23 Oct 26

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

9.0°C > 10.0°C: Overnight rain stopping as I arrived. A few breaks in medium level cloud for a while before mist and murk descended, albeit with a few clear moments. Despite the threat of Storm Austen winds remain very light north-westerly. Good visibility, but moderate at times.

Sunrise: 07:49 BST

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

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 06:15 – 09:20

(235th visit of the year)

Severn Trent have completed their final scheduled cut of the grass areas to be managed to increase species diversity. Probably not cut as short as they might have wished: in places the very wet grass has been flattened as much as cut.

Bird notes:
Best today was a Common Snipe heard only flying West at 07:35. My second record here this year. I didn't see the other one either.

Other bird notes:
- still no Mute Swans.
- now 21 Tufted Duck with a surprising 15 of these seeming to be drakes.
- four Goosander flew, unusually, East c.08:05: sexes not determined.
- at least 150 Black-headed Gulls were flying up and down over the water by 07:15. At least 350 more arrived in a rush c.07:25 and thereafter birds were leaving in the direction of the football field while what appeared to be more small groups continued to arrive. Surprisingly 56 were on the football field at 09:20 despite people walking the surrounding paths.
- at least 100 Lesser Black-backed Gulls flew in from the West while it was still very dark at 07:00. Then at 07:10 at least 70 flew back out West.
- there were no large gulls on the water by 07:20 and no gulls at all by 08:00. A very small arrival afterwards with almost as many flying over as stopping off.
- a smaller number of, particularly Jackdaws, and Rooks flying South on roost dispersal. Also I could not locate what sounded like a large party of Jackdaws.
- one or more Reed Bunting(s) were calling from a traditional West end roost site c.07:25. I did not see any leave and the calls soon stopped.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 8 Canada Geese: flew East together
- 1 Greylag Goose: flew East
- 4 Goosanders
- 1 Common Snipe: heard only
- 2 Herring Gulls
- 8 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 20 Wood Pigeons only: no passage
- 63 Jackdaws
- 123 Rooks
- 1 Pied Wagtail

Counts from the lake area:
- 19 (12♂) Mallard
- 21 (15♂) Tufted Duck
- 5 Moorhens
- 27 Coots
- 6 Great Crested Grebes
- c.600 Black-headed Gulls
- 9 Herring Gulls
- >100 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 5 Cormorants: all arrived and departed separately
- 1 Grey Heron: departed

Also noted:

Bees, wasps etc.:
- 1 bumblebee in flight only

Fungus:
- *Weeping Widow Lacrymaria lacrymabunda

On the West end street lamp poles before dawn:
The poles were very wet as the rain had very recently ceased.

Moths:
- 1 *November Moth type Epirrita sp.

Four-winged flies:
- 1 Common Green Lacewing Chrysoperia carnea

True flies:
- 1 *Spotted-winged Drosophila Drosophila suzukii
- 1 *wood gnat Sylvicola sp.
- 1 winter cranefly Trichocera sp.
- *several unidentified flies
- several midges flying around

Beetles:
- 1 *Cabbage-stem Flea Beetle Psylliodes chrysocephala

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

A two-fer. One I can almost identify as a November Moth type Epirrita sp. The other I cannot ID despite the apparent distinctive combination of red eyes, grey thorax and shaded wings.

This small red-eyed fly is a female Spotted-winged Drosophila Drosophila suzukii. Females lack the dark tip to the wings that gives this species of fruit fly its vernacular name.

On the face of it a distinctive fly. All the flies I can with dark at the end of the wings that I can find illustrated on the internet have the dark extending to the very tips whereas this fly shows pale extremities. So unknown.

A three-fer! Sadly the camera is unable to get all three of these in focus at the same time, high up on a street lamp pole. At the top a Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp.; in the middle a Cabbage-stem Flea Beetle Psylliodes chrysocephala; and at the bottom a species of wood gnat, Sylvicola.

Now with the spider in focus.

I think this fungus is Weeping Widow Lacrymaria lacrymabunda.

From a different angle

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

For the first time since the summer heat waves the Wesley Brook was running noisily under the tunnel.

Moths:
none

Four-winged flies:
- 1 Common Green Lacewing Chrysoperia carnea

True flies:
- 4 midges of several species
- no moth fly Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly or Owl Fly]
- 2 winter cranefly Trichocera sp.

Arthropods:
- 1 Common Rough Woodlouse Porcellio scaber

Slugs, snails:
- 1 unidentified slug
- 1 *Garden Snail Cornu aspersum

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

I could not get a better angle on this, what I believe to be a Garden Snail Cornu aspersum.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:25 – 10:50

(232nd visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- very few geese again.
- still six adult Mute Swans.
- a drake Pochard was a new arrival amongst now at least 35 Tufted Duck, many very mobile.
- just five Goosander when I arrived, all brownheads. I did not see them again.
- two full adult Great Crested Grebe were noted each with two begging juveniles in tow. I assume these are the two parents and all the juveniles are from the same brood.
- three Grey Herons today.
- no Little Egret again.
- the Great (White) Egret was in trees at the bottom end when I arrived seemingly unconcerned about passers-by. When someone stopped it took umbrage even though they were not looking at the egret and it flew away South complaining loudly.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 3 Greylag Geese
- 1 Sparrowhawk
- 1 Jackdaw

Noted on / around the water:
- 6 Canada Geese
- no Greylag Geese
- 6 Mute Swans
- *30 (24♂) Mallard
- *1 (1♂) Pochard
- 35 (17?♂) Tufted Duck
- 5 (0♂) Goosander: departed?
- 5 Moorhens
- 21 Coot
- *2 + 4 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebe: see notes
- 12 Black-headed Gulls only
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: adult, briefly
- 7 Cormorants
- 3 Grey Herons
- 1 Great (White) Egret: departed

Noted around the area:
Mostly dull with the odd brighter moment. The vegetation very wet.

Bees, wasps etc.:
- 3 *Common Wasp Vespula vulgaris
- >15 wasp Vespula sp.

Hoverflies:
none

Other true flies:
- 1 *Root-maggot fly, just perhaps Hylemya vagans
- 1 *Muscid fly Phaonia rufiventris
- 1 *female Yellow Dung Fly Scathophaga stercoraria
- 1 *aphid?
several other species of fly not identified

I suspect this was one of the Mallard ducklings put in to the water by someone unknown late in the season. It is still moulting in to drake plumage showing a full adult bill and some green on the crown. Four flank feathers are still to be replaced. I am somewhat surprised that the diagnostic curled tail-feather is yet to appear.

Very smart: a drake Pochard, my first of the second-winter period.

One of the adult Great Crested Grebes caught a sizeable fish. The two juveniles were not too close at the time and it swallowed the fish itself. It might have been too difficult for a juvenile to manage anyway.

At ease one of the three wasps that I could confirm was a Common Wasp Vespula vulgaris by the parallel-sided yellow mark on the side of the thorax.

One of the Root-maggot flies. The pale and lightly-banded abdomen fits the species Hylemya vagans as does the flight period. There are of course similar species.

This is the Muscid fly Phaonia rufiventris

A female Yellow Dung Fly Scathophaga stercoraria. Only the males of this species are yellow. This specimen seems to have a parasite on its thorax.

Not sure about this. I noted it in flight and disappearing on the underside of a Common or Stinging Nettle leaf Urtica dioica . I turned the leaf over, getting stung so you don't have to! My best suggestion is that this tine creature is the winged form of an unidentified aphid.

(Ed Wilson)

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2010
Priorslee Lake
Water Rail
9 Meadow Pipits
143 Fieldfare
8 Redwings
(Ed Wilson)

2009
Priorslee Lake
1 Yellow-legged Gull
2 Common Gull
6 Wigeon
(John Isherwood)

2006
Priorslee Lake
Female Blackcap
(John Isherwood)