Saturday, 31st (A.M)
- 1 Shoveler (drake)
- 5
Wigeon
(John Isherwood)
Top
Friday, 30th (P.M) - 8 Wigeon
- 20 Pochard
(John Isherwood)
Top
Saturday, 24th
- 5 Wigeon
- 1 Little Grebe
(John Isherwood)
Top
Friday, 23rd
- 1 (adult) Yellow legged Gull
- 2 (1st Winters) Common Gull
- 6 Wigeon
(John Isherwood)
Top
Thursday, 22nd
Did all 3 pools this morning with a few notable records:
- 107
Greylag Geese logged over the lake were probably many of the same birds seen at the Flash
- c.25 Golden Plover seen in characteristic formation well to the E of the
lake
- 2 Grey Wagtails on marker posts in the inactive construction site to the
N: the clearance seems completely cleaned the ground and there is hardly a
weed to be seen and the area, Magpies and (once) Lapwings apart, seem
bird-free
- a Goldcrest at the lake - only my 2nd (or 3rd?) log of this species
since last winter's second freeze
Otherwise
at the lake
- 1 Little Grebe: either a different bird or acquiring winter plumage very
quickly
- 3 adult and 2 juvenile Great Crested Grebes
- 55 + 6 Swans with 2 + 1 seen in flight at 07:00 and may be additional
birds that left
- 46 Canada Geese on the water
- 5 Wigeon again: these seem to be split up as 2 'pairs' and a single
(though only 1 is an adult drake)
- 42 Mallard: 27 drakes
- 15 Pochard: 10 drakes
- 34 Tufted Duck
- 13 Moorhens
- 232 Coots: c.175 of these roosted on / in the SE weed
- c.100 Black-headed Gulls
- c.200 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: 31 of these S very early; c.80 flew W;
74 counted on the lake at 08:55
- even fewer Wood Pigeons - 42 logged
- 2 Meadow Pipits over
- only 1 Redwing heard
- 1 Treecreeper heard near the Teece Drive gate
- about the same corvid numbers though no large party seen to the E: 245 Jackdaws and 185 Rooks
- 31 Starlings seen leaving the roosts: 27 from NE at 07:36, but the other
4 singles from the NW area several minutes later
and
- 2 Autumnal Moth-types on the lamps: another moth seen in flight was
probably another
(Ed Wilson)
Top
Wednesday, 21st
Mostly cloudy with the familiar Telford 'hat' of low cloud making it very
dull
Best today
- immature Great Black-backed Gull was rather early in the gull-season
-
definite Chiffchaff heard and then seen in SW area
- c.250 Starlings over most of which seemed to have come out of several
reed-bed roosts
- party of 8 Siskins over the NW Alders; party of c.15 Goldfinches in the
area as well
Otherwise
- Little Grebe still present
- all 4 adult Great Crested Grebes seen, but only 1 juvenile and no
immature logged
- 62 Swans: the 2 + 3 residents; and 54 + 3 others
- 18 Greylag Geese seen flying towards The Flash at 09:25
- 6 Canada Geese: none on the lake at dawn that I could see, but later 3
different pairs, 2 of which flew off at separate times
- 5 Wigeon was all I could find
- 29 Mallard: 17 drakes
- 14 Pochard: 9 drakes, 3 ducks and 2 presumed immature drakes - too pale
for ducks, but not full drakes
- 22 Tufted Ducks
- 6 Moorhens only
- 231 Coots
- 3 Buzzards with 2 over and calling having surprisingly little effect on
the resting gulls
- 1 Kestrel on wires to E
- c.100 Black-headed Gulls with the first 9 arriving from the NE at 07:06
- c.275 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: 5 on the lake at 07:10 may have
roosted; another party of c.20 arrived at 07:25; then c.100 of a party of
c.190 flying SW from the tip had a wash-and-go c.08:45. c.40 more logged
over
- 2 Herring Gulls in the 'wash-and-go' party
- 55 Wood Pigeons another low count
- 2 single Sky Larks flew W
- 27 Redwings logged
- protracted corvid passage gave me 339 Jackdaws and 203 Rooks
and
- 3 Autumnal-type moths on the lamps in quieter conditions
(Ed Wilson)
Top
Tuesday, 20th
Just the lake this morning and with a brisk SE wind did not linger at
exposed W end: many of the passerine counts low as a result
Highlights
- 1 Little Grebe again: usually they skulk around the reeds here but this
was in the open by the dam
- many Swans again with some coming and going: 65 different birds - 56
adults and 9 cygnets
- 7 Wigeon still here
- 2 arrivals of respectively c.50 and c.450 large gulls at 07:20 and 09:10
respectively. With the latter 7 Herring Gulls and 1 Yellow-legged Gull -
yellow legs as it flared to land!
- good corvid passage with birds very low over the lake against the wind:
344 Jackdaws and 168 Rooks logged
Otherwise some numbers
- 1 Cormorant low over at 08:40
- 47 Greylag Geese flew W 08:05; at least 1 more heard around the lake at
07:00 but not seen
- 56 Canada Geese with 30 of these flying off from the lake after 07:00;
and the others outbound from The Flash(?)
- 27 Mallard: 16 drakes
- 9 Pochard: 7 drakes
- 19 Tufted Ducks
- 1 Water Rail heard above the Wesley Brook footbridge. The NE ditch is
currently dry
- 9 Moorhens
- 236 Coots: 135 of these roosted on the weedy area in the SE - no more
room in the reeds?
- 6 sightings of at least 4 Buzzards
- c.110 Black-headed Gulls arrived
- 51 Wood Pigeons was another exceptionally low count
- single Sky Lark over
- 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers calling
- another single call of possible Chiffchaff
- 27 Starlings: 9 flew E, apparently from a reed-bed roost-site: later 18
flew high W with a small group of Wood Pigeons
and
- with the wind directly on the street lamps I was not surprised to find
no moths!
(Ed Wilson)
Top
Monday, 19th Afternoon -
13:30 - 14:00
- 61 Mute Swan (including 1 + 1 + 3 + 2 juvs - latter two groups families)
- 7 Wigeon 5 M + 2 F
- 14 Pochard 8 M + 6 F
- 10 Tufted 4 M + 6 F
- c.600 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 6 Herring Gull (adults)
- 1 Yellow Legged Gull (adult) - large, flat head, small smudge behind eye
and fine, light streaking on crown and sides of neck, thick, long bill
with large red spot, grey back (lighter than LBb's but darker than 'dove
grey' of B hds and Herrings present), small primary mirrors and yellow
legs (seen when preening / washing and lifted out of water briefly)
(Mike Cooper) Morning
Rather a quiet morning with a few signs of autumn but no real movement and
details in the site-notes
Best was probably the 7 Wigeon present at the lake; also of special note
were the Starlings roosting in the reeds - 1 left the NE reeds at 07:38
and then 17 the NW reeds a minute later
- 2 juvenile and 1 immature Great Crested Grebes with the 4 adults
- 63 Mute Swans (!): the resident 2 +3; 3 adults flew off W; and then 51 + 4
counted. Spent a long while trying to read the rings with the following
result
-- blue: 7DSC, 7EDV, 7EZU, 7FAD, 7FCP
-- yellow: B7AT, B7CJ
-- orange: R3??
- 42 Greylag Geese flew W over
- 14 Canada Geese on the lake at 07:00, but flew off in 3 parties
- 7 Wigeon: at least 1 drake
- 24 Mallard: 14 drakes
- 9 Pochard: 4 adult drakes
- 26 Tufted Duck: 2 of these flew off before 07:00
- 9 Moorhens
- 229 Coots
- 142 Black-headed Gulls logged arriving from the W
- 55 Lesser Black-backed Gulls with 39 of these on the lake at 09:00
- 2 Herring Gulls at 09:00: both adults and 1 rather dark-mantled, but as
none of the large gulls showed any significant head streaking any thoughts
of claiming Yellow-legged Gull were dashed
with
- 63 Wood Pigeons only - very scarce: 27 of these in a party high W then S
(with a Stock Dove)
- 2 Meadow Pipits and 1 Sky Lark over
- 27 Redwings over in 4 parties
- 3 Fieldfare flew W
- at least 2 Willow Tits calling
- Treecreeper calling
- 1 single call that I thought was a Chiffchaff, but not repeated
- moderate corvid passage with 122 Jackdaws and 117 Rooks logged
and
- 7 Autumnal-type moths on the lamps
- a rather late wasp investigating one of the lamps well after dawn: did
not seem to be a Queen looking for a place to hibernate
(Ed Wilson)
Top
Wednesday, 14th Brief notes from the lake and The Flash
At the lake
- 54 Mute Swans: 2 + 3 'residents': 47 + 2 at E end - cygnets from same
brood?
- 28 Canada Geese on the lake (26 flew off); and 22 outbound to the N
-
only 3 Wigeon and no Teal this morning
- 6 Pochard (5 drakes) new in
- 12 Tufted Ducks
- c.15 Lapwings over: an increasingly uncommon sight
- at least 203 Coots this morning - more than yesterday: perhaps as many
as 216 but moving about a lot
- 1 Meadow Pipit, 3 Sky Larks and 1 Siskin all over
- 6 Redwings at least flushed out of the trees at dawn
- Willow Tits heard in NW area
and
- 11 Autumnal-type moths on the lamps
Forgot to mention that a Water Rail was heard Monday
(Ed Wilson) Top
Tuesday, 13th - 3pm - 3:30pm
- Wigeon ..... 7 Males, 4 females and 3 immature's (seem to
have lost 1)
- Lesser Black-backed Gull c. 500 (Gulls all spooked by a Woodpigeon (dark upper parts)
trailing an orange rope)!
- Herring Gull 1 (ad)
- Black-headed Gull c. 40
- Mute Swan 52 (1 family 2 ad + 3 imm plus 3 imm/juv's)
- Little Grebe 1 juv
(Mike Cooper)
Morning
Brief news from a misty Priorslee lake and then Trench Lock
Best at the lake were 14 Wigeon (1 adult male,the rest immature's/females) and 4 Teal - best count of 'wild' dabbling
ducks for a while; also my first high-flying migrant Wood Pigeon parties
Otherwise
at the lake
- 1 Little Grebe
- 8 Great Crested Grebes: after the attack yesterday one of the juveniles
was missing; and the immature has gone
- 1 Cormorant low over
- 58 Swans - 49 adults and 9 cygnets, some of which flew off
- 53 Canada Geese: exactly 50 on the lake at 05:50; 3 flew in. All flew out
- 38 Mallard - 23 drakes
- 15 Tufted Ducks
- 11 Moorhens
- 185 Coots (again)
- 78 Black-headed Gulls arrived from 06:59 onward
- 8 Lesser Black-backed Gulls all over
- 107 Wood Pigeons with party of 29 high S and 21 high W
- 1 Meadow Pipit over
- 2 Sky Larks
- almost no corvids - lost in the mist? 37 Jackdaws and 7 Rooks
- c.35 finches, perhaps Linnets, on wires to E
and
- 3 moths again: and again a Light Brown Apple Moth and 2 Autumnal Moth
sps., but on different lamps today
(Ed Wilson)
Top
Monday, 12th At the lake watch out for possible Bittern - something with a Heron-like
call was in the W end reed area pre-dawn, but could not see anything
Over the lake there were plenty of signs of autumn and I logged Meadow
Pipit, Sky Lark, Redwing and Siskin over. Still 1 calling Chiffchaff though
One of the adult Great Crested Grebes seemed to spear and then drown one
of the juveniles from the other brood when it strayed too close - hard to
tell what the outcome was
Otherwise the best was a duck Wigeon on the lake
The numbers at the lake
- 8 Great Crested Grebes: 4 adults; 3 juveniles from N side brood; 1 immature
- 9 Cormorants = 8 over in tight group and 1 briefly at the lake
- 1 Heron (a real one as well as the heard bird)
- 53 Swans (gulp) with 5 cygnets from 3 broods: 3 local cygnets and 2
singles, one of which flew in with 4 adults
- 11 Canada Geese (and another over)
- 1 duck Wigeon
- 31 Mallard
- 18 Tufted Ducks
- 11 Moorhens
- c.185 Coots
- 122 Black-headed Gulls arrived from W
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls with another 40 overhead
and
- 181 Wood Pigeons
- 336 Jackdaws
- only 52 Rooks
with
- 3 moths: 1 Light-brown Apple Moth and 2 Autumnal Moth-types
(Ed Wilson)
Top
Saturday, 10th - Little Grebe 1
- Lapwing 3
- Redwing c.25
-
Siskin 1
(John Isherwood)
Top
Wednesday, 7th - 17:45 - 18:30
- Lesser Black-backed Gull c.100 flew East spooked by Buzzard as I arrived with c. 150 in and out until all left before dusk
- Black-headed Gull c. 80
- Herring Gull 1 + 2 (ad)
- Mute Swan 50 (inc 4 juv's) – where are they coming from and how big is the flock going to get over the winter (until the weed is all eaten)????
- Coot c.180
- Mallard 35
- Dabchick 1(ad) + 1(juv)
- Great Crested Grebe 2 (ad) with 2 stripy juv's + 1 (ad) + 2 (ad) with 3 imm's
- Pied Wagtail 4
- Grey Wagtail 1
(Mike Cooper)
Top
Thursday, 1st
Sunny spells – cold NW breeze
- Kingfisher 1 (flushed from dam)
- Grey Wagtail H
- Mute Swan 40 (3 juv's)
- Coot c. 200
- Tufted Duck 33 (3 M)
- Lesser Black-backed Gull 220+
- Black-headed Gull c. 30
- Herring Gull 1 4Y/ad
- Meadow Pipit H over to East
(Mike Cooper)
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