9 May 22

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

8.0°C > 14.0°C: Thin high cloud, increasing and lowering somewhat. Calm at dawn: light ESE later. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 05:24 BST

* = a photo today

Priorslee Lake: 04:50 – 05:55 // 06:55 – 09:40

(107th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- The Canada Geese have lost one of their goslings. Another adult visited briefly.
- A Jackdaw was seen on what remains of the academy playing field now that they have covered most of it with delightful mauve boxes. It is unusual to see this species on the ground in the area
- I had no visual confirmation but it sounded as if at least one of the four(?) breeding groups of Long-tailed Tits has fledged young.
- Garden Warbler not noted again.
- House Sparrows seem to be taking over with at least six birds seen along the S side and at the W end.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 1 Canada Goose: undecided about where to go
- 1 Tufted Duck: sex not determined
- 1 Stock Dove again
- 9 Wood Pigeons
- 2 Herring Gulls: immatures
- 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: (near) adults
- 3 Jackdaws
- 1 Rook

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 2 Barn Swallows

Numbers remain dire. There are Swifts and House Martins over my Newport house but at present in lower numbers than usual.

Warblers noted (figures in brackets relate to singing birds):
- 1 (1) Cetti's Warbler
- 15 (13) Chiffchaffs
- 2 (2) Sedge Warblers
- 7 (7) Reed Warblers again
- 25 (19) Blackcaps
- 2 (2) Common Whitethroats

Counts from the lake area:
- 3 + 2 (1 brood) Canada Geese: a third adult briefly visited
- 2 Mute Swans: pen still on nest
- 5 (5♂) Mallard
- 3 (2♂) Tufted Duck: all departed
- 4 Moorhens
- 20 + 5 (2 broods) Coots
- 4 Great Crested Grebes
- 1 Back-headed Gull: first year, very briefly

Noted on / around the street lamp poles pre-dawn:
- 1 Tetragnatha sp. stretch spider

Noted later:

Butterflies:
- Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria)

Moths
- Common Nettle-tap (Anthophila fabriciana)
- *Drinker (Euthrix potatoria) hairy caterpillar
- *small green caterpillar

Bees
- *probable Grey-patched Mining Bee (Andrena nitida)
- Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum)
- Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)

Hoverflies:
- *Common Spotted Field Syrph (Eupeodes luniger)
- *Tiger Hoverfly (Helophilus pendulus)
- Chequered Hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare)
- Pellucid Fly (Volucella pellucens) [Pied Plumehorn]

Dragon- / damsel- flies:
- Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans)
- *emergent larvae

Bugs
- *a click beetle, perhaps Agriotes pallidulus.
- *Red-headed Cardinal Beetle (Pyrochroa serraticornis)
- *Nettle Weevil (Phyllobius pomaceus)

Other things:
- *Alder Fly (Sialis lutaria)
- *cranefly sp. Tipula vittata
- Greenbottle Lucilia sp.
- St Mark's Fly or Hawthorn Fly (Bibio marci)
- *Scorpion Fly (Panorpa sp.)
- *Downlooker Snipefly (Rhagio scolopaceus)
- plus many many other flies of many species
- my first flowers this year of
- *Winter-cress (Barbarea vulgaris)
*Red Clover (Trifolium pratense)
*Tufted Vetch (Vicia cracca)

There was little colour to the sunrise but a rather strange vertical shaft of pale light.


A small green caterpillar with very little to distinguish it as its legs search for something to attach to (and not part of my surprisingly clean finger). With just one proleg ahead of the anal claspers this is certainly not a saw-fly larva. A search of the photos on wildlifeinsight.com has failed to provide an identity.

This hairy caterpillar is of a moth known as The Drinker (Euthrix potatoria). So named because these caterpillars are thought to drink the dew on grasses.

I think this is a male Grey-patched Mining Bee (Andrena nitida). There are nearly 70 species of mining bee in the UK and males often look very different to females. Many species have a coastal distribution but there are more than enough in the Midlands to cause confusion.

This hoverfly is a Common Spotted Field Syrph (Eupeodes luniger).

My first Tiger Hoverfly (Helophilus pendulus) of the year. I used to call these 'The Footballer' but I am standardising hoverfly names as used by Steven Falk on his amazing Flickr photo gallery.

Here a damselfly is making its final moult from a larva to an adult. I quote from british-dragonflies.org: "Larvae climb up emergent vegetation [here the boxing ring on the dam], although some may walk several metres over dry land before finding somewhere suitable to emerge. After finding a secure support, they redistribute their body fluids, pushing the thorax, head, legs and wings out of the larval skin. There is then a pause of about 30 minutes to allow their legs to harden enough for the next stage, when the abdomen is withdrawn. The wings, and then the abdomen, are expanded and start to harden. This process leaves behind a cast skin, called an exuvia, and the whole process lasts between one hour (Damselflies) to three hours (Dragonflies)". I did see Blue-tailed Damselflies (Ischnura elegans) later (no photos as yet).

I suspect this fly is one of the Muscid species. There are so many to choose from. It is an impressive-looking beast.

An Alder Fly (Sialis lutaria).

The very distinct wing markings suggest this cranefly is Tipula vittata.

A close-up of a Scorpion Fly (Panorpa sp.)

A new species of fly for me though apparently common. It is a male Downlooker Snipefly (Rhagio scolopaceus). This one has not read the books and is not sitting with its head pointing downwards – hence the vernacular name.

This seems to be a click beetle, perhaps Agriotes pallidulus. There are the usual confusion species. The contrast between the brown body and a much darker head suggests this species.

Not what you would call camouflaged! A Red-headed Cardinal Beetle (Pyrochroa serraticornis).

The camouflage is better on this which is probably a Nettle Weevil (Phyllobius pomaceus). There are at least nine species in the genus that require the usual microscopic examination. This is the most common and it is on a nettle.

I see this plant every year but I do not seem to have identified it. I may have assumed it was a oil-seed rape type that has escaped from the fields. Doing a bit more research I suspect it is Winter-cress (Barbarea vulgaris).

Not exactly 'red': this is a Red Clover flower (Trifolium pratense). This species flowers earlier and stays flowering longer than White Clover (Trifolium repens).

Vetches are a confusing group of flowers. I think this is Tufted Vetch (Vicia cracca)

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:00 – 06:50

(104th visit of the year)

Another quiet morning

Bird notes:
- Still just the one Canada Goose goslings.
- Both broods of Greylag Geese apparently reduced in number (from eight to six; and four to two). It is just possible that another brood was hidden inside the island.
- A second brood of Coots noted: these were more advanced than the brood seen for the last few days and must have been hiding away.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 1 Tufted Duck: sex not determined
- 2 Starlings again

Hirundines etc. noted:
Still none again

Warblers noted (figures in brackets relate to singing birds):
- 3 (3) Chiffchaffs only
- 6 (6) Blackcaps

Noted on / around the water:
- 42 + 1 (1 brood) Canada Geese
- *4 + 8 (2 broods) Greylag Geese
- 3 Mute Swans
- 16 (12♂) Mallard only
- 1 (1♂) all-white duck (Aylesbury Duck)
- *6 Moorhens
- 24 + 5 (2 broods) Coots
- 2 Great Crested Grebes

Noted on / around the street lamp poles
- 1 female midge

Noted elsewhere:
- *1 Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)

Well it looks like this pair of Greylag Geese have five goslings.

There are in fact six. I assume this is the pair who had eight goslings yesterday?

Not easy to see and something you do not see too often. This is a Moorhens' nest with a bird sitting in it. Nests are usually very well hidden.

On size this has to be a queen bumblebee sunning herself on a tree-trunk. It is a Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) with extensive buff on the tail – usually the tip is white or at least pale. Not on this one.

(Ed Wilson)

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Between the lake and The Flash:

- 2 Moorhens at the upper pool.
- 1 Chiffchaff initially singing at the upper pool and later between the two pools, assumed the same.
- 1 Blackcap calling near the upper pool.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

- only plumed and other midges noted

(Ed Wilson)

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On this day can be found via the yearly links in the right-hand column.

Sightings from previous years without links are below

2013
Priorslee Lake
Shelduck
(Ed Wilson)

2012
Priorslee Lake
Grasshopper Warbler
(John Isherwood)

2009
Nedge Hill
Whinchat
Wheatear
(John Isherwood)

2008
Priorslee Lake
Arctic Tern
(Ed Wilson)

Nedge Hill
2 Wheatear
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
2 Ruddy Ducks
(Ed Wilson)

8 May 22

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

10.0°C > 11.0°C: Low / medium overcast. Light / moderate ESE wind. Good visibility.

Sunrise: 05:25 BST

* = a photo today

Priorslee Lake: 04:55 – 06:00 // 07:00 – 08:30

(106th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- One of the fishermen had been kept busy chasing the cob Mute Swan and preventing it attacking the Canada Geese and their goslings. Will they survive?
- The two pairs of Tufted Duck were a surprise given their complete absence from The Flash.
- A pair of House Sparrow was seen along the S side again.
- Bumper number of 20 singing Blackcaps noted.
- I did not hear or see a Garden Warbler on any of my passages past its previous singing area.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 7 Canada Geese: pair outbound; pair and trio inbound
- 4 Greylag Geese: together as two pairs outbound
- 1 Stock Dove
- 8 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Collared Dove
- 11 unidentified large gulls flew W together at 05:15
- 4 Jackdaws
- no Rooks

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 1 Sand Martin again
- 8 Barn Swallows

Warblers noted (figures in brackets relate to singing birds):
- 1 (1) Cetti's Warbler
- 16 (14) Chiffchaffs
- 2 (2) Sedge Warblers again
- 8 (8) Reed Warblers again
- 24 (20) Blackcaps: gulp
- no Garden Warbler
- no Lesser Whitethroat
- 2 (2) Common Whitethroats

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 3 (1 brood) Canada Geese
- 2 Mute Swans: pen on nest
- 2 (2♂) Mallard
- 4 (2♂) Tufted Duck
- 3 Moorhens still
- 19 Coots: no juveniles seen
- 6 Great Crested Grebes again
- 1 Back-headed Gull: first year, briefly
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: first year, briefly

On / around the street lamp poles pre-dawn:
Nothing noted

Noted later:

Moths
- *White-pinion Spotted (Lomographa bimaculata)

Dragon / damsel-flies:
- *Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula)

Other things:
- St Mark's Fly or Hawthorn Fly (Bibio marci)
- *a sawfly which might be Aglaostigma fulvipes
- Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni)
- *flowers of Green Alkanet (Pentaglottis sempervirens)

A confiding male Pied Wagtail on the dam-face.

Not sure what he is doing here. There is something on the tip of its bill...

 ...but it is still there in this later photo.

"Which shoes did I put on this morning?"

He did not seem to be doing much.

Meanwhile his partner (I assume – you cannot be too careful these days) was busy collecting a beakful of yummy squirmy things.

Talking of yummy squirmy things here is a Long-tailed Tit with a beak-load. At this nest site I was amazed at the constant supply of food being shuttled in by at least three adults. Where do they find all the morsels? As a communal bird species there are frequently 'helpers', often last year's birds, to participate in the nesting activity.

A White-pinion Spotted moth (Lomographa bimaculata). I noticed this resting, mostly hidden between sycamore leaves. I was amazed it allowed me to gently separate the leaves to take its photo. I have two previous records of this species here: on 27 May in both 2015 and 2016.

This is one of the c.500 species of sawfly known from Great Britain. Most cannot be positively identified from photographs. The yellow marks on the head and thorax suggest it might be Aglaostigma fulvipes. A view of the abdomen markings might have helped.

A bit of good fortune. As I bent down to photograph this Green Alkanet (Pentaglottis sempervirens) I saw out of the corner of my eye....

...a dark shape hanging down the stem of a Dandelion well past its best. Closer examination revealed it to be a resting Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula).

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:05 – 06:55

(103rd visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- Again only one Canada Goose goslings noted. I fear the worse as the 2019 Mute Swan was chasing Greylag Geese. It has clearly learned his craft from his now deceased father.
- *Two broods of Greylag Geese of eight and four goslings were new. Will they survive?

Birds noted flying over here:
- 2 Jackdaws
- 2 Starlings

Hirundines etc. noted:
None

Warblers noted (figures in brackets relate to singing birds):
- 6 (6) Chiffchaffs still
- 6 (5) Blackcaps

Noted on / around the water:
- 30 + 1 (1 brood) Canada Geese
- *6 + 12 (2 broods) Greylag Geese
- 3 Mute Swans
- 23 (19♂) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) all-white duck (Aylesbury Duck)
- 9 Moorhens
- 24 + 3 (1 brood) Coots
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: both adults; one departed

Noted on / around the street lamp poles
- *1 Chocolate-tip moth (Clostera curtula)
- *1 cranefly sp., perhaps Tipula vittata
- *1 female midge
- *1 owl midge

Elsewhere:
Nothing of note

A gloomy corner so a record shot only of a brood of eight Greylag Geese goslings with one of the parents.

And the other brood. Just four goslings and both parents.

This is a Chocolate-tip moth (Clostera curtula). This my first-ever around The Flash although I have seen one at the lake. Shropshire is at the north-west edge of this species' range. Its name seem apposite.

Why do insects like to rest on the Neighbourhood Watch Scheme sign? Here a cranefly. It is a female – the pointed abdomen (its ovipositor) tells us that. It seems to be resting in a strange position and the wings appear to be on the wrong way around. They were not really orange - they seem to have picked up a reflected colour caste from the flash I used to take the photo. A large species of cranefly in Spring is likely to be Tipula vittata. The wing pattern is a good match.

At a handy height for photography. My best shot to date of what I assume is a female midge.

This owl midge is not only very fuzzy but sports a punk haircut. The fuzziness of the wings shows best on its shadow.

(Ed Wilson)

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Between the lake and The Flash:

- 1 Moorhen at the lower pool again.
- 1 Chiffchaff still singing at the upper pool.
- 1 Blackcap singing beside the lower pool.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

- plumed and other midges as usual
- *1 possible Nursery Web Spider (Pisaura mirabilis)

Not certain about this spider. The way the front two pairs of legs are held together suggests it might be a Nursery Web Spider (Pisaura mirabilis) though the body-shape and colouration are wrong. The latter may be because it is lit with an LED torch to enable me to get closer with the camera. When I get very close the camera lens blocks the flash reaching its target. It was small: perhaps spiderlings are different.

(Ed Wilson)

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On this day can be found via the yearly links in the right-hand column.

Sightings from previous years without links are below

2010
Priorslee Lake
1 Wheatear
1 Common Sandpiper
(John Isherwood)

Nedge Hill
6 Wheatear
(John Isherwood)

2008
Priorslee Lake
Spotted Flycatcher
5 Black Terns
(Ed Wilson)

Nedge Hill
2 Wheatears
3 Ravens
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
2 Ruddy Duck
(Ed Wilson)

7 May 22

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

10.0°C > 13.0°C: Early low cloud started to break after 07:30 with good sunny intervals by 08:00. Moderate NW wind. Good visibility, improving somewhat as the cloud lifted.

Sunrise: 05:27 BST

* = a photo today

Priorslee Lake: 04:50 – 06:00 // 06:55 – 09:25

(105th visit of the year)

At last: a Swift! Just the one on yet another day with very few hirundine-types. My 88th bird species this year here.

Bird notes:
- A party of noisy Magpies (aren't they always) included one with no tail – a juvenile?
- A pair of House Sparrow was seen along the S side. Then a male was seen carrying food at the W end. Birds from the estate seem to 'invade' the lake most years. I have yet to prove breeding.
- Just two Sedge Warblers noted.
- Surprisingly all the 14 Blackcaps noted today were singing males: none was heard calling.
- The singing Garden Warbler was along the S side early only.
- I heard a Lesser Whitethroat give its rattling call twice. On both occasions it was too far away for me to pinpoint its location. It could have been two birds or, more likely, one bird moving through.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 3 Canada Geese: trio outbound
- 6 Greylag Geese: three pairs separately inbound
- 1 Feral Pigeon again
- 2 Stock Doves: together
- 3 Wood Pigeons only
- 2 Collared Doves: singles
- 2 Herring Gulls: both immatures
- 8 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: one first year; others (near) adults
- 2 Cormorants: together
- 1 Common Buzzard
- 11 Jackdaws
- 1 Rook yet again

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 1 Swift
- 1 Sand Martin
- 3 Barn Swallows

Warblers noted (figures in brackets relate to singing birds):
- 1 (1) Cetti's Warbler
- 16 (13) Chiffchaffs
- *2 (2) Sedge Warblers
- 8 (8) Reed Warblers
- 14 (14) Blackcaps
- 1 (1) Garden Warbler: see notes
- 1 (1) Lesser Whitethroat
- 3 (2) Common Whitethroats

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 3 (1 brood) Canada Geese
- 2 Mute Swans: pen on nest
- 3 (3♂) Mallard
- 3 Moorhens again
- 18 + 4 (1 brood) Coots
- 6 Great Crested Grebes
- 4 Herring Gulls: second / third years together briefly c.05:30
- 1 Cormorant: immature, briefly
- 1 Grey Heron: departed

On / around the street lamp poles pre-dawn:
Nothing noted

Noted later:

Butterflies:
- *Orange-tip (Anthocharis cardamines)
- *Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria)

Moths
- Common Nettle-tap (Anthophila fabriciana)

Bees / wasps etc.:
- Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
- *ichneumon sp.

Hoverflies
- Gossamer Hoverfly (Baccha elongata)
- Tapered Dronefly (Eristalis pertinax)
- Chequered Hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare)

Other things:
- St Mark's Fly or Hawthorn Fly (Bibio marci)
- Greenbottle Lucilia sp.
- *Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni)
- *Common Green Shieldbug (Palomena prasina)
- *Nursery Web Spider (Pisaura mirabilis)
- Tetragnatha sp. stretch spider
- Grey Squirrel

It is a while since I saw a Cormorant in the water here. This immature was having a wash as I returned from The Flash and soon, as here, departed.

The Sedge Warbler in the bramble scrub behind the sailing club shelter has been very difficult to photograph. It sings deep in cover, does a display flight and dives back in somewhere else. Here it peers out at me showing its trademark broad creamy eyebrow.

Patience rewarded when it popped out briefly to sing for me.

This was as close as I dared go without disturbing it. I am on full zoom and have enlarged the result.

Another male Orange-tip butterfly (Anthocharis cardamines). I had not previously appreciated the dotted white border at the wing tip: nor had I realised that the orange tip is itself tipped brown.

Yesterday's Speckled Wood butterfly (Pararge aegeria) photo looked a bit washed out. I had a different camera today and this seems to be a better representation of what they really look like.

Hard to know what to make of this. I originally thought it might be one of the thick-headed flies but it is the body that appears thick. That is I think because it has a prey item under its abdomen. There does seem to be an excess of legs. It may even be an ichneumon as it looks a bit 'wasp-waisted' though if it is I would have expected it to have longer antennae. Pass.

This certainly is an ichneumon. Without a better view of any markings on the abdomen, here covered by the wings, I have no chance of an identification. But chances are slim anyway as there are over 2500 known species in the UK.

Handily on an Alder leaf is this Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni). It has apparently already started munching the leaf.

My first Common Green Shieldbug (Palomena prasina) of the year.

This Nursery Web Spider (Pisaura mirabilis) seems to have tied itself in a knot. I think it is either mating or eating prey (perhaps both!). There are certainly too many legs for one spider.

Through a gap in the cloud is a United Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner en route from Chicago to Frankfurt. It is in United's new livery with blue-painted engine cowling. Strangely it does not have 'UNITED' painted in billboard lettering on the belly.

Also United Airlines but without the blue-painted engine cowling. It is a much older Boeing 777-200 series en route from San Francisco to Paris Charles de Gaulle.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:05 – 06:50

(102nd visit of the year)

A very quiet morning.

Bird notes:
- Only one Canada Goose goslings noted and that nearly run-over as the family wandered across Derwent Drive to visit the gardens.
- For the first time I can recall there were no Tufted Ducks visible. Even during the hardest of winters when the water is almost all iced over a few manage to stay lurking under overhanging vegetation. Most odd.

Birds noted flying over here:
None

Hirundines etc. noted:
None

Warblers noted (figures in brackets relate to singing birds):
- 6 (6) Chiffchaffs again
- 3 (3) Blackcaps
So where have all yesterday's Blackcaps gone?

Noted on / around the water:
- 32 + 1 (1 brood) Canada Geese: of these six flew off as three separate pairs
- 8 Greylag Geese: of these four departed together
- 3 Mute Swans
- 19 (15♂) Mallard: no ducklings noted [yesterday's totals should have read 23 (18♂)]
- 1 (1♂) all-white duck (Aylesbury Duck)
- no Tufted Duck
- 6 Moorhens only
- 24 + 3 (1 brood) Coots
- 2 Great Crested Grebes

Noted on / around the street lamp poles
- *1 springtail sp.

Elsewhere.
Nothing of note

The only thing I found on the street lamp poles this morning was this springtail sp. It looks like a Pogonognathellus longicornis-type.

(Ed Wilson)

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Between the lake and The Flash

- 3 (3♂) Mallard at the lower pool
- 1 Moorhen at the lower pool.
- 1 Chiffchaff singing at the upper pool again.
- 2 Blackcaps: one singing and one calling beside the lower pool.

also
- 1 springtail sp.
- 1 Tetragnatha sp. stretch spider

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel

- many plumed and other midges as usual
- *the remains of a cranefly
- 1 owl midge
- *1 millipede sp. again

The remains! This looks to have been a cranefly. The body has been neatly removed from all the inedible parts. As these have not dropped off the wall I assume that they are held in spider's silk and that a spider was the culprit.

This may very well be the same millipede that I pondered over yesterday, From this angle it looks as if it could be a Striped Millipede (Ommatoiulus sabulosus) after all.

(Ed Wilson)

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On this day can be found via the yearly links in the right-hand column.

Sightings from previous years without links are below

2013
Nedge Hill
Yellow Wagtail
3 Wheatear
(John Isherwood)

2012
Wrekin
2 Wood Warblers
4 Pied Flycatchers
(Mike Stokes)

2011
Nedge Hill
2 Wheatear
(John Isherwood)

2008
Priorslee Lake
18 Mute Swans
(Martin Adlam)

2006
Priorslee Lake
Pair of Ruddy Ducks
(Ed Wilson)
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