Sunday, 23rd

Another extended visit to Priorslee Lake this morning due to getting trapped in the hut in the rain!

- 2 Cormorants
- cygnet 7FAD back: 2 adult Mute Swans probably the residents as they seemed to know about the corn from the couple that feed them daily
- >60 Greylag Geese flew W after the weather cleared at 09:19: too low for me to get accurate count
- 1 Greylag, 53 Canada and apparently only 1 of the Greylag x Canada Geese landed at 09:35
- 14 Pochard (10 drakes)
- 177 Tufted Duck - 25 of these flew off after rain cleared
- 1 Lapwing over at 08:10
- 1 Snipe heard flying off at 07:00
- 2 Water Rails calling
- 159 Coot counted
- c.1400 gulls roosted: as usual numbers rather tentative: c.1300 Black-headed; c.100 Lesser Black-backed; 5+ Herring Gulls
- 34 Lesser Black-backed, 6 Herring and 2 Great Black-backed Gulls dropped in during the heaviest rain, but left as it eased
- just 11 Lesser Black-backed Gulls flew W over the lake
- very few Wood Pigeons on the move - just 15 logged
- Meadow Pipit and Sky Lark heard in flight
- 37 Redwings with c.13 heard pre-dawn; 22 logged in flight; 2 in the trees around the lake
- c.60 Fieldfare in party flew S
- different corvid passage with 132 Jackdaws low and mostly early in small groups
- many more Rooks - 166 - with 62 in party 'cloud-hopping' high over as the weather cleared at the late time of 08:57
- c.1750 Starlings left the roosts: c.1700 from the NE area in 4 large groups at 07:41. 27 more at 07:45: then 23 from the NW area at 07:54
- c.30 Siskins with c.25 together in the NW area at 10:00

(Ed Wilson)

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Saturday, 22nd

Extended visit to Priorslee Lake this morning; then Trench

- 8 Great Crested Grebes: the juvenile started begging again
- 1 Cormorant stayed over 2 hours
- the one Mute Swan cygnet flew off: 2 adult Swans but rings not read, never with the cygnet and not always together
- 56 Greylag Geese flew W 07:40 - the only geese noted
- 12 Pochard (7 drakes)
- even more massive 187 Tufted Duck - 9 of them flew off pre-dawn
- 1 brownhead Goosander circled low over the water but then on towards The Flash
- 2 Water Rails calling repeatedly
- 149 Coot counted: 1 more than in yesterday's windy conditions ...
- c.3000 gulls roosted; again early departure and numbers rather tentative: c.800 Black-headed; c.2200 Lesser Black-backed; <20 Herring Gulls
- c.250 more Lesser Black-backed Gulls later: 94 on the lake; c.150 flying W from Belvide direction
- later a very odd 1st winter Common Gull - mantle colour apparently the same as the Black-heads and a very bright yellow bill with small black area at the tip; but typical round head and 'staring' eye. Distinctly uncommon here
- only small parties of Wood Pigeons on the move - 42 birds in 6 groups; 27 singles as well
- Meadow Pipit flushed
- 25 Redwings with c.6 heard pre-dawn; 19 logged in flight; none in the trees around the lake
- 8 Fieldfare over
- Treecreeper seen apparently leading a tit party alongside the M54
- better corvid passage but with some of the birds as high as I have ever seen them and others very low! 235 Jackdaws and 44 Rooks
- c.1000 Starlings left a roost in the NE area in 11 groups at 07:36. Just 2 others seen
- c.20 Siskins

(Ed Wilson)

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Friday, 21st

Back from sunny and hot Dubai to a windy, wet and cold Priorslee! Here is the notes from this morning

- 7 Great Crested Grebes: the juvenile has stopped begging at last!
- 2 Cormorants for a while; 1 stayed over 90 minutes
- only one Mute Swan cygnet remaining: adults gone off on holiday?
- 30 Greylag Geese struggling NW in to the wind the only geese noted
- 16 Pochard (10 drakes)
- massive 166 Tufted Duck - my highest-ever count
- 3 Goosander flew over: no doubt to The Flash - from Chelmarsh? Belvide? roost
- Water Rail still calling but still elusive
- 148 Coot counted, but in the windy conditions ...
- c.2000 gulls roosted but with the wind moving them around they started leaving well before dawn and numbers rather tentative: c.700 Black-headed; c.1300 Lesser Black-backed; <20 Herring Gulls
- very few other gulls seen passing
- 68 Redwings with c.25 heard pre-dawn; 37 logged flying W; and 6 in the trees around the lake
- no Fieldfare
- very poor corvid passage but in the wind the birds were very high and mixed with the swirling mass of gulls: 13 Jackdaws and 38 Rooks
- c.500 Starlings left a roost in the NE area at 07:37. May well have missed other parties
- mixed Siskin and Goldfinch party in N shore alders

(Ed Wilson)

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Wednesday, 19th - Lunchtime

- Mute Swan 3 (ad?)
- Cormorant 1
- Coot c. 130
- Tufted c. 110
- Pochard 9 (6 M – 1 imm + 2 F)
- Lesser Black-backed Gull c. 350
- Black-headed Gull c. 150
- Herring Gull 4

(Mike Cooper)

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Thursday, 13th

- 9 or 10 Great Crested Grebes
- only 1 cygnet with the adults now: all been flying stronly recently so hope they have flown off successfully
- 101 Canada Geese arrived (with 1 Greylag and 2 hybrids)
- 8 Pochard; 132 Tufted Ducks (17 flew off)
- 124 Coots was a lower count than other recent counts
- 31 Lapwings arrived and settled on the dam-face
- c.150 Black-headed Gulls roosted
- c.175 large gulls roosted: c.80 flew W: c.150 arrived later
- (included several Herring Gulls, 1 Great Black-backed Gull and at least 1 Yellow-legged Gull candidate)
- c.100 Wood Pigeons only logged: no parties other than birds leaving the fields to the E and flying off S
- 1 of the Song Thrushes had a good attempt at a song
- c.800 Fieldfare and c.425 Redwings, again mostly W / SW. Flying despite (because of?) the rain (100+ seen over Telford Centre 10:40)
- - 218 Jackdaws and 146 Rooks logged in ver drawn-out passage
- c.550 Starlings: c.450 left together in 4 sub-flocks from N side of the lake at 07:32
- c.10 Siskins again
- 6 'buntings' flew S together: not able to identify from call. Looked too tubby for Yellowhammers and too large for Reed Buntings

and

- Mottled Umber moth on one of the lamps

(Ed Wilson)

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Wednesday, 12th

- 8 Great Crested Grebes
- 9 Cormorants all fly-overs
- 8 Pochard; 117 Tufted Ducks
- c.350 Black-headed Gulls roosted
- c.500 large gulls roosted: c.60 flew W: c.240 arrived later
- c.2000 Wood Pigeons logged: parties flying on several different lines with c.250 early birds 'losing direction' and landing to the far E. Huge flock of c.600 flew N to the far E at 07:40
- c.400 Fieldfare and c.125 Redwings, again mostly W / SW
- 33 Starlings: only c.30 in one flock from a lake-side roost
- Meadow Pipit at the lake
- c.10 Siskins

(Ed Wilson)

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Tuesday, 11th

- now 10 Great Crested Grebes
- 10 Cormorants seen: 1 on the lake; others flew S
- 8 Pochard; 107 Tufted Ducks
- c.200 Black-headed Gulls roosted
- c.65 large gulls roosted: c.120 flew W over; c.125 arrived later
- c.1600 Wood Pigeons logged flying over between 07:30 and 08:30 with 2 x 300-strong flocks N to the E c.08:00
- massive numbers of thrushes with c.1700 Fieldfare and c.460 Redwings logged mainly flying W / SW / S
- 359 Jackdaws and 124 Rooks added to the melee
- 105 Starlings logged, 63 of which seemed to emerge from lake-side roosts
- Meadow Pipit, Redpoll and Linnet over
- c.12 Siskins in the trees

(Ed Wilson)

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Monday, 10th

Another busy morning at the lake: even though most things in lower numbers they all seemed to co-incide!

- 300+ Wood Pigeons: only 1 large party with c.180 flying high N to the far W 07:45
- 326 Redwings and 652 Fieldfare was a lower but still large count: at times seemed to be having trouble deciding whether to fly E or W!
- 269 Jackdaw and 136 Rooks noted in the roost dispersal
- c.75 Starlings seen leaving roost: c.30 from NW; c.45 from N-side reeds

The strong winds yesterday far from blowing gulls in seemed to have blown them away! no more than 150 Black-headed, 6 Lesser Black-backed and 3 Herring Gulls on the lake. Another meagre 34 large gulls over (seriously Monday always produces fewer large gulls, I assume because the tip is not so active at the weekends: though that raises the question of where they go and why numbers slowly build in the week)

Othwerwise
- 8 Great Great Crested Grebes
- 50 Greylag Geese over
- 2 Canada Geese on the lake: 29 more over
- 6 Pochard and 78 Tufted Ducks
- 4 Siskins only

(Ed Wilson)

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Friday 7th - Sunday 9th

3 days for the price of 1

Just back and sorted the log out from one of the busiest days I can recall. So starting with today

- 17 geese flew W at 07:00: these did not call and in the gloom I could see neither pale bills nor contrastingly pale forewings and suspect they might have been Pink-footed Geese: but ...
- huge number of Wood Pigeons flying ENE to the SE: sometimes hard to see against the hazy sunlight and big, spread-out groups, but rough counts gave me 2550 birds! Another 150 logged mostly flying W
- also large numbers of Redwings and Fieldfares, many in mixed groups and most flying from the fields and trees to the E of Castle Farm Way and heading S / W: logged 367 Redwings and 908 Fieldfare
- big and extended corvid dispersal as well with 341 Jackdaws and 167 Rooks
- many Starlings emerged from roost around the lake - the reeds and the trees, with the first of 11 parties of c.290 birds at 07:03 with the last at 07:58. At least 34 more in flight
- Raven over was welcome
but
- rather fewer gulls than yesterday

On / around the lake
- now 9 Great Great Crested Grebes
- 24 Canada Geese on the lake: 16 more over
- 7 Pochard and 68 Tufted Ducks
- a few Siskins

From Saturday the highlights
- 4 Cormorants visited, one staying over an hour; another flew over
- c.300 Black-headed Gulls were the first sizeable overnight roost of the season
- c.380 Lesser Black-backed Gulls arrived: another c.400 flew mainly W / SW
- 6 Pochard and 48 Tufted Ducks
- 540 migrating Wood Pigeons seemed like a good count at the time
- 100+ Redwings and 187 Fieldfare likewise: at least 40 of the Redwings had roosted around the lake
- Mistle Thrush heard in song!
- 3 Meadow Pipits and 1 Sky Lark over
- party of c.30 finches in the NW area were mostly Siskins, but at least 1 Redpoll and 2 Goldfinches with them

From Friday
- 92 geese flew in: 89 Canadas, 1 Greylag and 2 Greylag x Canada hybrids
- 2 Wigeon briefly (the Shoveler all gone; as has the Gadwall)
- 9 Pochard and 68 Tufted Ducks
- 159 Coots was my highest count for a while
- big movement of large gulls with several hundred mixed with the departing corvids: c.675 over and 304 counted on the lake
- c.500 Wood Pigeons over
- 3 Sky Larks over
- 77 Redwing and 44 Fieldfare over
- Treecreeper seen

(Ed Wilson)

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Thursday, 6th

After the fireworks last night noticeably fewer ducks and thrushes, but the dull weather might have been to blame

- 26 Greylag Geese over
- drake Gadwall again
- 5 Shoveler only (3 drakes)
- 3 Pochard only (1 drake)
- 79 Tufted Duck (not sexed)
- 1 Lapwing over - distinct uncommon these days
- Snipe heard leaving
- >250 large gulls arrived: 2 Herring and 1 Yellow-legged; rest Lesser Black-backs. Just 2 of them immatures
- 16 Redwings and 3 Fieldfares seen: more Redwings heard
- 9 Siskins, 5 in the alders on N shore

(Ed Wilson)

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Wednesday, 5th

Despite the dull weather a buzy morning:

- 1 Little Grebe
- juvenile Great Crested Grebes still begging
- at least 15 Shoveler
- 1 drake Gadwall (I assume this was what I heard as 'calling Teal': not too familiar with Gadwall calls! And when it got light could not find a Teal)
- 10 Pochards
- 117 Tufted Duck, only 2 of which flew off
- no gulls roosted: only about 100 Black-headed Gulls; 51 Lesser Black-backs passed through, oddly all adults
- 2 Water Rails heard calling, both in the NW area
- >100 Starlings seen in 5 groups: at least 2 of these groups had roosted in the reeds in the NW area
- many Redwings heard when too dark: 19 seen leaving trees around the lake
- 4 Fieldfare seen; a few more heard
- >10 records of flying Siskins in 1s and 2s: how many different birds though?
and
- 2 moths on the lamps: still to ID these
- some splendid fungus in the copse on the N side

(Ed Wilson)