Friday, 22nd

Priorslee Lake - 1 Kingfisher (first autumn record) and female Ruddy Duck (John Isherwood)

Thursday, 21st
Priorslee Lake
2 pairs of Great Crested Grebes with 1 and 3 juveniles respectively:
again no 'extras'
3 Tufted Ducks (2 drakes) this morning
duck Ruddy Duck still present
and
6 species of moth again though 2 of these were 'bodies only' have been
caught in spider webs: new for my site year-list were Clouded Border
wasp ap. at the lamps: first of the year
smart-looking snail photographed: still to be ID-ed
lots of 'fairy rings' on / around the football field and the first
mushrooms of the year

The Flash
3 adult Great Crested Grebes: confirmed no juveniles
1 Heron flushed: unusual here these days
a few geese seem to have acquired their new wings and left: 13
Greylags and 143 Canada Geese today
24 Tufted Ducks today
1 Lesser Black-back with 6 Black-headed Gulls in post-breeding
assembly along E side of island
Tree Creepers calling in copse to S
and
Rowan Berries now look ready(Ed Wilson)

Tuesday, 19th

Priorslee Lake - 4 Common Sandpiper and female Ruddy Duck (John Isherwood)

Tuesday 19 July 2011
very short visit as got rather wet!
at the lake
2 drake Tufted Ducks
duck Ruddy Duck still present
and
Straw Dot moth flushed

Monday, 18th

Priorslee Lake - a strange full-grown immature Great Crested Grebe amongst the 8 locals, different from the two older immatures seen Saturday, 2 Greylag Geese flew S proving that not all the geese are moulting flight feathers at the moment, different drake Tufted Duck, Ruddy Duck still present, 2 juvenile Coots seen in partial count - one of these a red-headed bird from the latest brood, 1 Common Sandpiper again, 61 Black-headed Gulls at 05:00 included my first 4 juveniles of the, year here: and the first large count of the season, Stock Dove singing in NW area again, 2 Song Thrushes still singing, Treecreepers heard again also Yellow-tail moth new for the year (Ed Wilson)

Saturday, 16th

Priorslee Lake - more strange Great Crested Grebe sightings - 2 immatures arrived?, rather scruffy drake Tufted Duck, Ruddy Duck now much more visible, Stock Dove calling from NW trees and Ruby Tiger moth new for the year and a site tick for me. Plus a 4.5/5.0 lb. female Tench caught by an angler (Ed Wilson)

Thursday, 14th

Priorslee Lake - 10 Great Crested Grebes included 4 juveniles (broods of 3 & 1), party of 4 Cormorants flew over, 2 + 5 Swans still doing well, 3 Canada Geese, 2 Mallard duckling among increased number of 20 adults / immatures, The duck Ruddy Duck still / present again, now in the NE area but easy to overlook against the shore among the weedy area, 1 female Sparrowhawk in formation with / chasing Wood Pigeon, juvenile Buzzard heard calling - seem to have bred successfully locally, 3 new Coot juveniles in late brood: 3 single juveniles from earlier broods still extant with 27 adults, Swifts heard only today, 1 juvenile Grey Wagtail in SW area first for a while, juvenile Reed Warblers seen wandering away from the reeds. Lesser Whitethroat singing again at W end, Treecreeper heard: later heard in two places around The Flash and from the Ricoh copse between the sites: a good year? or are my ears getting better attuned?

The Flash - all 'extra' Great Crested Grebes gone: and only 1 juvenile seen, 2 + 6 Swans still doing well, 44 Greylag and 208 Canada Geese logged, 1 Mallard duckling among increased number of 56 adults / immatures, now 17 Tufted Ducks, 8 juvenile Coots now mixing with each other, 1 Common Sandpiper, 2 Black-headed Gulls back and Willow Warbler heard calling (Ed Wilson)

After another few days away I have been back at Priorslee early a few times recently. Generally a quiet time of year with most song now ceased. The weather being so persistently cool and often windy has not been conducive to looking for insects and most of these visits have been rather abbreviated. Highlights I guess are successful breeding by Great Crested Grebes at both the lake and The Flash (2 broods at the former), Common Sandpiper on return passage at both The Flash and the lake, start of gull build-up, juvenile Reed Warblers exploring the bushes and trees around the reeds, the female Tench caught by one of the fishermen and two species of moth one of them new for my Priorslee list (Ed Wilson)

Tuesday, 12th

Priorslee Lake - 1 female Ruddy Duck and a  Common Sandpiper (John Isherwood)

Thursday, 7th

Priorslee Lake - Lesser Whitethroat singing in M54 hedge. (John Isherwood)

Monday, 4th

Priorslee Lake - Ruddy Duck - 1 (female) First site record since January 2009 - formerly semi resident in the district, with several breeding records from both the Lake and Flash. (John Isherwood / Ed Wilson)

Otherwise at the lake
- 5 adult and 3 juvenile Great Crested Grebes: a lone adult was
chasing an adult pair away from the W end, but seemed to tolerate the pair with the juveniles. Perhaps the aggressor has a mate on eggs somewhere
- 2 + 5 Swans doing well
- 3 Mallard ducklings, all small but (the remnants of?) two broods
- 5 juvenile Coots: 3 of these well-grown and from different broods,
one of them helping its parents with at least two 2nd (3rd?) brood
red-headed juveniles
- party of 15 Black-headed Gulls over - first of 'autumn': also 3 on
the lake. All adults
- Lesser Whitethroat still singing away, sporadically
- newly and barely fledged Common Whitethroat and Reed Buntings seen
and
- 5 species of butterfly - Large White; Small Tortoiseshell; Small
Skipper, Meadow Brown and Ringlet
- 7 species of moth with Ghost Moth, Shaded Broad-bar, Swallow-tailed Moth, July Highflyer and Scarce Footman all new for my year list and the last-named a site-tick for me

The Flash - 6 adult and 2 juvenile Great Crested Grebes
- 2 + 6 Swans doing well
- 7 Greylag and 254 Canada Geese counted: many of the latter certainly flightless at the moment
- 8 Tufted Ducks (7 drakes): no sign of juveniles
- Lesser Black-backed Gull on the water was another 'first for autumn'!
- neither the Reed or Willow Warblers heard this morning (Ed Wilson)

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Welcome to the Priorslee Lake and Local Area latest bird sightings. Please send any of your bird sightings to priorslee_lake@live.co.uk