Holmebrook Valley Monthly update

Since the end of October there has been quite a few different birds turning up on the lake at Holmebrook Valley.

On the 31st of October there was a male Teal which was first found at the north east end of the lake. This is my first Teal at Holmebrook since October 2017 so I expecting one. The bird was very shy and didn't come in very close, but with some persistence I managed a very badly let shot of him. 

Male Teal

Also on the 31st I had my first Common Gull of this winter. Unfortunately it didn't stick around and left very quickly so I only managed a record flight shot.

Common Gull

On the 6th of November there was a lovely male Pochard on the lake which was a first for the site for me. With the him there was a female Tufted Duck and they spent most of the time I was there in the middle of the lake.

Pochard and Tufted Duck

Also on the 6th I managed to find not one, but two Water Rails in the reeds at the bottom end of the lake. Not only was this the best Water Rail count for the site, but also my first since the 11th of November 2017. The birds were being very vocal but one was only seen twice.

Water Rail record shot

At least one Water Rail has been present calling in the same area within the last week and was there again today.

One of the Mute Swan cygnets had disappeared on the 6th but I now know it was taken away by the RSPCA because of lead poisoning (See post HERE). Hopefully it will get well enough to be returned. 

Also seen on the 6th was a Herring Gull. These can be seen around Chesterfield sometimes, but are still infrequent on the lake at Holmebrook. The bird was with 5 Lesser Black-Backed Gulls and 69 Black-Headed Gulls.

Herring Gull 3cy

Lesser Black-Backed Gull 2cy

Away from birds, there was a Common Darter flying around the bottom end of the lake on the 6th, which is now my latest record of any species of dragonfly.

On the 8th I found an American Mink at the bottom end of the lake which at the time, I presumed was why the Mute Swan cygnet had disappeared. I have reported the Mink but have not seen it since.

Mink

Also on the 8th there were two Goosanders (Male and female).

Goosanders

Since the 8th not much else has appeared on the lake apart from all the Mute Swans yesterday (See post HERE). Both Great Crested Grebes are still on the lake and numbers of Moorhens, Coots and Mallards have stayed roughly the same. I have heard the Kingfisher a few times on the river but it has not yet moved onto the lake as it did last year.

Iceland Gull at Edgbaston Reservoir 17/03/18

Yesterday I had a day in Birmingham with family and on the way home we popped into the nearby Edgbaston Reservoir to check out an Iceland Gull that had been reported of Birdguides earlier in the day. We parked in the carpark at the end of Reservoir Road and within 5 minutes I had located the bird which was about 20 meters out on the reservoir.

2nd Winter Iceland Gull

These are my best views I have had of an Iceland Gull before as I have only seen one flying away at North Shields in Newcastle back at the start of 2017. Other birds seen on site were Lesser Black-Backed Gull, Black-Headed Gull, Coot and Mute Swan.

Edgbaston Reservoir

Holmebrook Valley 28/02/18 - 01 - 02/03/18

Over night from the 27th to the 28th of March it snowed a lot in Chesterfield and when I woke up I found myself off school which meant I could go down to Holmebrook Valley to do a bit of birding. Despite it being -5° I went down for about two hours during the day.

The lake was almost completely frozen over but there were still 2 Canada Geese, 1 Greylag Goose, all 3 Mute Swans, 3 Tufted Ducks and the Great Crested Grebe.

Mute Swan

On the frozen lake there were about 40 Black-Headed Gulls, 2 Lesser Black-Backed Gulls and at least 4 Common Gulls throughout the day (new sight record). Other birds seen around the site were Redwing, Fieldfare and about 7 Bullfinch which spent all of the morning feeding in the bushes on the east side of the lake.

Frozen lake on the 1st of March

On the 1st of March I was off school again and I spent the day walking round Chesterfield getting some nice pictures in the snow. Whilst in Chesterfield I had a look on the lake in Queens Park and was happy to find 1 Common Gull, 4 Lesser Back-Backed Gulls and about 40 Black-Headed Gulls.

Common Gull with BH Gulls

When I returned home I popped down to Holmebrook Valley for about 20 minutes. Nothing had change much but there were only 2 Common Gulls today and 4 Canada Geese including 2 new birds that landed whilst I was there. I was also told by my uncle that the Mute Swans were not on the lake earlier in the day as it was completely frozen over, but they had returned and all 3 birds were on the lake. They had most likely gone to Linacre Reservoirs or Walton Dam as they are both about a 2 minute flight from Holmebrook.

All 3 Mute Swans in a small gap in the ice

Common Gull

The Greylag Goose and the Tufted Ducks weren't there but there were at least 10 Bullfinches still in the bushes on the east side of the lake.
On the 2nd of March it was the same as on the 1st with 2 Common Gull but only about 5 Bullfinches and still no Greylag Goose or Tufted Ducks.

1 of 4 Canada Geese

Holmebrook Valley Park 17 - 18/02/18

This week I am off school and I have managed to get down to Holmebrook Valley a couple of times.

17/02/18

I popped down for about 45 minutes on Saturday and had a walk round the lake. On the lake there was a flock of about 60 Black-Headed Gulls, 1 Common Gull, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Greylag Goose, 3 Tufted Ducks, all 3 Mute Swans and 2 Cormorants.

Common Gull

The tame Robin was still by the boardwalk in his normal tree and I managed to get some nice shots of him.

18/02/18

Today I went to Holmebrook Valley about half an hour.
Birds on the lake were 50+ Black-Headed Gulls, 1 Lesser Black Backed Gull, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 5 Tufted Ducks (3 Male + 2 Female, A good record for HBV), 2 Cormorants, all 3 Mute Swans and 1 Greylag Goose.

Great Crested Grebe nearing full breeding plumage.

I also saw 1 female Goosander fly over and it was coming in to land but it flew off. Around the lake there was the usual tame Robin and I could hear the Kingfisher calling on the river and when I went to look, it flew off. I guess seeming that it was calling a lot, there was another bird.

Tame Robin

Also I added Green Woodpecker and Tawny Owl to my year list. I saw the Green Woodpecker this morning at Linacre Reservoirs and the Tawny Owl last weekend flying over a roundabout near Batemoor.

Holmebrook Valley Park 28/01/18

I went down to Holmebrook Valley from 09:40 to 10:20 this morning just to check if there was anything new on the lake. It was sunny, which was good for photos but very windy which made it quiet cold. On the lake there was the female Goosander still from yesterday but it flew off at 09:54. All 3 of the Tufted Ducks were still on the lake and there were still good numbers of Coots, which were fighting each other. Apart from that it was just a normal day with the long stay Greylag Goose, about 40 Black-Headed Gulls and a Lesser Black Backed Gull. One other bird that I heard today was the Kingfisher. It was calling a few times at the north end of the lake when I first got there but I couldn't locate it. Its nice to get the Kingfisher back as I haven't had it there for a few weeks.

 Here's a couple of photos of the Mute Swans from this morning. The low sun made some good light for photos.

                                              The female Goosander before it flew off
One last bird that I saw today was a Buzzard which glided over whilst being mobbed by a group of about 20 Rooks and Jackdaws.

Holmebrook Valley Park 27/01/18

It was not very nice weather today with it being quiet windy and overcast but I still went down to Holmebrook Valley today for about 40 minutes from 11:51 to 12:30. The lake was pretty quiet but I did find one female Goosander. Over this winter I have seen quiet a few Goosanders at Holmebrook with up to 4 at a time but still it was nice to see.

                                                                Goosander record shot

Apart from that there were 3 Tufted Ducks (2 males and 1 Female), 2 Cormorants, 60+ Black-Headed Gulls, 2 Lesser Black Backed Gulls, all 3 Mute Swans and the Greylag goose was still there as well. I also managed to count 16 Coots which is good compared to Linacre where there were only 3 this morning. There could have been more around the lake which were hiding.

                                                            One of the 3 Tufted Ducks

                                                                     The Cygnet swan

                                                                       Greylag Goose

Unfortunately the Kingfisher wasn't seen and the Canada Goose from two weeks ago had gone.

Holmebrook Valley Park 14/01/18

I went down to the lake at Holmebrook Valley for about 45 minutes yesterday. There were certainly a few more gulls that the day before with about 70 to 80 Black Headed Gulls on the water. I had a quick scan through the flock and found a Common Gull, 1 adult Lesser Black Backed Gull and 2 young gulls. I am not very good at identifying young gulls but I presume that they were either Lesser Black Backed or Herring Gull. I would prefer Herring Gull as they are not very common on the lake. As luck would have it, an adult Herring Gull landed on the lake at 12:15. That means I got 4 species of gull in one day which is good for Holmebrook Valley.

Here's one of the young gulls which is either Herring or Lesser Black Backed. Any suggestions are welcomed.

Apart from the gulls there was now a new Canada Goose on the lake. The bird was very shy and wouldn't come to seed like the local swans. There were also two male and a female Tufted Ducks today instead of just a female. The Greylag Goose and the Mute Swans were still there as normal and one of the Kingfishers was back on the lake after not being seen for a few days, although it was not being very photogenic and was flying away regularly.

                                            All three Tufted Ducks and the Canada Goose.

On my last post I mentioned that there seemed to be a lot of Bullfinches about and today there was even more and I managed to count at least 20 in two flocks.

One last photo for today. This is one of the cygnets from last years brood that survived, looking all grown up with adult feathers come through on its wings.

Holmebrook Valley Park 13/01/2018

I went down Holmebrook from about 10:20 to 10:50 on Saturday. I am glad I did because there were two Gadwall (Male and female) on the lake. Although they are widespread across central Britain they are still a rarity for Holmebrook Valley and this is only my 2nd record for them here. My previous record was from February 2017 when there was two on the lake in the evening. Although the lake at Holmebrook Valley is not that big, they were still hard to photograph because they swam away from me every time I got close. The dark light didn't help either so here's my record shot.

Apart from that there was just the normal water birds like the Mallards, all 3 Mute Swans and the Greylag Goose that has been here since the 28th of December. There was also still a female Tufted Duck. Gull wise, there wasn't much with only about 30 Black Headed Gulls and 1 Lesser Black Blacked Gull. There also seemed to be quiet a lot of Bullfinches about and I counted at least 7 together at one time. Apart from birds there was also 3 Rats including 2 very confident animals that came within about 20cm of my camera. They were very quick though and were hard to photograph.