15 Sep 26

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

16.0°C > 19.0°C: A temporary clearance after rain but remaining cloudy. A short spell of drizzle c.07:20. Then brightening with good sunny intervals and puffy clouds. A moderate / fresh westerly breeze developing. Very good visibility except during drizzle.

Sunrise: 06:43 BST

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

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 06:05 – 09:25

(209th visit of the year)

Note
I did not meet anyone to confirm this but there was equipment inside the lake area suggesting that Severn Trent may be starting their planned replacement one of the bridges on North side. It may be that access is restricted while they are working.

Bird notes:
- a lone Canada Goose flew in.
- initially just the single Mute Swan. Two others arrived followed by much chasing. Later there seemed to be only two remaining with the earlier single being one of them.
- yesterday's Gadwall not found.
- four Tufted Duck again.
- at least 200 Black-headed Gulls were present by 06:20. On the football field I counted 158 at 06:55.
- at most five Lesser Black-backed Gulls visited early. More later and three Herring Gulls with them.
- no hirundines seen either during the drizzle or in the breezy conditions thereafter. Have they all gone?
- 19 Chiffchaffs with eight heard singing. This is the same number of birds that I logged this date last year: there were only four noted singing then.
- no Blackcaps.
- a group of five Starlings flew over the football field c.07:00.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 1 Herring Gull
- 20 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Sparrowhawk
- 15 Wood Pigeons
- 179 Jackdaws
- 102 Rooks
- 5 Starlings

Counts from the lake area:
- 1 Canada Goose: arrived
- 3 *Mute Swans: see notes
- 28 (?♂) Mallard
- 4 (?♂) Tufted Duck
- 3 Moorhens
- 45 Coot
- 18 Great Crested Grebes
- c.200 Black-headed Gulls
- 3 Herring Gulls
- 24 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Grey Heron

Hirundines etc. noted:

None

Warblers noted:
- 19 Chiffchaffs: of these eight in song
- no Blackcaps

Also noted:
Almost nothing in sunny but breezy conditions:

Bees, wasps etc.:
- Common Wasp Vespula vulgaris

Other true flies:
- 1 Greenbottle Lucilia sp.
- 1 *Flesh fly Sarcophaga sp.
several other unidentified species of flies noted.

Fungus:
- 1 possible *Brown Rollrim Paxillus involutus

On the West end street lamp poles after dawn:

Moths:
none

True flies:
- 3 female plumed midge Chironomus plumosus

Springtails:
- 1 *springtail Orchesella cincta

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
none

Between spells of rain there was a brief clearer spell and a touch of colour.

This is the lone Mute Swan that has been here at least a week. This is the first time I have been able to note that it is ringed. The blue Darvic ring is just not quite readable – is it '7JUP' or '7JUB'? I'll see whether Martin Grant has any information. I wasn't able to confirm whether either of the visitors was ringed. This bird was again on the concrete ramp at 09:10 when there was only one of the visitors visible at the far end.

Very few insects about though the Chiffchaffs must be finding enough to eat. Here is a Flesh fly Sarcophaga sp.

And another from the same family. I am sure there is a good evolutionary reason for them to look like this.

On the West end street lamp poles somewhat after dawn (I avoided the earlier rain) was this springtail Orchesella cincta identified by the pale band across the abdomen more or less joining the hind legs combined with relatively short antenna.

I think this fungus is Brown Rollrim Paxillus involutus. Obsidentify's suggestions were species from the genus Leccinum, part of the Boletes family. Perhaps it is!

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Moths:
- 1 *Large Yellow Underwing Noctua pronuba

True flies:
- 3 midges
- 1 moth fly Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly or Owl Fly]
- 1 *cranefly Tipula lateralis
- 1 unidentified cranefly

Arthropods:
- 1 White-legged Snake Millipede Tachypodoiulus niger

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 2 *Orb-web spider Metellina segmentata
- 1 *Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp.
- 8 Missing Sector Orb-web Spider Zygiella x-notata [Silver-sided Sector Spider]

This moth is a Large Yellow Underwing Noctua pronuba. I admit it looks somewhat shorter and squatter than usual, I think because it is being foreshortened by the angle at which I had to take its photo. The dark smudge near the wing-tip rules out any of the other less common yellow underwing moths.

The cranefly Tipula lateralis. There was another cranefly in the tunnel which I could not photograph well-enough to try for an ID.

There is often an array of spiders in the tunnel. This looks to be the Orb-web spider Metellina segmentata.

Another. This one is certainly a male with the large palps.

This is a Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp. showing why this group is also called stretch spiders.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:30 – 10:30

(206th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- a bumper number of Mallard
- two Tufted Duck back.
- now 27 brownhead Goosander: their networking seems to be working well.
- three full adult Great Crested Grebes found with no immature seen, just the four dependent juveniles.

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

Noted on / around the water:
- 24 Canada Geese
- 6 Mute Swans: again
- 45 (28?♂) *Mallard
- 2 (0?♂) Tufted Duck
- 27 (0♂) Goosander
- 8 Moorhens
- 23 Coot
- 3 + 4 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebe: see notes
- 19 *Black-headed Gulls
- 2 Cormorants: again
- 2 *Grey Herons: again

Warblers noted:
- 2 Chiffchaff: no song

Noted around the area:

Butterflies:
- 3 Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria

Moths:
none

Bees, wasps etc.:
- 5 *Honey Bees Apis mellifera
- 1 Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum
- 2 *Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris
- 7 Common Wasp Vespula vulgaris

True flies:
- Greenbottles Lucilia sp.
other unidentified flies

Bugs:
- 1 Dock Bug Coreus marginatus

Beetles:
none

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
none

Fungus

No new sightings

Boys will be boys. Two drake Mallard having a scrap.

"Take that".

One way to take a shower.

 No holds barred.

"I can't hear you". An adult-winter plumaged Black-headed Gull seems to be hard of hearing...

...or was it just dealing with an itch?

A Grey Heron falls out of a tree! In reality it was on the warpath to chase the other heron that had come too close.

Flying back with order restored.

A busy Honey Bee Apis mellifera.

One of two Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris.

Plane of the day. This a Beech C90GTi King Air, here flying from Wolverhampton's Halfpenny Green Airfield back to its base at Sleap Airfield near Wem. It is registered to a trust company in the USA, hence the N- prefix to its identity. This seven-seat twin-turboprop aircraft ceased production in 2021 when the list price was c.$5 million. Gulp.

(Ed Wilson)

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2013
Priorslee Lake
Green Sandpiper
9 Ravens
(Ed Wilson)

2010
Priorslee Lake
Mallard x Pintail
Raven
2 Sand Martin
(Ed Wilson)

2008
Priorslee Lake
100+ hirundines
31 Pied Wagtails
Redwing
14 Chiffchaffs
7 Siskins
(Ed Wilson)

14 Sep 26

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

14.0°C > 19.0°C: A clear start with mist over the lake, this turning in to extensive low cloud. Initially calm with a light south-westerly breeze developing. Good visibility.

Sunrise: 06:41 BST

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

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:15 – 09:00

(208th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- no geese again.
- still the single Mute Swan. It went for a short flight around the water.
- *a pair of Gadwall new in.
- four Tufted Duck also arrivals since my visit yesterday.
- hard to know how many Black-headed Gulls visited. Once they settled on the water many were "lost in the mist". There seemed to be groups flying out and back to the football field where I counted (sad but true) 173 at 06:45.
- the mist also played havoc with my count of Lesser Black-backed Gulls first thing. I think no more than c.30. A single immature visited later. A small number flew over. Once again I failed to note any Herring Gulls among them.
- no hirundines seen.
- 18 Chiffchaffs with six heard singing.
- as yesterday three Blackcaps with one singing quietly. Today they were in three separate location where as yesterday they were all together.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 31 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 13 Wood Pigeons only
- 224 Jackdaws
- 144 Rooks

Counts from the lake area:
- 1 *Mute Swan
- 2 (1) *Gadwall
- 24 (>8♂) *Mallard
- 4 (2♂?) *Tufted Duck
- 4 Moorhens
- 43 *Coot
- 18 *Great Crested Grebes
- >175 Black-headed Gulls
- c.30 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Cormorant: arrived
- 2 Grey Heron

Hirundines etc. noted:

None

Warblers noted:
- 18 Chiffchaffs: of these six in song
- 3 Blackcaps: of these one in song

Also noted:
Almost nothing in the cloudy conditions:

Butterflies:
none

Moths:
none

Bees, wasps etc.:
- Common Wasp Vespula vulgaris

Hoverflies:
none

Other true flies:
- 1 *fly Dryomyza anilis
no other flies noted.

Bugs:
none

Beetles:
none

Slugs, snails etc.
- 1 *probable Large Red Slug Arion rufus

On the West end street lamp poles around dawn:

Moths:
none

Bees, wasps etc.:
- 2 Common Wasp Vespula vulgaris

True flies:
none

Springtails:
- 1 springtail Pogonognathellus longicornis-type

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 *Stout Sac Spider Clubiona sp.
- 1 *unidentified spider
- 2 harvestman Paroligolophus agrestis
- 1 male harvestman Leiobunum blackwalli / rotundum [ran away before I could check the eye detail]

Mammals:
- 1 Noctule-type bat

The sunrise looked promising with mist over the water. The colour did not last long and those black clouds soon formed in to a low overcast.

NEVER look with you naked eye. The sun trying to break through the low cloud and showing three sun-spots.

Our now lone Mute Swan. Is it a cob or a pen? The books say you can tell by the size of the swelling at the base of the bill. That is easy when there is a pair. Tricky for a lone bird and outside the breeding season the swelling is smaller anyway. I could not see whether it is ringed: the pen that was here had a blue Darvic ring on her left leg.

While still gloomy and misty the drake Gadwall. Identify by the black rear-end and the white in the wing.

Better light but now further away! The pair here with the duck on the left with the orange side to her bill and the drake on the right.

This very pale drake Mallard has been around the area for a number of year. His all-pale bill is just about visible. In front of him is a preening immature / duck Tufted Duck.

 Here book-ending a Coot are two drake Tufted Duck.

One of the family of four juvenile Great Crested Grebe. Now growing fast but yet to lose the strange-looking pale bare skin between the bill and the eye.

It, or another from the brood, beside one of the parents as it flaps its wings showing that it is in wing-moult.

This fly Dryomyza anilis is very distinctive.

As soon as it rans out come the slugs. They are a nightmare to identify as Black Slug Arion ater can be reddish and Large Red Slug Arion rufus can be very pale which is what I think this probably is.

A Stout Sac Spider Clubiona sp. covered in dew. The abdomen shape identifies it to the genus.

A male spider that neither of my apps gave a suggestion that seems applicable. Obsidentify suggested "money spider"! Google Lens one of the six-eyed spider species - but none of those show the elongated abdomen of this spider. It is reminiscent of a Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp. but I have never seen one so brown-toned previously.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Moths:
- 1 *White-shouldered House Moth Endrosis sarcitrella

True flies:
- 12 midges
- 1 *unidentified cranefly
- 1 *unidentified fly!
- no moth fly Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly or Owl Fly]

Arthropods:
- 1 Common Shiny Woodlouse Oniscus asellus
- 1 White-legged Snake Millipede Tachypodoiulus niger

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 Stout Sac Spider Clubiona sp.
- 1 *crab spider Xysticus cristatus
- 12 Missing Sector Orb-web Spider Zygiella x-notata [Silver-sided Sector Spider]

A White-shouldered House Moth Endrosis sarcitrella. As is usual with both this species and the Brown House-moth Hofmannophila pseudospretella as soon as I shone my torch nearby it fluttered away at speed. Moth species #44 for me found in the tunnel this year.

Not at all sure about this. The antennae look long for most fly species; the middle legs have at least one spur and the hind legs look distinctly hairy. None of my apps suggested anything that matched these features.

An unidentified cranefly which is, unusually, holding its antennae out at right-angles.

This is probably the crab spider Xysticus cristatus. There are similar spiders of course.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:05 – 10:10

(205th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- six Mute Swans remain and unusually all together most of the time.
- yesterday's Tufted Duck gone again.
- 23 brownhead Goosander I think: tucked up against and on the island.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:

None

Noted on / around the water:
- 5 Canada Geese
- 6 Mute Swans
- 29 (17?♂) Mallard
- 23 (0♂) *Goosander
- 7 Moorhens again
- 19 *Coot
- 3 + 4 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebe
- 13 *Black-headed Gulls
- 2 Cormorants
- 2 Grey Herons

Warblers noted:
- 3 Chiffchaff: no song

Noted around the area:

Butterflies:
none

Moths:
- 1 ! *Small Blood-vein Scopula imitaria

Bees, wasps etc.:
- 6 Honey Bees Apis mellifera
- 1 Common Wasp Vespula vulgaris

True flies:
none

Bugs:
none

Beetles:
none

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 harvestman Paroligolophus agrestis

Fungus:
- *two species of fungus, neither identified.

Two of the Goosanders present. Some field guides suggest that individuals that show white between the bill and the eye as well as on the throat are immatures (born this year).

I saw only six Goosanders on the open water. Later these had joined others on and around the island. Here there are 23 visible if you enlarge the photo and look carefully. There are also three Canada Geese, one Coot, four Black-headed Gulls and a clutch of three large eggs!

An unexpected find sitting in full sun on an Ivy leaf: it is a Small Blood-vein moth Scopula imitaria. Moth species #49 in the area of The Flash for me this year.

Another species of fungus that I see every year in the wooded area beside the water at the top end. Every year my apps give me a different suggestion. I will pass.

This is what I thought yesterday might be a Field Mushroom Agaricus campestris. It has grown since yesterday and the stem and underside are easier to access. The stem does not look to have a collar and the cap is now concave whereas it should be convex. So I will pass this one too.

Well now... what is this? I've looked at earthworms (unlikely on a leaf several feet off the ground and alongside a footpath) and leeches and drawn a blank. After long deliberation Google Lens' AI came up with a "discarded child's sweet" as the best option. I cannot provide a better suggestion.

(Ed Wilson)

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Priorslee Lake
Water Rail
Hobby
(Ed Wilson)

The Flash
Snipe
(Ed Wilson)

2010
Priorslee Lake
Sandwich Tern
(Ed Wilson)

2007
Priorslee Lake
Green Sandpiper
(Ed Wilson)

13 Sep 26

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

16.0°C > 19.0°C: Very low cloud with light drizzle. Beginning to lift and break after 10:00 with a few sunny spells. Almost calm. Eventually very good visibility.

[Sunrise: 06:39 BST]

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

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 07:55 – 09:20

(207th visit of the year)

A late start to avoid the worst of the drizzle

Bird notes:
- the single Mute Swan still.
- I have no idea where many of the Mallard had gone.
- the first Barn Swallows appeared overhead c.08:05 with up to ten seen high up and then a few, probably of the same, low over the water for a while. All seemed to have gone by 09:00.
- 12 Chiffchaffs with five singing in the drizzle.
- a trio of Blackcaps one of which was singing.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 2 Cormorants
- 4 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Jackdaw
- 4 Rooks

Counts from the lake area:
- 1 Mute Swan
- 9 (?♂) Mallard only
- no Tufted Duck
- 9 Moorhens
- 44 Coot
- 18 Great Crested Grebes
- 9 Black-headed Gulls
- no Herring Gulls
- 5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Grey Heron

Hirundines etc. noted:
- c.10 Barn Swallows

Warblers noted:
- 12 Chiffchaffs: of these five in song
- 3 Blackcaps: of these one in song

Nothing else noted:
Even the wasps would not venture out in the drizzle

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Visited c.10:15 "just in case"

Moths:
none

True flies:
- 8 midges
- 1 moth fly Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly or Owl Fly]

Arthropods:
none

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 *Stout Sac Spider Clubiona sp.
- 2 Missing Sector Orb-web Spider Zygiella x-notata [Silver-sided Sector Spider]

Probably the same Stout Sac Spider Clubiona sp. that I photographed here yesterday but in better light.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:25 – 10:35

(204th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- six Mute Swans again.
- two Tufted Duck new in. Apparently not the two seen at the Balancing Lake yesterday and not today. Those were both immatures / ducks and one of these looked to be a moulting drake.
- now 26 brownhead Goosander.
- only one of the two full adult Great Crested Grebes was seen.

Note
Thanks again to Martin Grant I can give an update on the ringed Mute Swan:
- Blue 4IAN was ringed as a second year on 09/02/2026 on the Sankey Valley Canal at Waterways, Warrington.

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

Noted on / around the water:
- 14 Canada Geese: of these nine arrived
- no Greylag Geese
- 6 Mute Swans
- 29 (20♂) Mallard
- 2 (1♂?) Tufted Duck
- 26 (0♂) Goosander
- 7 Moorhens
- 20 Coot only
- 2 + 4 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebe
- 7 Black-headed Gulls only
- 3 Cormorants
- 2 Grey Herons again

Warblers noted:
- 1 Chiffchaff: no song again

Noted around the area:

The weather was brightening up.

Butterflies:
none

Moths:
none

Bees, wasps etc.:
- 6 Honey Bees Apis mellifera
- 5 Common Wasps Vespula vulgaris

True flies:
- Greenbottle Lucilia sp.
a few other unidentified flies

Bugs:
- 1 *Dock Bug Coreus marginatus

Beetles:
- 1 7 Spot Ladybird Coccinella 7-punctata

Spiders:
- 1 *Garden Spider Araneus diadematus [Garden Cross Spider]

Fungus:
- *presumed Field Mushroom Agaricus campestris
- *unidentified species #1, probably from the Parasola genus
- *unidentified species #2

No identification problems with Dock Bug Coreus marginatus.

A Garden Spider Araneus diadematus also known as the Garden Cross Spider though the cross marking on this specimen is none too obvious. Top side...

...and from underneath.

I was not able to see the stem or underside of this fungus without destroying it. It looks to me like a Field Mushroom Agaricus campestris.

These delicate toadstools are from the Parasola genus which is all one can say from a photo.

These fungi look to have been trampled and I cannot get any identity for what they might have been

(Ed Wilson)

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2007
Priorslee Lake
Shoveler
Redwing
(Ed Wilson)