16.0°C > 19.0°C: Very low cloud with light drizzle. Beginning to lift and break after 10:00 with a few sunny spells. Almost calm. Eventually very good visibility.
[Sunrise: 06:39 BST]
* = a species photographed today
! = a first sighting of the species this year
$ = a new species for me in this area
Priorslee Balancing Lake: 07:55 – 09:20
(207th visit of the year)
A late start to avoid the worst of the drizzle
Bird notes:
- the single Mute Swan still.
- I have no idea where many of the Mallard had gone.
- the first Barn Swallows appeared overhead c.08:05 with up to ten seen high up and then a few, probably of the same, low over the water for a while. All seemed to have gone by 09:00.
- 12 Chiffchaffs with five singing in the drizzle.
- a trio of Blackcaps one of which was singing.
Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 2 Cormorants
- 4 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Jackdaw
- 4 Rooks
Counts from the lake area:
- 1 Mute Swan
- 9 (?♂) Mallard only
- no Tufted Duck
- 9 Moorhens
- 44 Coot
- 18 Great Crested Grebes
- 9 Black-headed Gulls
- no Herring Gulls
- 5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Grey Heron
Hirundines etc. noted:
- c.10 Barn Swallows
Warblers noted:
- 12 Chiffchaffs: of these five in song
- 3 Blackcaps: of these one in song
Nothing else noted:
Even the wasps would not venture out in the drizzle
(Ed Wilson)
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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:
Visited c.10:15 "just in case"
Moths:
none
none
True flies:
- 8 midges
- 1 moth fly Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly or Owl Fly]
- 8 midges
- 1 moth fly Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly or Owl Fly]
Arthropods:
none
none
Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 *Stout Sac Spider Clubiona sp.
- 2 Missing Sector Orb-web Spider Zygiella x-notata [Silver-sided Sector Spider]
- 1 *Stout Sac Spider Clubiona sp.
- 2 Missing Sector Orb-web Spider Zygiella x-notata [Silver-sided Sector Spider]
Probably the same Stout Sac Spider Clubiona sp. that I photographed here yesterday but in better light.
(Ed Wilson)
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The Flash: 09:25 – 10:35
(204th visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- six Mute Swans again.
- two Tufted Duck new in. Apparently not the two seen at the Balancing Lake yesterday and not today. Those were both immatures / ducks and one of these looked to be a moulting drake.
- now 26 brownhead Goosander.
- only one of the two full adult Great Crested Grebes was seen.
Note
Thanks again to Martin Grant I can give an update on the ringed Mute Swan:
- Blue 4IAN was ringed as a second year on 09/02/2026 on the Sankey Valley Canal at Waterways, Warrington.
Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 4 Jackdaws
Noted on / around the water:
- 14 Canada Geese: of these nine arrived
- no Greylag Geese
- 6 Mute Swans
- 29 (20♂) Mallard
- 2 (1♂?) Tufted Duck
- 26 (0♂) Goosander
- 7 Moorhens
- 20 Coot only
- 2 + 4 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebe
- 7 Black-headed Gulls only
- 3 Cormorants
- 2 Grey Herons again
Warblers noted:
- 1 Chiffchaff: no song again
Noted around the area:
The weather was brightening up.
Butterflies:
none
none
Moths:
none
none
Bees, wasps etc.:
- 6 Honey Bees Apis mellifera
- 5 Common Wasps Vespula vulgaris
- 6 Honey Bees Apis mellifera
- 5 Common Wasps Vespula vulgaris
True flies:
- Greenbottle Lucilia sp.
a few other unidentified flies
- Greenbottle Lucilia sp.
a few other unidentified flies
Bugs:
- 1 *Dock Bug Coreus marginatus
- 1 *Dock Bug Coreus marginatus
Beetles:
- 1 7 Spot Ladybird Coccinella 7-punctata
- 1 7 Spot Ladybird Coccinella 7-punctata
Spiders:
- 1 *Garden Spider Araneus diadematus [Garden Cross Spider]
- 1 *Garden Spider Araneus diadematus [Garden Cross Spider]
Fungus:
- *presumed Field Mushroom Agaricus campestris
- *unidentified species #1, probably from the Parasola genus
- *unidentified species #2
A Garden Spider Araneus diadematus also known as the Garden Cross Spider though the cross marking on this specimen is none too obvious. Top side...
I was not able to see the stem or underside of this fungus without destroying it. It looks to me like a Field Mushroom Agaricus campestris.
(Ed Wilson)
2007
Priorslee Lake
Shoveler
Redwing
(Ed Wilson)
- *presumed Field Mushroom Agaricus campestris
- *unidentified species #1, probably from the Parasola genus
- *unidentified species #2
No identification problems with Dock Bug Coreus marginatus.
...and from underneath.
These delicate toadstools are from the Parasola genus which is all one can say from a photo.
These fungi look to have been trampled and I cannot get any identity for what they might have been
(Ed Wilson)
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2007
Priorslee Lake
Shoveler
Redwing
(Ed Wilson)