Holmebrook Valley 4th to 26th of May

I haven't put a blog post on for over a month, so I am going to put on what has been seen at Holmebrook Valley since the 4th of May.

On the 4th I was looking for Swifts from a vantage point overlooking the lake but instead of seeing Swifts I managed to find two Hobbys which was a year tick for me and a first for the site. They drifted south before heading back north a few minutes later. Against the blue sky they were hard to photograph, but I managed a record shot of both birds together.

Hobbys

Also on the 4th I managed to count 7 eggs in the Mute Swans nest.

On the 5th I managed to actually see the Lesser Whitethroat as it sang in the shrubs on the east side of the lake. Unfortunately as it was only a glimpse, I didn't manage a photo. Also seen on this day were 2 Greylag Geese, some Orange Tip and Large White Butterflies, all 3 Mute Swans and the Great Crested Grebes were building a nest.

Great Crested Grebe nest building

On the 6th I got my first Mallard ducklings and Moorhen chicks for the site this year. There were 10 Mallard ducklings and 3 Moorhen chicks. The 2 Greylag Geese were still on the lake and 1 male Tufted Duck was new. The Mute Swan pair were still incubating.

Mallard ducklings

On the 7th the only new birds were 7 Tufted Ducks and there were 3 Greylag Geese instead of 2.

Greylag Geese

On the 12th I got my first damselflies of the year with about 4 Blue-Tailed Damselflies seen around the lake. The Greylag Geese had disappeared but the Mute Swans were still incubating and there were at least 20 Mallard ducklings.

Blue-Tailed Damselflies

On the 13th I had my first site Swifts of the year with around 3 birds flying around the lake. I had seen my first Swift of the year on the 8th over my house. Again there were a couple of Blue-Tailed Damselflies. The Greylag Geese returned on the 14th, but there was nothing much about.

On the 19th there were lots of damselflies about in the sun and I managed to get four species including one that was new for me and the site. First off, the new one, Red-Eyed Damselfly. This is a species I have wanted to see for some time so when I found four of them on the reeds next to the lake, I was very happy. The other three species were Common Blue, Large Red and Blue-Tailed Damselfly of which two were year ticks.

Large Red Damselfly

Red-Eyed Damslefly

Birdwise on the 19th there wasn't much except 2 Tufted Ducks and the normal birds.

From the 20th to the 24th nothing much changed apart from a couple more Mallard ducklings appearing, a Whitethroat on the 23rd and I managed to find two new Coots nests including one containing one chick, which had hatched that day, and one plus egg.

Coot sat tightly on chick and egg

 I also found a Blue Tits nest containing 5 or more chicks. Although they will breed every year around the site, this is my first confirmed nesting record for Blue Tits.

Blue Tit sat tightly on her chicks

Today when I went down I was met by three Mute Swan cygnets which I presume hatched yesterday. I predicted that they would hatch in early June, so I wasn't to for off! Surprisingly the parents didn't care about last years cygnet who stayed with them whilst they looked after their cygnets.

Mute Swan cygnets

The other four eggs were left in the nest so I presume they have been abandoned. Other things seen today were 25+ Mallard ducklings, plenty of Damselflies, 1 Coot chick and the Great Crested Grebe pair were still round the nest.

Blue-Tailed Damselfly

Throughout the whole month numbers of House Martins and Swallows have risen but there don't seem to be many Swallows around this year. Since the 8th Swift numbers have gone up but again there don't seem to be as many.

Other birds this month include Red-Legged Partridge with one seen near Wadshelf and a Redkite seen over The Hardwick Inn last weekend.