Before I start the narrative I need to give another special vote of thanks to Martin Adlam. For many years he has formatted my text and set my photos in to the professional-looking format you see on the web site. Latterly he has added these to the Priorslee Facebook Group.
In the latter part of this year Martin was hospitalised with his recovery taking longer than anticipated. Throughout he managed to post an unformatted version of my narrative. He has now completed all the re-formatting and retro-fitting of my photos of the period. All are available on the web site by using the "older posts" link at the foot of each page.
This hard work is very much appreciated.
2024 Priorslee Balancing Lake Narrative
The number of bird species I have recorded while at Priorslee Balancing Lake this year is 103 (102 in 2023 and also in 2022; 112 in 2021 and 109 in 2020)
The first winter was very quiet. There were no unusual duck species and a dearth of all ducks on Spring passage. The more unusual large gull species – Yellow-legged, Caspian and Great Black-Backed Gulls – were all just about ticked off. Meanwhile both Mediterranean and Common Gulls went unrecorded as did any passing Kittiwakes. In fairness Common Gulls are always far from common in this part of Shropshire for reasons that are unclear.
Spring migration was better than some years, notably the warblers once they started. Up to 20 Willow Warblers a day passed. At least five Grasshopper Warblers were, typically, heard only moving through. There were at least nine Sedge Warblers with six singing on one day. None stayed.
Three breeding warbler species (Chiffchaff, Blackcap and Reed Warbler) seemed to be in average numbers. There was only one Common Whitethroat territory this year (usually three). A lone Garden Warbler sang for two weeks and then gave up (three territories last year).
Who knows about Lesser Whitethroat? It sang and then disappeared. However this species usually stops singing as soon as it is paired and then stay well-hidden.
That other skulker, Cetti's Warbler, did not seem to breed this year though what I presume is the same bird has been singing for over two years and may still be here – I last heard one on Christmas Day. This warbler species does not migrate.
The resident Mute Swans had only four cygnets. These did not show any sign of growing and soon disappeared. It may have been the cold and wet weather, though avian flu may have affected things. The cob then went on to drown the goslings from single broods of both Canada and Greylag Geese. He did the same thing last year. Later in the year as many as 25 other Mute Swans arrived in several groups. Whether it was because the resident pair had no cygnets to protect or perhaps they were simply overwhelmed but the visitors stayed several months. All but one first year bird had gone by the year's end.
Eventually there were good numbers of Sand Martins, Barn Swallows, House Martins and, later, Swifts hawking insects over the water as they arrived from Africa. The Swifts were in particularly good numbers and stayed around for several weeks, the cold and wet delaying their onward dispersal to their nest sites.
I saw no tern species on either Spring or Autumn passage. A pair of Common Terns was noted visiting on one day mid-Summer.
Wader passage consisted only of Common Sandpipers moving in both periods, in lower numbers than usual. A single Common Redshank was the only other 'real' migrant wader. Lapwings are waders: they are very uncommon these days, sightings being more likely to be of Winter visitors as was the single Common Snipe sighting.
Also disappointing was the Spring movement of departing wildfowl. In contrast I noted my best Autumn passage with multiple sightings of (Eurasian) Wigeon, Shoveler, (Common) Teal, and Goosander with a single smart drake Goldeneye.
The second winter period may have been good for ducks but it was very poor for Winter thrushes (Fieldfares and Redwings). There were few berries in the hedgerow for them, this despite an abundance of flowers earlier. Probably the cold and wet weather and the consequent dearth of insects meant many flowers were not pollinated. This conjecture is supported by the behaviour of Blackbirds in my garden. These, along with Wood Pigeons, are devouring the berries on a tree in my front garden. These hard berries are not normally touched and are left to fall in to the lawn. Here they become projectiles during the first Flymo-ing in Spring.
A Great (White) Egret has been noted intermittently since mid-October: my first long-term visitor. For such a large and conspicuous bird it could be surprisingly elusive. It would take two steps in to the reeds and just 'disappear'. It rounded up a year in which I have, exceptionally, had more sighting of Greats than I have of Little Egrets.
The number of moth species I recorded this year is 91 (100 in 2023; 95 in 2022). A disappointing total this year. As I did not go to the USA in late July I was present at a time when moth species are abundant and I would have expected a higher species number. I did manage to add four species to my Shropshire moth list.
Most other insects were in dismal numbers.
It was generally recognised as a very poor year for most species of butterfly. I did manage my second-ever record of Small Copper here. I did not see any Small Skippers or Small Whites. The Buddleia remained almost devoid of visitors and I did not record any Painted Lady, Peacock or Small Tortoiseshell visitors there or elsewhere. For some reason I logged more Comma than usual.
There were some interesting Andrena mining bee species in May, if only I could identify them correctly with or without the help of Obsidentify and Steven Falk's Field Guide. A probable Willughby's Leafcutter Bee Megachile willughbiella was new genus of bee for me. Wasps only put in an appearance very late in the season.
Damselflies were, as usual, dominated by hordes of Common Blue Damselflies. This year I saw many more Red-eyed Damselflies than in previous years, perhaps because I am "getting my eye in".
In a poor season for hoverflies I did manage to add Gold-spotted Meligramma Meligramma euchromum (also called Gold-spotted Smoothtail) to my list.
Thanks to the Shropshire recorder I have added a number of beetle records though many are tentative with many species being impossible to specifically identify from photos. A Meadow Ladybird Rhyzobius litura started the year off in fine style.
Despite the wet weather I have seen very little fungus after the excesses of last year.
Bird species recorded this year here in the order I noted them:
01/01/24 Song Thrush
01/01/24 Robin
01/01/24 Blackbird
01/01/24 Moorhen
01/01/24 Coot
01/01/24 Magpie
01/01/24 Mute Swan
01/01/24 Tufted Duck
01/01/24 Cetti's Warbler
01/01/24 Canada Goose
01/01/24 Jackdaw
01/01/24 Wren
01/01/24 Carrion Crow
01/01/24 Herring Gull
01/01/24 Lesser Black-backed Gull
01/01/24 Greylag Goose
01/01/24 Black-headed Gull
01/01/24 Rook
01/01/24 Sparrowhawk
01/01/24 Wood Pigeon
01/01/24 Pied Wagtail
01/01/24 Siskin
01/01/24 Blue Tit
01/01/24 Cormorant
01/01/24 Great Tit
01/01/24 Long-tailed Tit
01/01/24 Chaffinch
01/01/24 Mallard
01/01/24 Treecreeper
01/01/24 Jay
01/01/24 Redwing
01/01/24 Dunnock
01/01/24 Goldfinch
01/01/24 Goosander
01/01/24 Stock Dove
01/01/24 Pochard
01/01/24 Water Rail
02/01/24 Reed Bunting
02/01/24 Common Buzzard
02/01/24 Grey Heron
02/01/24 Great Crested Grebe
02/01/24 Yellow-legged Gull
02/01/24 Mistle Thrush
03/01/24 Grey Wagtail
04/01/24 Great Spotted Woodpecker
05/01/24 Great Black-backed Gull
07/01/24 Woodcock
07/01/24 Goldcrest
07/01/24 Coal Tit
07/01/24 House Sparrow
10/01/24 Gadwall
11/01/24 Bullfinch
11/01/24 Feral Pigeon
11/01/24 Collared Dove
12/01/24 Raven
20/01/24 Caspian Gull
22/01/24 Greenfinch
23/01/24 Starling
27/01/24 Lesser Redpoll
28/01/24 Fieldfare
04/02/24 Tawny Owl
20/02/24 Shoveler
24/02/24 Little Grebe
26/02/24 Golden Plover
03/03/24 Kingfisher
09/03/24 Chiffchaff
16/03/24 Pheasant
16/03/24 Great White Egret
18/03/24 Curlew
18/03/24 Nuthatch
19/03/24 Blackcap
19/03/24 Sand Martin
21/03/24 Shelduck
22/03/24 Willow Warbler
22/03/24 Common Kestrel
22/03/24 Skylark
23/03/24 Barn Swallow
02/04/24 Lapwing
04/04/24 Meadow Pipit
07/04/24 Common Sandpiper
13/04/24 Sedge Warbler
13/04/24 Common Whitethroat
13/04/24 Grasshopper Warbler
21/04/24 Swift
22/04/24 House Martin
23/04/24 Reed Warbler
23/04/24 Lesser Whitethroat
26/04/24 Oystercatcher
26/04/24 Garden Warbler
30/04/24 Whimbrel
07/05/24 Common Scoter
16/05/24 Common Tern
31/05/24 Hobby
14/06/24 Peregrine
28/06/24 Little Egret
01/07/24 Yellow Wagtail
11/07/24 (Common) Redshank
25/07/24 Linnet
01/09/24 Eurasian Wigeon
16/09/24 (Common) Teal
27/10/24 Red-legged Partridge
13/11/24 Snipe
20/11/24 (Common) Goldeneye
Bird species recorded by me here in 2024 but not in 2023
Red-legged Partridge
Common Scoter
Golden Plover
Whimbrel
(Common) Redshank
Common Tern
Grasshopper Warbler
Bird species recorded by me here in 2023 but not in 2024
Pink-footed Goose
Egyptian Goose
Pintail
Common Gull
Mediterranean Gull
Yellowhammer
Moths
The following were new moth species for me in 2024 (compiling this list was not helped by the changes made to the vernacular names of the many species of micro moth on the West Midlands Moths web site). In sighting order:
* = a moth new for me in Shropshire
Alder Stilt Caloptilia elongella
*Pearly Grass-miner Elachista apicipunctella
White-line Pollen-moth Micropterix aruncella
White-speckled Bagworm Narycia duplicella
*Short-cloaked Moth Nola cucullatella
*Phyllonorycter species
*White-marked Stilt Calybites phasianipennella
And leaf-mines only of the rarely seen:
Golden Pigmy Stigmella aurella
I'll spare you long lists of other things.
In the latter part of this year Martin was hospitalised with his recovery taking longer than anticipated. Throughout he managed to post an unformatted version of my narrative. He has now completed all the re-formatting and retro-fitting of my photos of the period. All are available on the web site by using the "older posts" link at the foot of each page.
This hard work is very much appreciated.
2024 Priorslee Balancing Lake Narrative
The number of bird species I have recorded while at Priorslee Balancing Lake this year is 103 (102 in 2023 and also in 2022; 112 in 2021 and 109 in 2020)
The first winter was very quiet. There were no unusual duck species and a dearth of all ducks on Spring passage. The more unusual large gull species – Yellow-legged, Caspian and Great Black-Backed Gulls – were all just about ticked off. Meanwhile both Mediterranean and Common Gulls went unrecorded as did any passing Kittiwakes. In fairness Common Gulls are always far from common in this part of Shropshire for reasons that are unclear.
Spring migration was better than some years, notably the warblers once they started. Up to 20 Willow Warblers a day passed. At least five Grasshopper Warblers were, typically, heard only moving through. There were at least nine Sedge Warblers with six singing on one day. None stayed.
Three breeding warbler species (Chiffchaff, Blackcap and Reed Warbler) seemed to be in average numbers. There was only one Common Whitethroat territory this year (usually three). A lone Garden Warbler sang for two weeks and then gave up (three territories last year).
Who knows about Lesser Whitethroat? It sang and then disappeared. However this species usually stops singing as soon as it is paired and then stay well-hidden.
That other skulker, Cetti's Warbler, did not seem to breed this year though what I presume is the same bird has been singing for over two years and may still be here – I last heard one on Christmas Day. This warbler species does not migrate.
The resident Mute Swans had only four cygnets. These did not show any sign of growing and soon disappeared. It may have been the cold and wet weather, though avian flu may have affected things. The cob then went on to drown the goslings from single broods of both Canada and Greylag Geese. He did the same thing last year. Later in the year as many as 25 other Mute Swans arrived in several groups. Whether it was because the resident pair had no cygnets to protect or perhaps they were simply overwhelmed but the visitors stayed several months. All but one first year bird had gone by the year's end.
Eventually there were good numbers of Sand Martins, Barn Swallows, House Martins and, later, Swifts hawking insects over the water as they arrived from Africa. The Swifts were in particularly good numbers and stayed around for several weeks, the cold and wet delaying their onward dispersal to their nest sites.
I saw no tern species on either Spring or Autumn passage. A pair of Common Terns was noted visiting on one day mid-Summer.
Wader passage consisted only of Common Sandpipers moving in both periods, in lower numbers than usual. A single Common Redshank was the only other 'real' migrant wader. Lapwings are waders: they are very uncommon these days, sightings being more likely to be of Winter visitors as was the single Common Snipe sighting.
Also disappointing was the Spring movement of departing wildfowl. In contrast I noted my best Autumn passage with multiple sightings of (Eurasian) Wigeon, Shoveler, (Common) Teal, and Goosander with a single smart drake Goldeneye.
The second winter period may have been good for ducks but it was very poor for Winter thrushes (Fieldfares and Redwings). There were few berries in the hedgerow for them, this despite an abundance of flowers earlier. Probably the cold and wet weather and the consequent dearth of insects meant many flowers were not pollinated. This conjecture is supported by the behaviour of Blackbirds in my garden. These, along with Wood Pigeons, are devouring the berries on a tree in my front garden. These hard berries are not normally touched and are left to fall in to the lawn. Here they become projectiles during the first Flymo-ing in Spring.
A Great (White) Egret has been noted intermittently since mid-October: my first long-term visitor. For such a large and conspicuous bird it could be surprisingly elusive. It would take two steps in to the reeds and just 'disappear'. It rounded up a year in which I have, exceptionally, had more sighting of Greats than I have of Little Egrets.
The number of moth species I recorded this year is 91 (100 in 2023; 95 in 2022). A disappointing total this year. As I did not go to the USA in late July I was present at a time when moth species are abundant and I would have expected a higher species number. I did manage to add four species to my Shropshire moth list.
Most other insects were in dismal numbers.
It was generally recognised as a very poor year for most species of butterfly. I did manage my second-ever record of Small Copper here. I did not see any Small Skippers or Small Whites. The Buddleia remained almost devoid of visitors and I did not record any Painted Lady, Peacock or Small Tortoiseshell visitors there or elsewhere. For some reason I logged more Comma than usual.
There were some interesting Andrena mining bee species in May, if only I could identify them correctly with or without the help of Obsidentify and Steven Falk's Field Guide. A probable Willughby's Leafcutter Bee Megachile willughbiella was new genus of bee for me. Wasps only put in an appearance very late in the season.
Damselflies were, as usual, dominated by hordes of Common Blue Damselflies. This year I saw many more Red-eyed Damselflies than in previous years, perhaps because I am "getting my eye in".
In a poor season for hoverflies I did manage to add Gold-spotted Meligramma Meligramma euchromum (also called Gold-spotted Smoothtail) to my list.
Thanks to the Shropshire recorder I have added a number of beetle records though many are tentative with many species being impossible to specifically identify from photos. A Meadow Ladybird Rhyzobius litura started the year off in fine style.
Despite the wet weather I have seen very little fungus after the excesses of last year.
Bird species recorded this year here in the order I noted them:
01/01/24 Song Thrush
01/01/24 Robin
01/01/24 Blackbird
01/01/24 Moorhen
01/01/24 Coot
01/01/24 Magpie
01/01/24 Mute Swan
01/01/24 Tufted Duck
01/01/24 Cetti's Warbler
01/01/24 Canada Goose
01/01/24 Jackdaw
01/01/24 Wren
01/01/24 Carrion Crow
01/01/24 Herring Gull
01/01/24 Lesser Black-backed Gull
01/01/24 Greylag Goose
01/01/24 Black-headed Gull
01/01/24 Rook
01/01/24 Sparrowhawk
01/01/24 Wood Pigeon
01/01/24 Pied Wagtail
01/01/24 Siskin
01/01/24 Blue Tit
01/01/24 Cormorant
01/01/24 Great Tit
01/01/24 Long-tailed Tit
01/01/24 Chaffinch
01/01/24 Mallard
01/01/24 Treecreeper
01/01/24 Jay
01/01/24 Redwing
01/01/24 Dunnock
01/01/24 Goldfinch
01/01/24 Goosander
01/01/24 Stock Dove
01/01/24 Pochard
01/01/24 Water Rail
02/01/24 Reed Bunting
02/01/24 Common Buzzard
02/01/24 Grey Heron
02/01/24 Great Crested Grebe
02/01/24 Yellow-legged Gull
02/01/24 Mistle Thrush
03/01/24 Grey Wagtail
04/01/24 Great Spotted Woodpecker
05/01/24 Great Black-backed Gull
07/01/24 Woodcock
07/01/24 Goldcrest
07/01/24 Coal Tit
07/01/24 House Sparrow
10/01/24 Gadwall
11/01/24 Bullfinch
11/01/24 Feral Pigeon
11/01/24 Collared Dove
12/01/24 Raven
20/01/24 Caspian Gull
22/01/24 Greenfinch
23/01/24 Starling
27/01/24 Lesser Redpoll
28/01/24 Fieldfare
04/02/24 Tawny Owl
20/02/24 Shoveler
24/02/24 Little Grebe
26/02/24 Golden Plover
03/03/24 Kingfisher
09/03/24 Chiffchaff
16/03/24 Pheasant
16/03/24 Great White Egret
18/03/24 Curlew
18/03/24 Nuthatch
19/03/24 Blackcap
19/03/24 Sand Martin
21/03/24 Shelduck
22/03/24 Willow Warbler
22/03/24 Common Kestrel
22/03/24 Skylark
23/03/24 Barn Swallow
02/04/24 Lapwing
04/04/24 Meadow Pipit
07/04/24 Common Sandpiper
13/04/24 Sedge Warbler
13/04/24 Common Whitethroat
13/04/24 Grasshopper Warbler
21/04/24 Swift
22/04/24 House Martin
23/04/24 Reed Warbler
23/04/24 Lesser Whitethroat
26/04/24 Oystercatcher
26/04/24 Garden Warbler
30/04/24 Whimbrel
07/05/24 Common Scoter
16/05/24 Common Tern
31/05/24 Hobby
14/06/24 Peregrine
28/06/24 Little Egret
01/07/24 Yellow Wagtail
11/07/24 (Common) Redshank
25/07/24 Linnet
01/09/24 Eurasian Wigeon
16/09/24 (Common) Teal
27/10/24 Red-legged Partridge
13/11/24 Snipe
20/11/24 (Common) Goldeneye
Bird species recorded by me here in 2024 but not in 2023
Red-legged Partridge
Common Scoter
Golden Plover
Whimbrel
(Common) Redshank
Common Tern
Grasshopper Warbler
Bird species recorded by me here in 2023 but not in 2024
Pink-footed Goose
Egyptian Goose
Pintail
Common Gull
Mediterranean Gull
Yellowhammer
Moths
The following were new moth species for me in 2024 (compiling this list was not helped by the changes made to the vernacular names of the many species of micro moth on the West Midlands Moths web site). In sighting order:
* = a moth new for me in Shropshire
Alder Stilt Caloptilia elongella
*Pearly Grass-miner Elachista apicipunctella
White-line Pollen-moth Micropterix aruncella
White-speckled Bagworm Narycia duplicella
*Short-cloaked Moth Nola cucullatella
*Phyllonorycter species
*White-marked Stilt Calybites phasianipennella
And leaf-mines only of the rarely seen:
Golden Pigmy Stigmella aurella
I'll spare you long lists of other things.
(Ed Wilson)