Priorslee Lake
Priorslee Lake |
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Archive News - January 2010 |
Saturday, 30th - 1 Water Rail (Wesley Brook) (John Isherwood) Monday, 25th Usual 2-site report (Priorslee Lake and Flash) from this dull morning with light NE wind and moderate visibility. Still small amounts of ice Best was the female (on size) Peregrine that shot E over the lake at 08:12 Other things to note - Little Grebe lurking under the sallows in the NW part of the lake: probably been here all along - 1 Little Grebe (Ed Wilson) Sunday, 24th Unexpectedly sunny early this morning at the lake and Trench: light winds and good visibility. Still some ice against the dam at the lake, but mainly open water Best this morning was the party of at least 38 Linnets at the W end of the old Celestica site feeding on weed seeds: new to my year site list Also new for the year's site lists were Pheasant and Stock Dove at the lake; and Teal at Trench Other things of note since my last visit 10 days ago - 1 Great Crested Grebe only: an adult and (Ed Wilson) Wednesday, 20th - Adult Caspian Gull seen at 1:00pm (Andy Latham) Tuesday, 19th - Adult Caspian Gull on the lake from 1.30ish - 3.00pm. (Andy Latham) Monday, 18th -
2nd winter Glaucous Gull this afternoon present from 1.00-2.30pm at least. Ian Grant to thank for that one. Saturday, 16th - Bittern seen at 11:05am today (Reported on BirdGuides at 4:54pm) (Observer Unknown) Wednesday, 13th Here are the totals for my visits between 13:30 and 15:30 this snowy day Nothing of real interest seen by me but a non-birder asked me about the small brown heron he had seen flying in to the reeds in the NW area! - Little Grebe not seen and at c.14:00 the following gulls were present also (Ed Wilson) Tuesday, 12th Cloudy, a chill SE breeze and moderate visibility early this morning. Cloudy lifted a bit Only sighting worth mentioning was A bit more open water at Priorslee lake and Trench Lock. Also went to Middle Pool which was frozen right up to the island, but the drain for the side pool seemed to be blocked and the area was flooded and open water So straight on with the numbers - 1 Great Crested Grebe and (Ed Wilson) Monday, 11th Late Morning In addition to Eds report below, a walk around the Lake at 11:00am produced: and from the Wesley Brook - The 2 pairs of Gadwall also still present. Early Morning Usual early visit to the lake and then The Flash Best birds The lake still well-frozen with the smaller hole now closed, but an open area around the sluice where people have been feeding the birds Apart from Coot numbers generally declined slightly: Little Grebe seems to have gone At The Flash the open area much the same size: numbers here have slightly increased. Perhaps the birds like white bread, the usual food they get More snow lying at both sites (there had been almost none in Newport and had thawed somewhat) Other good birds The usual numbers - 1 Great Crested Grebe only: the adult also (Ed Wilson) Sunday, 10th Afternoon Report Black necked Grebe not seen since the 6th,so presumably has been frozen out. Did see; (John Isherwood and Jim Almond) Morning Report Milder this morning and +1C when I left. Cloudy; a few snow flakes; moderate NNE wind The smaller open area at the lake was more or less closed and the birds moved to the main area that was somewhat larger and a different shape Best for me this morning were site year ticks at the lake of Best observation was standing on the footbridge at the lake and seeing 2 Water Rail, 2 Moorhens, 1 Snipe and Blackbird, Dunnock, Wren and Robin all foraging together |
 Snipe - Photograph Courtesy of Ed Wilson |
also at the lake Now the usual other numbers
at the lake (Ed Wilson) Saturday, 9th Afternoon Report - Bittern a good but brief view of bird on ground near point where Wesley Brook feeds into the lake at 1545 hrs. Local couple gave convincing description of presumably same bird seen half hour earlier, in flight, near same spot. Also: (John Isherwood) Early Afternoon Report Priorslee as usual on a Saturday fairly quiet apart from 2 adult Yellow-legged Gulls early afternoon (Jim Almond) Morning Report At the lake at dawn despite the -10C en route! More ice and easier to do the counts Best Other notables Otherwise some numbers (Ed Wilson) Friday, 8th Midday Report - Caspian Gull (Reported on Birdguides at 12:45) (Observer Unknown) Morning Report Somewhat surprised that both lakes had open water after the low temperature last night. The Flash much the same; at the lake the smallest open area was much smaller Nothing too startling today with all the unusual ducks having left the lake No unusual gulls while I was there: rather few large gulls and 2 Buzzards, a DHFS Griffon helicopter, dog-walkers and children not at school ensured that those that arrived soon left The Coots and Aythya ducks were difficult to count as the open area was hard to observe but did my best. The ducks were also flying around though I am not sure that any actually left So the numbers and also (Ed Wilson) Wednesday, 6th Evening Report Discretion the better part of valour this morning: but did The Flash and then the lake until dusk Best was the probably an adult winter Ring-billed Gull at c.15:15.
Unfortunately almost as soon as I noted what seemed to be a bathing and
rather pale Common Gull it took off and slowly circled away and headed off
S It wasn't the only interesting gull either: a very-creamy Black-headed Gull with no black at all flew in and disappeared in the mass of birds. Not an albino as the bill and legs were 'normal' and it was creamy and not white. Probably the same bird I saw and photographed at The Flash 2 winters ago Also there were 3 different adult Common Gulls; only c.35 LBBGs and c.10 HGs Otherwise worth noting at the lake Finish with some counts but note that as two of the open areas had
coalesced there was nowhere to see all the larger open area and make
accurate counts (Ed Wilson) Daytime Report Birds of note today were: No sign of the Bittern or Caspian and Ring-billed Gull. (Jason, Pete Jordan and Ian & Jim) Tuesday, 5th - Bittern seen on the ice by Jack Wildman (Ed Wilson had a very quick glimpse of a what he thought to be a Bittern yesterday; it appears his glimpse has possibly been confirmed) (Jack Wildman) Midday Report - At Midday today I was on my way back from the South (to avoid the expected snow) and decided that I would drop into Priorslee as the roads were not that bad afterall. I had a good scan of the gulls which were all concentrated by the only available water hole. - Firstly I picked out a Yellow legged gull and subsequently another 2. (Richard Vernon) Morning Report A short report as the snow drove me away before I could complete any real counts Slightly less ice than yesterday with the 3 areas of open water somewhat larger About 2500 BHGs were on the ice at 07:00; c.150 more flew in. Seemed to be no / fewer large gulls The first large gulls was a group of 42 all LBBGs passing over when they hit the shower and most / all diverted in No new species for the year-list Almost no corvid passage seem: 8 Jackdaws in 3 groups over the lake all earlier than usual but then nothing before the snow at 08:05 - did they know? Fieldfare and Redwing both roosted along S side Usual Goldfinches and Siskins over but not seen in the Alders (Ed Wilson) Monday, 4th Midday Report Another very cold day at Priorslee this lunchtime. Highlights were (Jason) Morning and Evening Report Morning and evening gull watch at the lake without much joy. Notables The lake is 90% frozen with 3 open areas; Added to the site year-list for the lake Greylag Goose, Great Black-backed Gull, Collared Dove and Sky Lark. Black-necked Grebe still at the lake in the west-most open area Watch for Bittern: I had a bird fly away from behind vegetation that looked like a small heron, but never showed again A few more winter thrushes around with 21 Fieldfare and 18 Redwings over the lake. The cold weather prompted one of the Blue Tits to take shelter inside the broken cowl of one of the street lights Now the numbers (Ed Wilson) Sunday, 3rd Of note, a Glaucous Gull has been reported in the roost at Belvide. This brid could easily turn up at Priorslee so keep your eyes peeled (Richard Vernon) Morning Report After a cold night much more ice, though rather mushy in places Best were the 8 Golden Plover flying S overhead at 09:00 Did not see the Ring-billed Gull - or indeed any other unusual gulls in what was a rather chaotic morning with birds coming and going and many standing in tight groups on the harder patches of ice from where they were frequently flushed by dog-walkers At roost most of the c.2000 gulls seemed to be BHGs; large gulls were flying N, S and W and many arrived (especially from the N); more Black-headed Gulls arrived from the W; and many did not stay At 09:30 I estimated c.1200 BHGs; c.2200 LBBGs; c.175 HGs Did not see the Black-necked Grebe but it was seen by other gull-watchers in one of the small open areas in the middle of the lake where lots of gulls were bathing Added Long-tailed Tit and Jay as well as Golden Plover to my site year-list Other numbers (room for error with all the gulls hiding things) (Ed Wilson) Saturday, 2nd - adult winter Ring Billed Gull was reported by Rob Stokes Afternoon Report Supplement to this mornings report from an afternoon gull-roost visit Added Kestrel, Common Gull, Yellow-legged Gull and Rook to my site year-list Selected counts At 14:30 there were c.1500 gulls with >1000 large gulls amongst which were the adult Common Gull, 3 adult Yellow-legged Gulls and >70 Herring Gulls Most of these flew off and by 15:30 there were c.3500 gulls, almost all Black-heads Morning Report Another cold one with ice on all 3 pools with enough open water for most things to be present: even the Goosanders at The Flash despite the small amount of space No 'bird of the day' - Black-necked Grebe and Little Grebe still present Otherwise the numbers (Ed Wilson) Friday, 1st The usual Priorslee Lake (only) log from this morning About 30% ice. Best bird remains the Black-necked Grebe. A possible confusion as there was a Little Grebe as well! (BNG also seen by John Isherwood) Up to 33 Swans early with 9 flying off W at 07:10 when too dark to age. 9 low over water leaving to W and then circling to E at 07:29 seemed to be different birds. 7 (4 + 3) more left at various times later; leaving 3 adults as well as the resident 2 + 3 Big gull roost: estimate of >3000 Black-headed Gulls and >1000 Lesser Black-backs. After sunrise when most had left I struggled to get Herring Gull, but 8 flew over as well as 176 Lesser Black-backs also seen by John Isherwood A Cormorant seen leaving at 07:54 was unusually early Otherwise the numbers (Ed Wilson and John Isherwood) |