Today it truly did feel like spring was finally here. Shedding coats and jumpers and gasping under the mid afternoon sun Doffcocker was totally transformed. The only down side being a piercing headache that I have been trying to shift for two days that was made worse for looking into the bright sky but the sun was wonderful and there was barely a breeze so I tried not to complain too much.

Today we were hunting for terns once again. Anytime now they should be returning but a first sweep of the lodge proved disappointing. Finally the Mute swans had left their youngsters from last year in the main lake and gone to the smaller lodge to nest. Interestingly only three juveniles remain whilst the forth one was recorded this week at Pennington Flash. Usually they nest on the left hand side but this year they had gone for a complete turnaround and where now nesting on the opposite side. The male was clearly visible, preening in the middle of the water whilst the female slept on her nest. Mute swans incubate their eggs for 34-38 days and I doubt that she would have been sat on eggs for more than about five days so the countdown has already begun.

The great crested grebes were also busy nesting. The prime nest that was so aggressively fought over back in February was firmly occupied with no other competing pair around. Another pair were also nesting over in the small lodge and their chosen location surprised me considerably. They had decided to set up a nest right under the noses of the mute swans, barely twenty feet from the nest and the swans were tolerating them completely.

The female was sat in the nest and the male I watched fishing right down the other end of the lodge for quite some time. Eventually fishing was over and he made his way up the lake, swimming low in the water and growling to meet the female who joined him in the bonding courtship dance. All the time I watched this I was aware of the sun shining full on me, making it difficult to get good shots of this intimate bonding. I find photographing this display so difficult as I can never get the light to fall on the birds just right and today was to be no exception. I guess I will have to try again next year.