22 Oct 26

The Flash and Priorslee Balancing Lake

8.0°C > 10.0°C: A few sunny intervals after earlier rain. Moderate / fresh south-westerly wind. Very good visibility.

[Sunrise: 07:47 BST]

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

A rain-delayed start on my first day back from a visit "down South"

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 10:35 – 11:25

(232nd visit of the year)

Very quiet on a short visit viewing from the dam-top area only.

Bird notes:
- no Mute Swans.
- at least 26 Tufted Duck
- I could again only find six Great Crested Grebes, at least three being juveniles
- a single Skylark and two Rooks were the only fly-overs noted.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 1 Skylark
- 2 Rooks

Counts from the lake area:
- 12 (7♂) Mallard
- 26 (>6♂) Tufted Duck
- 1 Moorhen
- 32 Coots
- 6 Great Crested Grebes
- 5 Black-headed Gulls
- 3 Herring Gulls
- 9 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 3 Cormorants: one of these departed
- no Grey Heron

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:20 – 10:25

(231st visit of the year)

Bird notes:
Much has changed since my last visit on Saturday 17th:
- very few Canada Geese.
- no Greylag Geese.
- only six Mute Swans, all adults.
- Tufted Duck numbers holding up: 21 noted with 11 apparent drakes.
- only two Goosander when I arrived: a trio flew in.
- a low count of Black-headed Gulls for this date.
- only one Grey Heron and that flew off.
- no Little Egret seen.
- the Great (White) Egret was in trees on the island when I arrived. I did not see it again.
All this suggests that the small fish fry have been depleted. Cormorant numbers are holding up as they can hunt and deal with larger fish. Tufted Duck are vegetarian and will be unaffected.
Otherwise:
- the one full adult Great Crested Grebe had three juveniles in close attendance.
- a party of at least 50 Starlings flew West to the North of the area. Much too late for roost dispersal it suggests these were migrants? I cannot recall seeing anything other than small numbers of presumed breeding birds here previously.
- a Grey Wagtail was noted.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- >50 Starlings

Noted on / around the water:
- 7 Canada Geese
- no Greylag Geese
- 6 Mute Swans
- 42 (27♂) Mallard
- 21 (11?♂) Tufted Duck
- 5 (0♂) Goosander: of these a trio arrived
- 6 Moorhens
- 22 Coot
- 1 + 3 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebe
- 14 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Herring Gull: (near?) adult, briefly
- 7 Cormorants: see notes
- 1 Grey Heron: departed
- 1 Great (White) Egret: departed
- no Little Egret

Noted around the area:
Sunny periods: cool and breezy.

Moths:
- 1 *November Moth type Epirrita sp.

Bees, wasps etc.:
- 1 Common Wasp Vespula vulgaris
- >30 wasp Vespula sp.: most not specifically ID-ed

Hoverflies:
- 1 *Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax [Common Drone Fly]

Other true flies:
- 1 *Root-maggot Fly from the Anthomyiidae family
- 1 *Muscid fly Phaonia sp.
- 1 *Cluster fly, Pollenia sp., likely P. rudis
many other species of fly not identified

Fungus:
- 1 *Shaggy Ink-cap / Lawyer's Wig Coprinus comatus

Goldcrests are hyper-active sprites and never easy to photograph. A couple of attempts.

Well the rear in is focus!

And here it is the left foot! And very strong feet they are.

Even though it is a particularly well-marked specimen of the November Moth type Epirrita sp. it was difficult to spot a long way up a lichen-covered street lamp pole. The strength of the markings is of no consequence when it comes to specific identification. Only genitalia examination is 100% proof of identity.

Among very many wasps at the Ivy this Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax taking time out was the only hoverfly I could find.

The golden / yellow hairs on the thorax of this fly indicates it is a Cluster fly in the Pollenia genus and likely P. rudis which is my far the most common. Microscopic examination is the only way to identify at species level. The vernacular name arises from the species preference to congregate in warm places, e.g. lofts, to over-winter. The larvae predate earth worms and the flies, even though they are in the blow-fly family, do not lay eggs on dead meat.

Another fly tucked up in a fold on a street lamp pole. It is one of the Root-maggot flies. A few of the species are distinctive-enough to identify. This is not one of them!

And another fly looking to hide away. It seems to be a Muscid fly from the Phaonia genus. I cannot go further with its identity.

A single fruit of Shaggy Ink-cap fungus, also known as Lawyer's Wig Coprinus comatus. I was unable to go any "gardening" to provide a clearer photo as the fungus was growing through the vegetation.

(Ed Wilson)

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2013
Priorslee Lake
1 adult Yellow-legged Gull
1 adult Great Black-backed Gull
4 Gadwall
1 Teal
(John Isherwood)

Nedge Hill
A Raven tussling with Sparrowhawk
(John Isherwood)

2010
Priorslee Lake
389 Fieldfare
6 Redwings
(Ed Wilson)

2009
Priorslee Lake
15 Pochard
34 Tufted Duck
13 Moorhens
232 Coots
1 Redwing heard
(Ed Wilson)

2005
Priorslee Lake
A male Stonechat the west end
2 Gadwall
A drake Shoveler
14 Pochard
44 Tufted Duck
Siskin
Redpoll
C.350 Starlings in the roost
20 Redwings
209 Coot
Kingfisher
(Ed Wilson)