4 Nov 25

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

13.0°C: Dullsville. Overcast with patchy light rain from time to time. Fresh southerly wind. Very good visibility except while raining.

Sunrise: 07:13 GMT

* = a species photographed today
$ = my first sighting of the species for this year
$$ = my first ever recorded sighting of the species in the area

Not a day for getting accurate counts. Dull and breezy with some things presumed to be hiding, especially at the more exposed Balancing Lake.

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:50 – 09:30

(270th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- unusual was a male Pheasant walking past the Telford Sailing Club HQ before flying over my head to disappear in to the small copse in the south-east area.
- two pairs of Gadwall noted.
- all the gulls spent ages circling around after they first appeared overhead at 06:35. Lower than usual numbers eventually settled for their early visit. Higher numbers of Lesser Black-backed Gulls visited later.
- a small Starling roost noted with 24 birds leaving the north-east reeds.
- at least 50 Goldfinches were again in trees alongside Castle Farm Way today accompanied by a few Siskins.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 4 Greylag Geese: westbound together
- 21 Wood Pigeons: no migrant groups
- 2 Herring Gulls
- 12 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 549 Jackdaws
- 116 Rooks
- 2 Redwings

Birds seen leaving roosts around the lake
- 24 Starlings

Counts from the lake area:
- *2 Mute Swans
- *4 (2♂) Gadwall
- 14 (9♂) Mallard
- 38 (18?♂) Tufted Duck
- 6 Moorhens
- 39 Coots
- 5 Great Crested Grebes
- c.150 Black-headed Gulls
- 27 Herring Gulls
- c.300 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: c.125 early: c.175 after 08:00
- 1 Grey Heron

Noted on the West end street lamp poles pre-dawn:
Not much: wet from overnight rain

Moths:
- one seen in flight only

Flies:
- *4 flies of different species

Bugs:
- 1 unidentified leafhopper: same species as yesterday?

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 harvestman Leiobunum blackwalli / rotundum
- 1 harvestman Paroligolophus agrestis

Noted later all on the Teece Drive fence:

Flies:
- *1 cranefly Tipula pagana

Bugs:
- *1 Tree Damsel Bug Himacerus apterus

Beetles:
- *1 Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis var. succinea

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- *2 harvestmen Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus

On the left two pairs of Gadwall. Only part of the head of the duck of the right-hand pair is visible. One of the Mute Swan pair in a "no publicity" pose.

Fly #1 on one of the street lamp poles pre-dawn.

Fly #2: ditto.

Fly #3: ditto.

Fly #4 – well actually probably a midge and one of the smallest I have seen.

I can identify this cranefly as Tipula pagana. Another individual holding its antennae back over its head and thorax.

If this Tree Damsel Bug Himacerus apterus is trying to get back in the canopy it is going the wrong way about it.

A Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis of the form succinea looks to be contemplating whether it can hide under a nail in the Teece Drive fence.

This harvestman Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus reaches a new low: just four legs.

Seven legs on this one.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel pre-dawn:

Flies:
- 4 midges only

Arthropods:
- 2 Common Rough Woodlouse Porcellio scaber
- 2 White-legged Snake Millipedes Tachypodoiulus niger

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 9 spiders: usual species

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:35 – 10:55

(265th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- only four Mute Swans seen.
- the pair of (Common) Teal still here
- *even more Goosander and scattered all around the water. Significantly more drakes.
- Coot numbers seem to be low. Last year there were c.150 here at this date though numbers declined thereafter.
- *the Little Egret again.

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

Noted on / around the water:
- >48 Canada Geese: more inside the island?
- >18 Greylag Geese: more inside the island?
- 2 mainly white feral geese: other(s) inside the island?
- 4 Mute Swans
- 23 (16♂) Mallard
- 2 (1♂) (Common) Teal
- *7 (6♂) Tufted Duck
- *63 (9♂) Goosander: maybe more
- 8 Moorhens
- 66 Coots
- 4 Great Crested Grebes
- *34 Black-headed Gulls
- 11 Herring Gulls: all immatures
- 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: two (near) adults
- *5 Cormorants
- 1 Grey Heron
- *1 Little Egret
- 1 Kingfisher

Noted around the area:

Moths:
- none

Bees, wasps etc.:
- >5 wasps: as usual only Common Wasps Vespula vulgaris specifically identified

Springtails etc.:
- 1 springtail Orchesella cincta

Pity the poor duck Tufted Duck on the right with six suitors.

A brownhead Goosander swims by oblivious as to what is going on alongside her. I suspect another brownhead having a wash.

This trio comprises, from the front, a drake Goosander, a brownhead Goosander and the Little Egret.

Showing the wing-feathers enables me to confirm this brownhead is a duck Goosander. On an immature drake the white wing-panel would extend across the width of the wing.

Two opportunistic first-winter Black-headed Gulls were harassing any Goosander that looked to have caught anything edible. Whatever the drake Goosander has in its bill here it hardly looks worth the effort.

This looks to be a more profitable hunt. Sadly the action is not "frozen" to be able to see what the drake Goosander has caught...

...and is seen here making off with it.

A trio of Cormorants attending to their feathers.

Some less than perfect Little Egret photos taken in dull conditions. This showing the bird in flight with its tongue out. Presumable it was calling though I do not recall hearing it do so.

A good view of the yellow feet showing that the yellow does not extend on to the back of the legs as it would if it were a New World Snowy Egret.

Another way to eliminate Snowy Egret is to check the colour of the bare skin between the eye and the bill. The difference is most noticeable when the birds are in breeding condition. On a Snowy the bare skin would be obviously yellow even at this date. This photo indicates this Little Egret is an adult as immatures show some pale colouration, often yellowish, at the base of the lower mandible.

Untidy plumes are a feature of birds outside the breeding season.

I now think this springtail is most likely Orchesella cincta. The species is noted to have a pale yellow band on the third abdominal segment. None of the photos for this species on the NatureSpot web site show just a single band on each of the antennae nor the pale areas on the legs. There is however a link from Google Lens that shows a specimen like this which is identified as this species.

(Ed Wilson)

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2011
Priorslee Lake
Yellow legged Gull
(John Isherwood)

2010
Priorslee Lake
16 Pochard
43 Tufted Duck
Yellow-legged Gull
Kingfisher
400+ Jackdaws
17 Fieldfare
7 Redwings
Siskins
(Ed Wilson)

The Flash
24 Pochard
81 Tufted Ducks
c.180 large gulls
5 Redwings here
(Ed Wilson)

Trench Lock Pool
Yellow-legged Gull
(Martin Grant)

2009
Priorslee Lake
17 Pochard
4 Wigeon
8 Tufted
42 Mute Swan
400+ Lesser Black-backed Gull
Yellow Legged Gull
(Mike Cooper)

Wrekin
Firecrest
2 Brambling
(Dave Barrow / Andy Latham)

2006
Priorslee Lake
23 Pochard
48 Tufted Ducks
1 Ruddy Duck
650+ Black-headed Gulls
1 Common Gull
134 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
450 Wood Pigeons
15 Pied Wagtails
18 Wrens
13 Dunnocks
25 Robins
18 Blackbirds
155 Fieldfares
5 Song Thrushes
85 Redwings
1 Mistle Thrush
14 Greenfinches
2 Siskins
4 Reed Buntings
(Ed Wilson)

3 Nov 25

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

11.0°C > 14.0°C: Patchy light rain soon gave was to broken cloud. Thereafter blue skies. Fresh south-westerly wind. Excellent visibility except while raining.

Sunrise: 07:11 GMT

* = a species photographed today
$ = my first sighting of the species for this year
$$ = my first ever recorded sighting of the species in the area

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:55 – 09:25

(269th visit of the year)

Much quieter today. That is apart from the road noise from the M54. I am sure it is getting louder.

Bird notes:
- no geese overhead. 10 Canada Geese flew in.
- a pair of Gadwall again.
- only small numbers of migrant Wood Pigeons.
- again the Lesser Black-backed Gulls were in low numbers early. Later many more arrived. There was no passage overhead.
- another large count of Jackdaws. As there has been for some days small parties of Jackdaws continue to pass over for at least an hour after the main passage.
- more Rooks than recently.
- I think we must assume that the Saturday morning Starling roost was just a temporary one night stop-off by birds moving through rather than any longer-term roost.
- at least 50 Goldfinches were again in trees alongside Castle Farm Way. At least ten more were around the West end path.
- a few Siskins were in trees near the Teece Drive gate.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 4 Feral Pigeons, unusually tacked-on to a migrant Wood Pigeon group
- 177 Wood Pigeons: of these 139 were in six migrant groups
- 13 Lesser Black-backed Gulls only
- 538 Jackdaws
- 247 Rooks
- 23 Starlings: two groups
- 10 Redwings: two groups
- 1 Pied Wagtail

Birds seen leaving roosts around the lake

None

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 Mute Swans
- 2 (1♂) Gadwall
- 16 (11♂) Mallard
- 31 (17♂) Tufted Duck
- 9 Moorhens
- 44 Coots
- 5 Great Crested Grebes
- c.350 Black-headed Gulls
- 12 Herring Gulls
- c.250 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: c.50 early: c.200 after 08:00
- 1 Grey Heron

Noted on the West end street lamp poles pre-dawn:
Not much: wet from overnight rain

Moths:
- none

Bees, wasps etc.:
- *1 unidentified ichneumon

Springtails:
- *1 springtail Pogonognathellus longicornis-type
- *3 globular springtail sp.

Flies:
- 2 winter craneflies Trichocera sp.

Bugs:
- *1 Common Froghopper Philaenus spumarius
- *2 unidentified leafhoppers

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- *1 Nursery Web Spider Pisaura mirabilis
- 1 harvestman Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus

Noted later, mainly on the Teece Drive fence:

Bees, wasps etc.:
- *1 German Wasp Vespula germanica

Beetles:
- *1 7 Spot Ladybird Coccinella 7-punctata
- 1 Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis var. succinea

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

Fungus:
- *Trooping Funnel Infundibulicybe geotropa

Fruits:
- *Snowberry Symphoricarpos albus

I suspect this is a German Wasp Vespula germanica. It is hard to be certain from this angle but to my eyes the yellow area along the side of the thorax is not parallel-sided as it would be on a Common Wasp Paravespula vulgaris [and I see Steven Falk uses the scientific name Vespula vulgaris for that species and so shall I from now on]

I am not sure I expected to be finding ichneumon wasps at this time of year. Proof I was wrong. Identity unknown.

A springtail Pogonognathellus longicornis-type with each antennae pointing toward a tiny globular springtail.

A slightly better photo of a different globular springtail.

This is most probably a Common Froghopper Philaenus spumarius. A species that comes in a multitude of forms.

A leafhopper. There are very many to choose from and none looks exactly like this one!

A 7 Spot Ladybird Coccinella 7-punctata with my shadow visible in its elytra.

And a Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis of the form succinea no doubt looking for a sheltered place to over-winter.

A Nursery Web Spider Pisaura mirabilis. This species has a very distinctive head profile and a line down the cephalothorax (the front bit). It often sits with the two front pairs of legs held together.

Another spider species that frequently holds the two front pairs of legs together. In this species, a Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp., they are often held such that all these four legs are together. Hence its alternative name of Stretch Spider.

A harvestman Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus. Just to prove that occasionally they have eight legs present and correct.

The number of the troops has increased somewhat over the past 10 days – now four. These were lurking in a dark corner of the wooded area. I'll try for a better photo when it is a brighter morning.

These are fruits of the Snowberry Symphoricarpos albus. Do not eat. They probably won't kill you but you are likely to be very unwell. They are abundant this year, like the rose hips, the hawthorn haws and the blackthorn sloes.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel pre-dawn:

Flies:
- 6 midges only again of various species

Arthropods:
- 2 White-legged Snake Millipedes Tachypodoiulus niger: deceased?

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 5 spiders: usual species

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:30 – 10:45

(264th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- *the pair of (Common) Teal seen again.
- yesterday's Pochard not seen.
- the Goosander were being particularly difficult with most of them "at the other end" from where I was at any point in time.
- *the Little Egret was briefly out in the open.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 1 Herring Gull
- 1 Jackdaw

Noted on / around the water:
- >28 Canada Geese: more inside the island?
- >9 Greylag Geese: more inside the island?
- 2 mainly white feral geese: other(s) inside the island?
- 5 Mute Swans still
- 18 (12♂) Mallard
- *2 (1♂) (Common) Teal
- 7 (5♂) Tufted Duck
- *36 (5♂) Goosander
- 11 Moorhens again
- 76 Coots
- 6 Great Crested Grebes
- 29 Black-headed Gulls
- 4 Herring Gulls: all immatures
- *6 Cormorants
- 2 Grey Herons
- *1 Little Egret

Noted around the area:

Moths:
- none

Bees, wasps etc.:
- >10 wasps: only Common Wasps Paravespula vulgaris specifically identified

Beetles:
- *1 Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis var. succinea

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp.
- 1 Missing Sector Orb-web Spider Zygiella x-notata [Silver-sided Sector Spider]
- *1 female harvestman Leiobunum blackwalli

Fungus:
- *unidentified fungus.

A not wonderful photo of the pair of (Common) Teal.

A brownhead Goosander.

Another not very wonderful photo. I was struck by the flank feathering on this brownhead Goosander and wondered whether it was showing signs of moulting to become a drake.

This is a drake Goosander showing several still to be moulted flank feathers.

Best photo of the day! A first-winter Black-headed Gull.

An immature Cormorant has found a meal.

Immature the Cormorant may be it has made short work of getting the fish orientated so it can swallow it head-first.

All gone – well down the hatch anyway.

Next...

As I have said before: Grey Herons are stately.

To complete the trio of not very good photos here the Little Egret briefly breaks cover at the very opposite end of the water.

Another Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis of the form succinea unlikely to find a sheltered place to over-winter by climbing a street lamp pole.

A female harvestman Leiobunum blackwalli showing the pale around the oculum that separates both sexes of this species from L. rotundum.

Not sure about this fungus. I am certain it is not, as Obsidentify suggested, Turkeytail Trametes versicolor as that would show more banding. Google Lens favoured Silverleaf Fungus Chondrostereum purpureum. While NatureSpot notes this is seen "on dead deciduous wood, often appearing on the sawn ends of felled trunks" it notes it "forms leathery, lilac to deep purple patches with a white edge" implying it is more of crust on the wood than forming separate fruiting bodies as here.

(Ed Wilson)

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2013
Shifnal, Lizard Wood
2 Hawfinch
(Arthur Harper)

2010
Priorslee Lake
Several Herons
>3800 Wood Pigeons
11 Skylarks
2 Meadow Pipits
199 Fieldfare
32 Redwings
9 Siskins
1 Linnet
Brambling
(Ed Wilson)

Wrekin
Location
1 Crossbill
Several Redpolls
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
21 Pochard
58 Tufted Ducks
2 Buzzards
>900 Black-headed Gulls
176 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
807 Wood Pigeons
16 Pied Wagtails
26 Wrens
14 Dunnocks
34 Robins
24 Blackbirds
213 Fieldfares
6 Song Thrushes
150 Redwings
5 Mistle Thrushes
1 Blackcap
447 Starlings
2 Siskins
7 Reed Buntings
(Ed Wilson)