Not new but a reminder of the Greylag x Canada Goose that is with the pre-moulting geese flock here. The bill and most of the plumage closely resembles a Greylag Goose. The cheek patch suggests some Canada Goose genes; however the bill has a black tip and there is white around the base of the bill suggesting other inputs as well.

(Ed Wilson)

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Priorslee Lake: 07:25 – 09:55
Location

(97th visit of the year)

Notes
- 1st year Mute Swan arrived and was promptly chased all around the lake
- Little Grebe heard calling from reeds again: perhaps birds have been quietly breeding here ....? Last heard 23 May
- again unable to positively the confirm the presence of a brood of Great Crested Grebes: however the male (sexist presumption) was seen returning with a small fish which he offered to his partner’s back
- the only Common Whitethroat recorded this morning was seen carrying food
And
- 2 Speckled Wood butterflies
- at least 1 Silver-ground Carpet and 1 Blood-vein macro moths
- a Common Swift moth on the roof of the tunnel under Priorslee Avenue: a new species for me in Shropshire
- Yellow-barred Longhorn (Nemophora degeerella) and Common Marble (Celypha lacunana) micro moths identified
- Blue-tailed, Red-eyed, Azure and Common Blue damselflies seen
- Red-and-Black Froghopper (Cercopis vulnerata) again
- a Sloe Bug (Dolycoris baccarum)
- at least two species of beetle I cannot identify

Counts of birds flying over the lake (in addition to those on / around lake)
- 1 Greylag Goose
- 1 Stock Dove
- 5 Wood Pigeons again
- 20 Jackdaws
- 43 Rooks
- 1 Goldfinch

Hirundines etc. seen here today
- 2 Swifts
- 1 Barn Swallow
- 2 House Martins

Warblers seen / heard around the lake: numbers in brackets are singing birds
- 7 (7) Chiffchaffs
- 10 (9) Blackcaps
- 1 (1) Garden Warbler
- 1 (0) Common Whitethroat
- 3 (3) Reed Warblers

The counts from the lake area
- 3 + 2 Mute Swans
- 14 (10♂) + 2 duckling Mallard
- 6 (4♂) Tufted Duck
- 7 + ? Great Crested Grebes
- 5 Moorhens
- 37 + 4 juveniles (3 broods) Coots

This Common Swift moth is upside down because it was on the roof of the foot-tunnel under Priorslee Avenue – my first moth here this year, possibly because the lights have been changed to low-energy strips which have a different colour temperature.

This seems to be an early instar of the Sloe Bug (Dolycoris baccarum): there is certainly plenty of Blackthorn, or Sloe, (Prunus spinosa) around. Related to shield bugs.

A Red-eyed Damselfly, sometimes Large Red-eyed Damselfly (Erythromma najas). This was a new species for me here last year and then I only ever saw newly-emerged specimens. This is the first full adult male I have noted.

This is the blue form of the female Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum).

Beetles are always a challenge as there are so many of them. But there are some good web sites which help with the more common species. These seem to be Ischnomera cyanea (no vernacular name) and are probably male and female .... but in these more enlightened times who knows.

well: thanks anyway. At least the pollen is getting spread about.

This looks to be a Mirid bug and there are plenty to choose from: the best match seems to be Lygocoris rugicollis (again no vernacular name).
(Ed Wilson)

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Woodhouse Lane: [08:25 – 09:05]
Location

Time for another walk around the fields and lane

Notes
- a single fly-over Starling was unusual
as with the main lake the interest is moving away from the reduced bird activity to insects and flowers
so:
- two new flowers since I was last in the area were Honeysuckle (Lonicera sp.) which was so far open that I must have overlooked it previously; similarly with Corn Chamomile (Anthemis austriaca)
also:
- Yellow-barred Longhorn (Nemophora degeerella); Common Nettle-tap (Anthophila fabriciana); Diamond-backed Moth (Plutella xylostella); Common Marble (Celypha lacunana) and Straw Dot moths all identified
- Blue-tailed and Common Blue Damselflies
- more Spotted Craneflies (Nephrotoma appendiculata)
- several 7-spot Ladybirds and their larvae
- Common stretch-spiders (Tetragnatha extensa)

Some numbers (numbers in brackets are singing birds)
- 1 (0) Sky Larks
- 1 (1) Goldcrest
- 3 (2) Chiffchaffs
- 2 (2) Blackcaps
- 1 (1) Garden Warbler
- 4 (3) Common Whitethroats again
- 2 (2) Song Thrushes only
- no Linnets
- 2 (0) Bullfinch
- 2 (1) Yellowhammers

The ‘swept-back’ look of the flowers identify this as Corn Chamomile (Anthemis austriaca), closely related to the Chamomile (Anthemis nobilis) the leave of which are used to make the infusion Chamomile tea.

A bank of Foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea) growing alongside the lane.

And in the hedge Honeysuckle (Lonicera sp.).

This is the larva of a 7-spot Ladybird (Coccinella 7-punctata).

And the very familiar adult, probably the most common ladybird.

The striking and contrasting head-pattern identify this as a Spotted Cranefly (Nephrotoma appendiculata).

This small moth, reminiscent of a small fruit fly, is the Common Nettle-tap (Anthophila fabriciana).

An equally small moth that I am struggling to get a decent photo of: this, amazingly, a migrant from the continent which this year has arrived in huge numbers: it is a Diamond-backed Moth (Plutella xylostella).

(Ed Wilson)

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On this day in ...........

2013
Priorslee Lake
Richardson's-type Canada Goose
(Ed Wilson)

2012
Priorslee Lake
Sedge Warbler possibly breeding
Skylark nesting in Celestica grounds
(John Isherwood)

Friends of Priorslee Lake Wildlife Site

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14 Jun 16