Wild at Hull: Walking the Humber. Stage 6. Green Port

Sunday 18 February 2018

Walking the Humber. Stage 6. Green Port

I randomly checked the tide times this afternoon and realised it was 15 minutes to low tide, so I decided to walk around the Green Port to take advantage of the exposed mudflats in the two points of the stage that allowed estuary views. Alexandra Dock used to have a Public Right of Way by the shore, but this was closed a couple of years ago, when the Siemens wind turbine blade factory was built, and the path is now re-routed inland around the dock. I start at the end of Corinthians Way on Victoria Dock Village, where there is a car park by the foreshore. A Redshank and a few Black-headed Gulls feed by the tide line. I start the walk proper, on a wide, paved footpath and cycle lane around industrial depots. The massive turbine blades lay in rows. By the path there is landscaping and gardening and despite the path running besides the A63 the noise level is tolerable. I arrive at Holderness Drain, which drains the waters of the low lying areas, formerly carrs, at the east of the river Hull. The drain has very steep sides and there is no public access alongside it. The last part of the stage involved a straight walk parallel to the drain but away from it. On arriving to the view point by the estuary, there is a beautiful reclaimed metal sculpture 'Rebar Godwit'. I watched from the edge of the sea wall, with an expansive view of the mudflats and across the Humber. Three Curlews fed at different points. Two Mallards walked on the mud to the fresh water of the Holderness drain. There was another bird, a Black-tailed Godwit, which put a lovely end for the stage.

Black-tailed Godwit catching food by the tide line.

Featured Bird: Black-tailed Godwit
I felt very lucky to find a Black-tailed Godwit today in such urban and industrial surroundings. This elegant wader is at home in wet wetlands and estuary mudflats, feeding on invertebrates such as worms, crabs and small clams, which it can pick up from deep in the mud with its long straight bill. The Humber is of international importance as passage and wintering area for this red listed species. The birds migrating through and wintering in the UK mainly come from Iceland and Scandinavia. Although worldwide declines have been reported due to changing agricultural practices, the Black-tailed Godwit has actually increased in the Humber in the last 20 years. Important roosting and post-breeding moult sites include Paull Holme Strays, Kilingholme Quarry, and Alkborough Flats.