts

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

Also noted:
Another high number of butterflies but little else.

Butterflies:
- *2 Essex Skipper Thymelicus lineola
- 8 Small Skipper-type Thymelicus sylvestris
- 1 Large Skipper Ochlodes sylvanus
- *8 Green-veined White Pieris napi
- 6 unidentified "whites"
- 1 Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria
- 22+ Ringlet Aphantopus hyperantus
- *14+ Meadow Brown Maniola jurtina
- *9 Gatekeeper Pyronia tithonus
- 2 Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta
- *1 Peacock Aglais io
- 1 ! Common Blue Polyommatus icarus (sadly no photo yet!)

Moths:
very poor
- 3 Garden Grass-moth Chrysoteuchia culmella [was Garden Grass-veneer]
- 1 Cinnabar Tyria jacobaeae caterpillar

Bees, wasps etc.:
- Honey Bee Apis mellifera
- *Red-tailed Bumblebee Bombus lapidarius
- Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum
- Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris
- ichneumon wasp Amblyteles armatorius
- * $ male ichneumon wasp Ischnus inquisitorius

Hoverflies:
- *Bumblebee Blacklet Cheilosia illustrata
- Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus
- Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax
- Migrant Field Syrph Eupeodes corollae [Migrant Hoverfly; Migrant Aphideater]
- Meadow Field Syrph Eupeodes latifasciatus [Broad-banded Aphideater]
- Syrphus sp. S. ribesii / S. vitripennis / S. torvus
- *Hornet Hoverfly Volucella zonaria

Damsel / Dragon-flies:
as usual most damselflies not checked.
- Common Blue Damselfly Enallagma cyathigerum [Common Bluet]
- Blue-tailed Damselfly Ischnura elegans [Common Bluetail]
- Black-tailed Skimmer Orthetrum cancellatum

True flies:
a few including...
- *root-maggot fly Anthomyia procellaris
- Black Snipefly Chrysopilus cristatus
- *dagger fly Empis livida
- greenbottle Lucilia sp.
- * $ Large Marsh Horsefly Tabanus autumnalis
other unidentified flies

Bugs:
- Common Froghopper Philaenus spumarius

Beetles:
- Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni : adult and * ! larva
- 7 Spot Ladybird Coccinella 7-punctata
- *Common Red Soldier Beetle Rhagonycha fulva
- *Spotted Longhorn Beetle Rutpela maculata

On the West end street lamp poles around dawn:

Moths:
- 1 Garden Grass-moth Chrysoteuchia culmella [was Garden Grass-veneer]

Cloud to the North and East at sunrise. Clearer for a while thereafter.

The latest brood of Mallard: six ducklings.

Juvenile Black-headed Gulls do not look much like adults with extensive brown, almost ginger, feathering.

It is a long way across the width of the lake. A juvenile "humbug" Great Crested Grebe is making a splash as it tries to keep up with one of its parents. I thought this pair, the first to hatch young, had lost all their three juveniles as I had not seen any for over a week.

 The tips of the antennae are all black so this is an Essex Skipper Thymelicus lineola

This is a female Green-veined White butterfly Pieris napi. She has two black spots on each forewing. Males only have one spot on each forewing. Here on Meadowsweet Filipendula ulmaria.

I mentioned that you can separate Meadow Brown Maniola jurtina from Gatekeeper Pyronia tithonus by (among other things) by the number of white dots in the black mark on the forewing. Not when it sits like this you can't! Note here the pattern where the dark and light occur on the underwing of Meadow Brown....

 ...and compare with the stronger marking of Gatekeeper (with two white dots).

Just to prove Meadow Brown only has one dot here is a better posed example.

 Splendid: a Peacock butterfly Aglais io.

A Cinnabar moth Tyria jacobaeae caterpillar. These specialise in feeding on the leaves of Common Ragwort Jacobaea vulgaris that contain toxins poisonous to most caterpillars and larvae. As a result Cinnabar caterpillars are distasteful to most predators. Although there are many ragwort plants around the lake I only ever seem to find the caterpillars on rather scrawny plants growing on the poor soil along the dam top.

A Red-tailed Bumblebee Bombus lapidarius shares the flower of Knapweed Centaurea nigra with two Common Red Soldier Beetle Rhagonycha fulva.

Apologies for the poor quality of this photo of a new species for me. It is a male ichneumon wasp Ischnus inquisitorius that was running and flying around at speed. There is enough detail to make an identification with the banded three-tone abdomen, yellow around the eyes and dark and pale areas on the legs.

Like one of the three wise monkeys: "I see no evil". A Bumblebee Blacklet hoverfly Cheilosia illustrata probably cleaning its eyes.

Perfectly harmless. Nectar-feeding Hornet Hoverflies Volucella zonaria just look fierce.

With very neat and distinctive markings on the thorax this should be easy to identify as the root-maggot fly Anthomyia procellaris. It almost certainly is though there are, as usual, similar species.

It is many days since I last saw the dagger fly Empis livida.

A new record for me here. This is a Large Marsh Horsefly Tabanus autumnalis. Only the second species of horsefly I have found here (though I did squash one that was biting me a few days ago). This, with eyes touching, is a male: males do not bite. The females need a blood meal for their eggs.

On a fisherman's bivvy I found this larva of an Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni.

A Spotted Longhorn Beetle Rutpela maculata on Common Hogweed Heracleum sphondylium.

And here on a Butterfly-bush Buddleja davidii (where there were no butterflies).

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

The council workers' efforts were not entirely successful. Some of the scribblings needed at least another coat to obliterate them. And their handy-work has already been defaced.

Moths:
- *2 Small Fan-footed Wave Idaea biselata
- *1 Riband Wave Idaea aversata of the form remutata

Flies:
- 10 midges of several species
- 1 moth fly Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly or Owl Fly]

Arthropods:
- 3 White-legged Snake Millipede Tachypodoiulus niger

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 harvestman Phalangium opilio

The ceiling moths today: there were two of these Small Fan-footed Wave moths Idaea biselata...

...and one Riband Wave Idaea aversata of the form remutata.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:05 – 07:00

(148th visit of the year)

The path across the bridges will be shut for the foreseeable future.

Bird notes:
- some of the Canada Geese have taken to visiting the front gardens in Derwent Drive and are good at hiding behind walls and bushes.
- only eight Mute Swans for certain. The best vantage point for seeing as much of the water as possible is not available.
- I did not see any Mallard ducklings again.
- a Great Crested Grebe seen at each end of the water.
- no Grey Heron.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 6 Jackdaws again

Noted on / around the water:
- 164 + 1 (1 brood) Canada Geese
- *108 Greylag Geese
- *8? Mute Swans: see notes
- 14 (?♂) Mallard only
- 13 (?♂) Tufted Duck
- 4 Moorhens again
- *52 adult and immature Coots: five of these obvious juveniles from four broods
- 2 Great Crested Grebes

Hirundines etc. noted:

None

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

Noted around the area:

Butterflies:
- 1 Green-veined White Pieris napi

Moths:
- 5 Garden Grass-moth Chrysoteuchia culmella [was Garden Grass-veneer]
- 1 Small Fan-footed Wave Idaea biselata
- 1 Treble Brown Spot Idaea trigeminata

Bees, wasps etc.:
none

Hoverflies:
- 3 Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus
- *2 possible Meadow Field Syrph Eupeodes latifasciatus [Broad-banded Aphideater]
- 1 Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax

Damsel / Dragon-flies:
- 2 Common Blue Damselfly Enallagma cyathigerum [Common Bluet]

Other flies:
none identified

Beetles:
none

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

If you (can) zoom in I think you will find one Greylag Goose; one Mute Swan; one moulting Mallard; and 31 Coots, some of which have paler chests and are therefore immatures.

My first Green-veined White butterfly Pieris napi of the year here. I have usually departed before butterflies are on the wing.

I am not certain of the identity of this one of two hoverflies of the same species apparently asleep a long way up one of the wooden telephone poles near the surgery. My best suggestion is Meadow Field Syrph Eupeodes latifasciatus. A strange place to find them.

(Ed Wilson)

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2013
Priorslee Lake
Common Sandpiper
(Ed Wilson)

2012
Priorslee Lake
Common Sandpiper
(Ed Wilson)

2010
Priorslee Lake
Kingfisher
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
Drake Ruddy Duck
(Ed Wilson)