Skylarks NR, 13th June

Went to Holme Pierrepont today to see what was about. Had a walk with the dogs around the Finger Ponds in the morning and saw plenty of warblers, including Sedge, Blackcap and Whitethroat. Had my first Lesser Whitethroat in a while singing on adbolton lane too. Otherwise it was relatively quiet, though there were large numbers of Swift and House Martin feeding low over the end of the rowing course.

The weather was mixed, with a strong wind blowing through, but it was quite warm, so i stayed on down there and had a wander round Skylarks to see if anything interesting was about. Bird-wise it was much the same, though a Common Tern feeding on the main lake was a nice surprise. Else where there were plenty of Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs, as well as the usual residents.

Over at the reed-bed however it was very busy, with loads of Reed Warblers providing much entertainment. From the viewpoint I counted maybe 5 pairs knocking about, but there must be a good few more in the rest of the reedbed. I had to resist the urge to go down and find some nests (see Reed Warbler nest finding - SNRG ), but the birds were quite showy so I managed to get some decent shots. Reed buntings were singing everywhere too, but they stayed a little more distant.

Elsewhere round the reserve I had my eye out for butterflies as well as day-flying moths, so I armed myself with a stick and gently tousled stands of vegetation here and there. It worked to some degree and I managed to find 5 species of moth, 3 of which were new to me. Here's some photos.

Yellow Shell

Straw Dot

Silver Ground Carpet

Clouded Border - Nice looking moth

Old faithful - Cinnabar

On the butterfly front, I was delighted to see lots of Common Blues flying round the meadow near the entrance, a good spot for this species. They were very confiding and I managed to get some great photos of these little beauties. I also saw one solitary Speckled Wood, so not great but it wasn't really butterfly weather.

I was hoping for some nice wildflowers too, and there was quite a bit about, but the orchids weren't fully in flower yet and I couldn't find Twayblade either, but it was a great visit nonetheless.