12 Nov 26

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

2.0°C > 5.0°C: Clear start; clouded for a while from the North; then clear again. Light / moderate northerly breeze sufficient to keep the frost away. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 07:27 GMT

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

More or less back to normal though I did not check the Priorslee Avenue tunnel..

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 06:05 – 09:05

(253rd visit of the year)

Bird notes:
A postscript to yesterday's skein of 80 Pink-footed Geese. The daily Belvide blog had a report of "55 Pink-footed Geese flying north-north-west over Codsall in the morning". This was likely the same flock. I had an advantage in being able to specifically count them from a photo. I surmise the Codsall sighting could have been "a Mk.1 eye-ball".

The "what is it if it is not a Cetti's Warbler?" was heard yet again but just twice before sunrise. One of the calls was more sustained and I am not happy that it is indeed a Cetti's Warbler..

Other bird notes:
- a male Pheasant was calling from the south-west copse but did not apparently venture on to the adjacent grassy area.
- a Greylag Goose visited briefly.
- no Mute Swans today.
- even more Tufted Duck than yesterday. I could not find any Pochard. Unlike yesterday birds were spread out all across the water and continually diving. The low sun did not help.
- a Little Grebe noted: only one Great Crested Grebe seen.
- at least 600 Lesser Black-backed Gulls were present by 06:40. Black-headed Gulls were later arriving and I was not well-positioned to see them. I only noted c.50.
- later I noted eight Herring Gulls and 64 Lesser Black-backs arrive.
- five Cormorants arrived singly.
- a Peregrine flew over at 07:25. None of the birds seemed to take any notice of it.
- there was no Wood Pigeon passage.
- the low count of Jackdaws and Rooks is not entirely explained by the northerly wind. This causes them to fly higher than usual and does make them harder to see. There should have been more.
- Winter thrushes remain scarce. A lone Fieldfare flew East: and two Redwings were seen leaving roosts around the water. My Merlin app failed to record the calling Fieldfare but heard both the Redwings. I did not hear those and only saw them. I guess in part it depends upon the sensitivity and frequency range of the phone's microphone.
- two parties each of >50 Starlings departed from South-side reeds concurrently. A lone bird left from the North side later.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 6 Greylag Geese: a duo and a quarter flew East
- 16 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Peregrine
- 1 Stock Dove
- 15 Wood Pigeons
- 82 Jackdaws
- 85 Rooks
- 1 Fieldfare
- 1 Pied Wagtail
- 1 Lesser Redpoll
- 2 Siskins

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 Canada Geese: throughout
- 1 Greylag Goose: visited briefly
- no Mute Swans
- 21 (13♂) Mallard
- no Pochard
- 84 (>36♂) Tufted Duck
- 3 Moorhens
- 18 *Coots
- 1 Little Grebe
- 1 Great Crested Grebe only
- >50 *Black-headed Gulls
- 8 Herring Gulls
- >650 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 5 Cormorants
- 2 Grey Herons: one chased away

Birds seen leaving roosts around the water:
- >100 Starlings
- 2 Redwings

On the West end street lamp poles:
Dew covered but not frosted. Not much and mostly unidentified!

Flies:
- 1 *winter cranefly sp.
- 1 *unidentified fly

Leafhoppers:
- 1 *unidentified leafhopper

Springtails:
- 1 globular springtail sp.

Aphid:
- 1 full-winged black aphid sp.

Beetles:
- 1 Cabbage-stem Flea Beetle Psylliodes chrysocephala

The clear sky did not seem likely to produce an interesting sunrise. Note the few wisps of clouds that were the advance party of more general cloud...

...giving an unexpectedly colourful sunrise.

Max. colour!

Talking of colour: a Poplar tree (perhaps, you know botany is not my strong subject)

The Coot has found some food and the Black-headed Gulls want it.

5:1 is not fair.

Somewhere under there is a Coot.

I probably should not have done this. This photo of the Blue Tit was taken with camera-flash. It didn't seem to mind.

This fly was the most interesting inhabitant of the West end street lamp poles pre-dawn. An unusual fawn colour with prominent markings on the abdomen and relatively long antennae. Neither of my apps gave any reasonable identity. Google Lens was perhaps did better with a horsefly. The species suggested had patterned wings and not patterned abdomen. I suspect it is too late in the year for horseflies to be active.

A winter cranefly that looks as if it has been drawn through a hedge backward. Probably through a spider's web sideways.

A leafhopper. There are many species that are mostly green as here.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:30 – 10:25

(251st visit of the year)

Note
A postscript here as well. Yesterday unidentified moth is confirmed as White Birch Tortrix Acleris logiana [was Grey Birch Button]. Thanks to Martin Adlam for pointing me in the right direction and to the Shropshire recorder for confirming its identity. Checking my logs I find I saw one here on 26 October 2024 – my only other record of this moth. Doh! The West Midlands Moths web site notes "An uncommon but increasing migrant and now resident in the region". This species is double-brooded with the second brood over-wintering as an adult. It was still present today. Moth species #55 here this year for me.

Bird notes:
- no sign of the Mute Swan (that I note I have failed to tabulate it for several days)
- still two drake Shoveler and no (Common) Teal seen.
- a large gathering of Mallard appeared when food (corn I think) was proffered. It was just about possible to count them but they were too mobile to sex them accurately.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 2 Jackdaws

Noted on / around the water:
- 1 Canada Goose
- 2 Greylag Geese
- no Mute Swan
- 2 (2♂) Shoveler
- 37 (>21♂) *Mallard
- no (Common) Teal
- 18 (2♂) Tufted Duck
- 7 Moorhens again
- 17 Coot
- 53 Black-headed Gulls
- no Cormorant
- 1 Grey Heron

Noted around the area:
Sunny but cold. The Ivy sheltered from the wind and very busy with more, mostly unidentified, flies than everything else.

Moths:
- 1 White Birch Tortrix Acleris logiana

Bees, wasps etc.:
- 1+ *German Wasp Vespula germanica
- 1+ Common Wasp Vespula vulgaris
- >25 other wasps Vespula sp.

Hoverflies:
- >5 *Tapered Dronefly Eristalis pertinax [Tapered Drone Fly]
- >1 *Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax

True flies:
perm many dozen from these species
- *Blow Fly Calliphora sp.
- Greenbottle Lucilia sp.
- *Awkward Clusterfly Pollenia rudis
- Flesh fly Sarcophaga sp.

Food was available so in come the Mallard. A drake...

......under-carriage down...

 ...looking to see a landing spot.

A Great Tit of course. Most of the time I seem to photograph males: this looks to be a female without the very broad black belly "zip" of the male.

And a Blue Tit. Not so easy to sex this species. I am sure they manage.

Let's complete the set. A Long-tailed Tit looking for its next meal.

Long-tailed indeed.

Probably the same Robin I photographed yesterday when it was in the close-by bushes.

Different Robin. This one at the top end.

What I believe is a German Wasp Vespula germanica mainly because the yellow on the side of the thorax is not parallel-sided.

A male Tapered Dronefly Eristalis pertinax.

And another with different markings on the abdomen.

A Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax

A Common Blow Fly Calliphora vicina at ease.

On the right with the golden hairs on its thorax is probably an Awkward Clusterfly Pollenia rudis. There are eight Pollenia species in the UK which require microscopic examination to specifically identify. This is by far the most common species. On the likely another Blow Fly Calliphora sp.

Not as impressive as the Autumn colour at the lake. This is a Horse-chestnut Aesculus hippocastanum (even I can recognise one of those).

Plane of the day. This is a Cirrus Design Cirrus SR22. The Wilmslow owner flies it out of Liverpool's John Lennon Airport (what's wrong with Speke?). He was on a day-trip to Blackbushe Airport in Hampshire.

(Ed Wilson)

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2013
Priorslee Lake
1 Wigeon
7 Gadwall
2 Teal
59 Tufted Duck
1 Water Rail
27 Moorhens
239 Coots
c.440 Wood Pigeons
8 Song Thrushes
567 Fieldfare
26 Redwings
270 Jackdaws
106 Rooks
c.310 Starlings from roost
(Ed Wilson)

2012
Priorslee Lake
103 Starlings
3 Gadwall
6 Pochard
19 Tufted Ducks
8 Goosander
139 Coots
52 Redwings
55 Fieldfares
571 Jackdaws
128 Rooks
(Ed Wilson)

2008
Priorslee Lake
8 Great Crested Grebes
9 Cormorants
8 Pochard
117 Tufted Ducks
2000+ Wood Pigeons
400+ Fieldfare
125+ Redwings
33 Starlings
10+ Siskins
(Ed Wilson)

2007
Priorslee Lake
Gadwall
Shoveler
2 Water Rails
c.50 Lapwings
c.150 Golden Plover
6 Redwings
3 Fieldfare
Chiffchaff
Several Siskins
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
65 Pochard
65 Tufted Ducks
1 eclipse drake Ruddy Duck
1 Water Rail
50 Coots
500+ Golden Plover
1 Woodcock
790+ Black-headed Gulls
1753+ Lesser Black-backed Gulls
962 Wood Pigeons
130 Fieldfare
93 Redwings
393 Jackdaws
135 Rooks
174 Starlings
34 Greenfinches
6 Reed Buntings
(Ed Wilson)

2005
Priorslee Lake
2 Little Grebe
9 Pochard
63 Tufted Duck
5 Ruddy Duck
Water Rail
800 Black-headed Gull
Cormorant
10 Redwing
9 Reed Bunting
3 Redpoll
9 Siskin
(Martin Adlam)