5 Aug 26

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

17.0°C > 19.0°C: A cloudy start. The forecast rain did not arrive and the clouds broke to give sunny spells. A moderate south-westerly breeze. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 05:34 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– 06:15 // 07:15 – 09:45

(176th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
Unusual today was a group of at least 30 Barn Swallows heading more or less East over the football field at 05:55. These had to have been migrants heading off. Seems very early. Perhaps they too are experiencing difficulty in finding insects. A few minutes later at least a dozen House Martins were high overhead. I noted juvenile begging calls and I doubt these would be migrating before the youngsters were independent.

Other bird notes:
- just three Canada Geese early and I am not sure these ever departed. The now usual later arrival.
- a trio of Tufted Duck present throughout.
- yesterday's large count of gulls was not repeated. Apart from a change in the wind direction I can offer no explanation.
- no Swift sightings.
- 19 Starlings flew East c.06:10 in singles / small groups.
- the lower counts of passing Jackdaws and Rooks is likely down to my incompetence. With that change in the wind direction their flight path was very different and I probably missed many until I realised where I should be looking.
- another indication of the passage of the seasons was the first overflying Pied Wagtail leaving wherever the roost is these days and heading out to feed.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 59 Canada Geese: all flew West in six groups
- 24 Greylag Geese: 20 flew East in two groups; a quartet flew West later
- 8 Black-headed Gulls
- 5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 2 Stock Doves together
- 44 Wood Pigeons
- 95 Jackdaws
- 36 Rooks
- 19 Starlings
- 1 Pied Wagtail

Counts from the lake area:
- 82 Canada Geese: three throughout? 79 arrived in at least six groups
- 2 Mute Swans
- 36 (?♂) Mallard
- 3 (?♂) Tufted Duck
- 6 Moorhens again
- 55 Coots
- 7 + 10 (4 broods) *Great Crested Grebes
- 28 Black-headed Gulls: none of these visited the football field
- 5 *Herring Gulls
- 34 *Lesser Black-backed Gulls: see notes
- 1 Grey Heron

Hirundines etc. noted:
- c.30 Barn Swallows: see notes
- c.12 House Martins again: see notes

Warblers noted (no song):
- 7 Chiffchaffs
- 1 Reed Warbler
- 3 Blackcaps

Also noted:
more today though still very quiet

Butterflies:
- 2 Small White Pieris rapae
- 1 Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria
- 1 Meadow Brown Maniola jurtina
- 2 *Gatekeeper Pyronia tithonus
- 1 Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta
- 1 *Small Copper Lycaena phlaeas

Moths:
- 3 Straw Grass-moth Agriphila straminella [was Straw Grass-veneer]
other grass moths too faded / seen too fleetingly to confirm their identity.

Bees, wasps etc.:
- ! *probable Field Cuckoo-bee Bombus campestris
- *Tree Bumblebee Bombus hypnorum
- *Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum
- Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris

Hoverflies:
singles only of each species
- *Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus
- *Common Twist-tail Sphaerophoria scripta [Long Hoverfly; Common Globetail]
- *Wasp Plumehorn Volucella inanis [Lesser Hornet Hoverfly]

Damsel / Dragon-flies:
an unidentified dragonfly flew off: they always seem to see me before I see them

True flies:
- ! *Thick-headed Fly Conops quadrifasciatus [Four-banded Beegrabber]
- greenbottle Lucilia sp.
- Flesh fly Sarcophaga sp.
other flies that I could not identify and did not seem worth the effort.

Bugs:
none

Beetles:
none

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
none

On the West end street lamp poles around dawn:

Moths:
- 1 Common Grass-moth Agriphila tristella [was Common Grass-veneer]

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 3 female harvestman Leiobunum rotundum

Not an exciting dawn sky.

An adult and immature Great Crested Grebe from a family I have not previously photographed. Their territory in the south-west area is not easy to access and they usually keep out of the way.

Some scruffy-looking gulls at the moment as they moult. This is an immature Herring Gull (the pale inner primaries identify it as such). Most of its outer secondaries are missing. Also missing are the secondary lesser coverts exposing the white bases of the greater coverts. Two (near?) adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls look on.

Another immature Herring Gull, this one showing little sign of moult. It is a juvenile / first- winter showing the typical Herring Gull paler inner-primaries. At this age these feathers have darker tips. The black tail-band does not wrap around the side of the tail as it would on a Lesser Black-backed Gull and it shows mottling on the upper tail.

An immature Lesser Black-backed Gull showing many instances of moult. Just two old outer primaries remain to be replaced and white bases to the secondaries show where the relevant greater coverts have been dropped as have some primary coverts.

A Common Buzzard appeared from the local wood again - against the light. So it was down to the photo-editor to produce as good a result as I could achieve.

A Gatekeeper butterfly Pyronia tithonus at rest with the wings held such that the number of white spots in the black circle of the forewing is hidden. Luckily the colour, just visible, is enough to identify it.

A smart butterfly: a Small Copper Lycaena phlaeas

A Common Grass-moth Agriphila tristella at rest with the right wing wrapped over the left preventing the split of the pale streak in to "fingers" being visible.

This is a puzzle and I initially tended to agree with Obsidentify: "unidentified bumblebee"! But we are made of stronger stuff.

A bumblebee species with a white collar and a white tail with no obvious midriff band. Hmm. After a partial ID from Google Lens and then studying both the Field Guide and Steven Falk's Flickr pages I suspect it is a male Field Cuckoo-bee Bombus campestris. As he – the expert – notes "it is a highly variable species which can produce challenges during field identification". A species I have not (mis?)identified for some years.

Like all cuckoo-bees it does not make its own nest. The female of this species lays her eggs in that of the Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum.

Just enough here to identify this as a Tree Bumblebee Bombus hypnorum with ginger on the thorax and white on the tail just showing through the Knapweed. This is the first I have seen of this species from what is most probably a second brood.

This is a Common Carder Bee. The ginger on the thorax is faded and bald in the centre and there is extensive white along the flanks.

 It was singles of each species of hoverfly again. Here is the Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus.

A male Common Twist-tail Sphaerophoria scripta (or Long Hoverfly if you prefer).

And another Wasp Plumehorn Volucella inanis.

Along with the cuckoo-bee this was the find of the day. It is the Thick-headed Fly Conops quadrifasciatus also known, for obvious reasons, as Four-banded Beegrabber. There were precious few bees for it to grab today.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Moths:
- 1 *Double-striped Pug Gymnoscelis rufifasciata

Flies:
- no midges
- 1 female presumed Pond Olive mayfly Cloeon dipterum
- 1 female Banded Mosquito Culiseta annulata

Arthropods:
- none

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 4 Missing Sector Orb-web Spider Zygiella x-notata [Silver-sided Sector Spider]

One of the few pug moth species I feel happy to identify unaided – a Double-striped Pug Gymnoscelis rufifasciata.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:20 – 07:10

(173rd visit of the year)

Bird notes:
Best today was a Common Sandpiper seen amongst the Black-headed Gulls on the East side of the island. Just as I noticed it a Magpie flushed it. I heard it calling as it was flying around for a few minutes but I never saw it again.

Other bird notes:
- 17 Mute Swans today. At least one was heard in flight while mu view, was typically. blocked by trees.
- no Great Crested Grebe seen.
- five Cormorants were in trees on the island.
- just one Grey Herons noted.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: singles

Noted on / around the water:
- 10 Canada Geese
- 2 Greylag Geese
- 17 Mute Swans
- 31 (?♂) Mallard
- 4 (?♂) Tufted Duck again
- 6 Moorhens
- 39 Coot
- no Great Crested Grebe
- 1 Common Sandpiper: departed
- 34 Black-headed Gulls
- 5 Cormorants
- 1 Grey Heron

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 2 House Martins

Warblers noted (no song):
- 3 Chiffchaffs
- 2 Blackcap

Noted around the area:

Moths:
- 1 *Common Grass-moth Agriphila tristella [was Common Grass-veneer]

Bees, wasps etc.:
- 1 Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris

Unlike the specimen at the Balancing Lake this Common Grass-moth Agriphila tristella is resting with the left wing overlapping the right. As a result the end of the clear streak is visible as it splits in to two "fingers" beyond half-way along the wing. So this species is ambidextrous (or whatever the adjective is for wings rather than hands).

(Ed Wilson)

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2012
Priorslee Lake
Common Sandpiper
(Ed Wilson)

2010
Priorslee Lake
A female Teal
(John Isherwood)

2009
Priorslee Lake
30 House Martins
(Ed Wilson)

2008
Priorslee Lake
Little Grebe
Common Sandpiper
(Ed Wilson)