An August walk to Victoria Dock

A mild day with light drizzle showers, and a low tide, I head towards Victoria Dock, hoping to see some waders to add to my year list. On the way, I watch two Sparrowhawks over the city centre and another over Ha'penny bridge. The Feral Pigeons at Queen Victoria Square are enjoying the reopened fountain and are bathing enthusiastically, displaying their curious habit of exposing the underside of their wings to get it wet. There are many Lesser Black-backed fledglings begging to parents around Princes Quay, with plaintive whistles and crouched stances. At Victoria Pier, a Lesser Black-backed gull feeds on a dead woodpigeon, it is a young one, its back open.

Sparrowhawk.

Feral Pigeon bath time.

Begging Lesser Black-backed juveniles chasing a parent.

A Lesser Black-back Gull feeding on a young Woodpigeon.

A second Sparrowhawk.

Young House Martins getting ready to fledge.

Young coot chick being fed by parent.

No waders at the Half-tide basin, but many House Martins around, some in their nests almost ready to fledge. A surprise are three Mute Swans, which are feeding on the foreshore near Corinthians Way. All three have small bill knobs and one of them has brown fringes in its wings, so probably they are yearlings moulting. The limping Curlew is still there, still limping, but actively feeding.

One of the Mute Swans. 

The limping male Curlew. 

I scan the mudflats at the end of Corithians Way. The Curlew and some Black-headed Gulls are there, but no Oystercatchers. After a short spot, I turn round. A flock of Starlings feed on the exposed seaweed, turning it like Turnstones and using their open bill probing technique to hunt for invertebrates.

Starling open bill probing on seaweed.

Young pied wagtail.

I get to the Half-tide Basin. There are two juvenile Pied Wagtails now. I watch them as they chase and flutter after insects on the mud, when the House Martins start alarm calling. The wagtails immediately fly off, and I scan the sky, hoping for a raptor. A Hobby! It's flying low parallel to me, and soon it's going to fly behind the buildings, so I'm lucky to be able to take a couple of record shots. I haven't had a Hobby in Hull since 2022, and the last time was on Myton Bridge, powering towards Victoria Dock. This time of year the young House Martins are on the wing, and it must be easy pickings for Hobbies.

Hobby.

I follow the Hobby as it flies NE towards the trees by the A63. Hobby is number 96 for my Birds in Hull, so a very nice outcome for the walk.

A male Vapourer landed on the path in front of me. It appeared to be struggling against the wind, and I acted as a windbreak.

Stoneferry to Foredyke Green along the river Hull

I wasn't planning this walk in the morning, as I was going to walk the old course of the Foredyke Green to join Hull Nats at Wilberforce Wood. In the event, a Peregrine deflected my walk and sent me up the river Hull. The forecast had been for cloudy weather most of the day, instead, there were long sunny spells and warm conditions with a very light breeze, ideal for insects. The peregrine, on its favourite building, was plucking and eating its prey, probably a Feral Pigeon. I hid behind a fence, taking photos from between the bars. When it stopped feeding, it swiped its bill clean on the edge of the alcove, and looked around. After taking some photos I left it on its ledge and continued on my new path. 

Peregrine feeding.

Atop its perch.

I hoped that I could tick the Common Sandpipers near B&Q. The tide though, was very high and rising.An alarm called my attention, it heralded event that I don't see very often these days, the twin bridges of Stoneferry opening for a boat to pass. It was a small boat and the bridges didn't completely lift up, luckily, I thought, for the Swallows that nest under the bridge. I waved at the people on the boat as the boat passed, and waited until the surface of the river settled again. Maybe the sandpipers won't happen today anyway.

The Swallows landed on the bridge shortly after it went down. I hope eggs or chicks on the nest won't have been dislodged.

With such a high tide I thought I wouldn't risk it on the soft banks of the west side, so I walked on the East side. It a hard surfaced bank in its first stretch, with moorings and a short lane called Ferry Lane. Buddleias laden with sweet blossom dot the bank and there were a range of butterflies, manly nymphalids.

Small Tortoiseshell.

Painted Lady.

Peacock.

Just as I had taken this photo of the peacock a small bird flew past behind the buddleia and landed on a fence. A quick look with my binoculars and I got very excited: a Black Redstart! I managed some photos as it perched on the fence, likely an adult female. Would it be nesting nearby? It is peak breeding season for Black Redstarts, a species I hadn't seen in Hull since 2022 at Albert Dock, and also species 95 for my 100 birds in Hull challenge. The screeching noise of the cranes lifting metal of the scrapyard opposite grate against this lovely sighting, it couldn't be a more fitting habitat!

Black redstart.

Three large old warehouses have recently been cleared in this plot. Herring anf Lesser Black-backed gulls were loafing on the ground. The warehouse to the right of the photo has several Lesser Black-backed pairs with grown chicks.

About 20 Swifts descended over the river, and disappeared again.

I continue up river until Sutton Bridge, then I head for Bude Park. Several tethered horses graze on the grassland. A new aquagreen has been created, and it looks like it was full in the winter, the field next to it bare but for a few scattered plants. I continue by ASDA into Wilberforce Wood.

Aquagreen Bude Park.

The temporary pond at Wilberforce Wood is teeming with tiny ground hoppers.

I sit by the Foredyke Green Pond to have my packed lunch and do some dragonfly watching. The weather is  perfect for it, and I list 8 species on the wing.

Brown Hawker ovipositing.

Ruddy Darter.

Emperor leaving oviposition site.

Male Broad-bodied Chaser.

Migrant Hawker.

I meet up with Hull Nats after that and we walk in a circuit around Wilberforce Wood. There are many butterflies on the wing and Roesel's and Coneheads are calling.

Brimstone

Roesel's

Peacock.

Red Admiral.

Urban birds at Hull. 53. Green Woodpecker

The Green Woodpecker is a large woodpecker with a green back and yellow rump very noticeable in flight. Green Woodpeckers have a shiny red cap, with a dark mask and pale iris. Their moustache is black in the female and with a red centre in the male (top shot). They are shy and elusive birds and rarely do they give good sightings.  They are more often detected by their characteristic call or 'yaffle' reminiscent of a whinnying horse. Green Woodpeckers are ant specialists, they locate ants nests and eat the ants and their eggs and larvae by probing the nest with their long-sticky tongue. On the grasslands where they feed their green plumage offers them a perfect camouflage. Their habitat includes garden lawns, golf courses, and woodland rides. They breed in holes they excavate in trees, as other woodpeckers.

A juvenile feeding at Stepney Playing fields. 15/07/2025.  Juveniles have a streaked, more greying appearance, without the black mask or moustache.

The same juvenile showing its large size compared to blackbirds and typical stance, tail leaning on the ground.

Probing for ants.

Status and distribution in Hull

The Green Woodpecker is a scarce resident in Hull, with the records more abundant on the western side of Hull and around the outskirts. Likely places include Garrowby Community Orchard, Noddle Hill LNR and Wilberforce Wood. Other sites have had single sporadic sightings. Richard Broughton in his 2002 Birds of the Hull area regarded them as a very occasional species in the Hull area, but numbers seem to be increasing, with records year round. I had 16 records in the last 5 years, and just 2 in the previous 5. There are indications that they are probably breeding locally, several juveniles have been seen in Hull during the month of July in the last couple of years, like the one above in the Sculcoates area, in Sutton and at Garrowby Orchard.

22/01/22. Adult male at Garrowby Orchard.

28/09/24. A record shot of an adult at Sculcoates.

Conservation and management

A Green Listed species in the UK, with increased population since the 1960s, with some range expansion to the north and east. It may benefit from a warming climate as it is susceptible to cold winters.

More Information

BTO Birdfacts. Green Woodpecker.

Broughton, R.K. 2002. Birds of the Hull area.

Note: I usually illustrate this series of posts with photos taken in Hull, however, given the scarcity of this species and my lack of passable photos, I used for the the top photo one taken at North Cave Wetlands in November 2016.

Urban birds at Hull. 52. Oystercatcher

Oystercatchers are instantly recognisable waders, with their pied plumage, black above, white below, and their straight orange bill and sturdy pink legs. Their eyes are dark red with a red ring around them. There is a lot of variation in bill shape and length, partly due to sex differences (females have a longer and pointier bill), but also individual preferences for prey. Individuals preferring worms have longer bills, whereas those favouring mussels have shorter, more chisel-like bills. Oystercatchers are long-lived birds, the record is 43 years old, by an individual ringed at the Wash. They are also quite site-faithful, breeding and wintering in the same areas year after year. Unlike other waders, they bring food to their young, so they are able to breed on flat roofs and do this regularly. The young are dependent on their parents for a longer time than other waders too. They are more limited to the coast in the winter, but they are increasingly breeding inland, where they have added gravel quarries (and roofs) to their nest sites. When inland (or during high tides) they regularly feed on earthworms from grasslands.

Victoria Dock, 22 April 2024. Two were present at the foreshore, this one with a very short bill contrasted with the other, with a very long one (top shot). Both individuals together suggest that the top shot one could be a female, and the bottom a male.

Status and distribution in Hull

The Oystercatcher is a scarce and localised species in Hull. Oystercatcher records concentrate between the end of February and July, where most records are probably of birds on passage. There has been historical breeding of very few pairs: in the eastern docks and near Hessle, but breeding has not been confirmed recently. The best place to see them is near the Siemens factory, at Victoria Dock. Some years they used Victoria Park lawns to feed. I have a surprising record at Pickering Park early one morning, but Pickering Park is quite close to the Humber so maybe this individual had moved inland to feed at high tide. As Richard Broughton comments, there are inland Oystercatcher records in several points around Hull, and being nocturnal migrants, they can be heard calling over the city during migration.

An Oystercatcher at Pickering Park, 19/02/2023.

Conservation and management

Oystercatchers are Amber listed due to recent population declines in the UK, and listed as Near Threatened globally in the IUCN Red List. In the city, individuals have been seen limping due to fishing line around their legs, which could be something that the urban Oystercatchers might be more exposed to than in the wider countryside. Overall the causes of the declines are unclear, increased predation, or reduction on shellfish numbers (eg. cockle beds) could be to blame.

18 May 2021. Victoria Dock. Feeding on ragworms.

More information

A TetZoo article on the extraordinary bill of the Oystercatcher.

Broughton, R.K. 2002. Birds of the Hull Area.

Oystercatcher. BTO Bird Facts.

Wadertales blog post: Oystercatchers: from shingle beach to roof-top.

Strensall Common with Hull Nats

A warm and humid day with welcome, scattered clouds. We start our walk from the railway line crossing car park. There are several clumps of creeping thistle buzzing with insects, including a diverse cast of butterflies. The common is very dry, we walk on two board walks over a parched landscape, which was probably wet in the winter. An area shows the signs of fire, black ground, birches and pines with the purple moorgrass sprouting, two paths appear to have acted as firebreakers. I stand on the path and point the bat detector to the burnt area: silence. I turn round and point at the chugging calls of the Bog Bush crickets on the other non burnt side.

Small Skipper.

Meadow Brown.

Large White.

Large Skipper.

Comma.

There is a ditch with tussocks of Purple Moorgrass by the car park. I have a look before we all assemble and quickly find a Long-winged Conehead nymph and a Bog Bush Cricket. There are also Common Green and Meadow Brown Grasshoppers. My bat detector allows me to hear the reeling of a Roesel's and chugging of Bog Bush-crickets.

Long-winged Conehead nymph.

Bog Bush-cricket.

Meadow Grasshopper.

Female Bog Bush-cricket.

Sandy coloured Bog Bush cricket female.

We are lucky enough to witness a female Bog Bush-cricket nymph moulting. The whole process is quite fast. The next three photos illustrate it.

Moulting Bog Bush-cricket.

We are moving very slowly indeed and we reach the following car park after an hour and a half. There the heath is under open woodland and there seems to be more nymphs than adults, in large numbers. I stop trying to record each Bog Bush-cricket I see. This one got its antennae entangled and was trying to sort them out.

Female nymph Bog Bush-cricket.

Lesser Spearwort.

Round-leaved Sundew.

Eyed Ladybird, netted by Bill Dolling.

We move onto Worlds End Wood, where we go to a large pond. An Emperor lands on a birch during a cloudy spell. 

Four spotted chaser.

Labyrinth Spider.

Brown Hawker ovipositing.

Ruddy Darter.

Emerald Damselfly.

Large Red Damselfly.

A Bog Bush-cricket male by the pond. I found they were singing even from bracken areas with Molinia underneath.

Mottled Grasshopper.

An unfortunate Common Green Grasshopper fallen prey to a Labyrinth spider.

Common Green Grasshopper is plentiful around the common, here on a sandy path.

It was very quiet on the bird front. Of note were some fledgling Stonechats on the large bracken patch and a Reed Bunting.

Stonechat juvenile.

Reed Bunting.