Urban birds at Hull. 60 Coal Tit

 

The Coal Tit is less widely known than its more common relatives, the Blue Tit and Great Tit. It is a smaller bird than those, with a black cap, large white cheeks and a white band at the back of the head. Unlike Marsh and Willow Tits, which are extremely rare birds in Hull, the bib under the bill is large and triangular. The chest is creamy brown, the back and wings are grey and two white wing bands are clear. The species has an affinity for conifers, dexterously extracting seeds from cones of spruce, pine and other species, and small insects and spiders from between needles at the end of branches. Coal Tits will also frequent parks and gardens, where they form mixed winter flocks with Long Tailed tits, Blue and Great Tits and Goldcrests. Coal Tits are hoarders: they cache food in different locations around the area to retrieve later. This explains how, when visiting gardens, they dart to and from garden feeders, as they don't stop to feed like other birds do, but just cache the seeds, particularly sunflower seeds. Coal Tits sing year round, and they can be very vocal in the winter. Their song is similar to the great tit, but with a higher pitch and a more squeaky tone.

18 March 2025. Ella Street.

Coal Tit singing. East Park, 24 March 2025.

Feeding on pine cones. Western Cemetery, 23 April 2023.

Distribution and status in Hull. Never common, but a widespread resident species in Hull. It is more widespread, and probably more noticeable in the winter months. Resident numbers might be increased by immigrants from the continent in 'irruption' years. It breeds in small numbers in Hull, particularly in large gardens and parks. Judging from the impression of a very rare bird before 2000, it is likely this species has increased in Hull in recent decades.

Coal Tit fledgling. University of Hull. 29 May 2012.

Coal Tit on garden feeder. 9 March 2012.

Conservation and management. Unlike the other smaller tits, the Willow and Marsh Tit, the Coal Tit is not a bird of conservation concern, it is Green Listed. Widespread conifer planting, both for timber and also in gardens in areas with no native conifers probably have helped this species, which is now stable in numbers. It is subordinate to both Blue and Great Tit, and probably outcompeted from nest boxes.

More Information

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

(top shot 15 December 2025)

A frosty walk on the urban Humber

Another freezing January day. I leave the house around 8:30 with -5 oC. There are still patches of snow on the ground, but it has been dry, so not much ice. There is light cloud with brief sunny spells becoming windier later. A small flock of Siskins is feeding in the Italian Alders in my street. I meander along the green spaces towards town and I'm rewarded with Coal Tits singing and a small group of Redpolls feeding on the mossy branches of a sycamore, exactly how the Goldfinches do. At Princes Quay, a Cormorant sits on the lights platform. The marina has a light cover of ice, the first time I see this. In the entrance of the Marina the tide is now ebbing and a Dunlin does a couple of passes before briefly settling on the edge of the water. I carry on around the mouth of the river Hull, and then along the Humber along Victoria Dock. 

Siskin.

Siskin.

Coal Tit singing and feeding on pine tree.

Redpoll feeding on mosses.

Cormorant on Princes Quay.

The frozen Marina.

The yellow flagged Redshank, loyal to Myton Bridge.

Curlew.

At the Half tide basin, 16 Dunlin and two Ringed Plovers feed on the exposed mud. No sign of the Black Redstart or Rock Pipits of a couple of weeks, but in the freshwater basin the fountain has kept open water, where a young Mute Swan, Coots, Mallards and 13 Tufted Ducks are feeding. Many Black-headed Gulls and a few Common Gulls too.

Ringed Plover with worm.

Dunlin.

Redshank.

Dunlin runnning.

Ringed Plover.

Dunlin.

Four Mallards and a Coot were on the Humber foreshore.

AJY was on its usual spot.The flag seemed to bother it and it kept shaking its leg.

A surprise Black-tailed Godwit at the Siemens mud.

Immature Great Black-backed Gull at the Siemens shore.

Pied Wagtail.

Turning to head back the wind is strenthening and the cold is cutting. I make my way to The Deep. A Kestrel is hunting nearby. A cacophony of Herring Gulls, flying over the river calls my attention. I look for raptors and see none, then I look to the river and spot a seal! It is a Common Seal, swimming back and forth, up and down, while the Mallards leave the water and the Curlew flies over Scale Lane Bridge, alarm calling. I watch and photograph the seal, my first urban seal in Hull. The seal appears to look for a place to haul itself out of the water (top shot) but is not happy with the steep and slippery mud of the river Hull. I leave it to it and make my way to Waterstones for a hot coffee.

A view of The Deep.

Kestrel.

Common Seal.

Common Seal.

The Mallards move away from the water as the seal approaches.

Urban birds at Hull. 59. Shoveler

A small dabbling duck with a massive, spatula-shaped bill. It is a specialist feeder: the inside of the bill bill is furnished with comb-like sieves, which the bird uses to filter water and extract small microscopic animals and algae. It keeps the head low over the water, bill in, or up-ending. Often a group will filter-feed together, swimming round and round as pin-wheels, stirring the sediment in a spot in good locations. Both sexes have a blue and green speculum and females and males in eclipse (non-breeding season) have similar colour patterns to female mallard, but the bill is diagnostic. Drakes in breeding plumage are stunning birds, with a black bill and green iridescent head and yellow eye, white chest with brick-red bellies, and black, iridescent back with white stripes. The tail is white. The UK population swells in winter with arrivals from the continent.

22/11/22. East Park.

Status and distribution in Hull

The Shoveler is a scarce wintering duck in Hull, found between August and April. The best locations are the Bransholme Reservoir, where a group can often be seen outside the breeding season and East Park Lake, where a pair or two will also winter. Occasionally they have been recorded in Oak Road Lake and the Willerby Carrs area. Flocks can be seen during passage in the Humber. There is an old breeding record at Salt End in 1984 reported by R.K. Broughton.

East Park. 26 December 2025.

Shoveler pair feeding. East Park 5/2/22.

Conservation and management

The Shoveler is Amber listed due to the significant wintering population in the UK population (>20%). The breeding population is quite small about 1200 pairs, mainly at Cambridgeshire, East Anglia and Yorkshire, and is monitored by the Rare Breeding Birds Panel. 

A female Shoveler at East Park.

More information

Bird facts BTO. Shoveler.

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

December WeBS count at the River Hull and Victoria Dock

 I missed the core count survey date for the December WeBS, as I was away. I wanted to fit an alternative date in December and this proved tricky, as many high tides were in darkness. Tuesday's high tide was just before dawn, at 8:08, so I went for that. It was cloudy,  and there is just enough light to see the birds, although very dark for photos. I flushed a Rock Pipit from the Myton Bridge saltmarsh, which was the highlight of the survey itself. I think it has been there for a few weeks as I also flushed a pipit in my last visit. After the visit, I walked to the end of Corinthians way. I spotted a Dunlin on the sea wall, but I was too close (top shot) and it flew, with a few others and a Ringed Plover, both new species for the year (number 105 and 106). At the Half-tide basin there is a Black Redstart, my second in Hull this year, and two Rock Pipits, what a day! With only a few days left for the year, this might well be the final tally.

Black Redstart.

Black Redstart.

Rock Pipit in the gloom.

Black Redstart.

Curlew at Half Tide basin.

A young Mute Swan at the Half tide basin.

A flotilla of Tufted Ducks.

Curlew.

Redshank.

Pied Wagtail on the tideline.

Curlew.

A winter walk to Setting Dyke, Willerby Carr and Wood Lane

A mild, but sunny December day, I head along the Setting Dyke to Willerby Carr and Wood Lane, hoping to catch up with my Hull bogey bird this year, Snipe. The Setting Dyke carries some water, its levels recovered since the summer drought. As I walk out of Children's Wood a Green Woodpecked yaffles. It is quite close and I find it, sitting on a large poplar, calling every now and then. What a stunning bird the Green Woodpecker is. It is a very muddy walk and wellies are a necessity. I make my way to Southwood Garden Centre for a coffee and then return via Haltemprice Priory.

Collared Dove.

Coal Tit.

This pair of crows landed right next to the pair of Herring Gulls and started cawing. The gulls did a duet of weak alarm calls, looking a bit puzzled.

A flock of Siskins fed on the alders at Birsall Avenue. Here a female.

Male Siskin.

At the Derringham flood scheme, a Little Egret sat by the water.

Kestrel.

The view across Willerby Carr Farm.

A few Wigeon were at the scrape. A Water Rail calls from a ditch just by the path.

Teal.

Grey Heron.

Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Roe Deer.

A Grey Squirrel feeding on bark.

Robin.

  A couple of Fieldfare on the hedges and a pair of Stonechats on the priory grounds are highlights.

Fieldfare.

Stonechat.

Greylag.

Preening Carrion Crows.