Kilnsea Wetlands and Spurn Triangle

A very pleasant day at Kilnsea Wetlands and Spurn triangle, which got better as the day progressed. It started cloudy and with a cool breeze at the wetlands. A Spoonbill was around, but after a brief grooming session it had a long nap. There were plenty of gulls, including Herring, Common, Black-headed, Lesser Black-backed, Great Black-backed and later, 4 Little Gulls, which were new for the year for me. There were quite a few adult Avocets but no young. The only visible young were 7 Mallard ducklings.

Preening Spoonbill.

Adult Little Gulls amongst more common companions.

Butterflies
There were hundreds of Painted Ladies between Kilnsea Wetlands and Spurn Triangle, gorging on thistles, brambles and privet. There was a mix of worn and quite fresh individuals. Also Red Admirals, Small Tortoiseshells, Small Heaths, Common Blue, Meadow Browns, Ringlets, Large Skipper and Speckled Wood

Painted Lady, on thistle.

Large Skipper.

Mating Meadow Browns.

Small Heath. Another plentiful species in the Triangle.

Ringlet.

Beacon ponds

I move onto Beacon ponds to tick the Little Terns. On the way there I come across these mating red-tailed bumblebees. 

Then I see my first dragonfly, an Emperor patrolling a ditch, which disappears in a few seconds. As I jump to the other side of the ditch to pick up a tangled balloon, I disturb a large Grass Snake, which slithers into the grass, a site tick for me. The walk alongside Beacon Lane is peppered with more Painted Ladies.

A Dune chafer by the Blue Bell borrow pit.

Silver Ys feeding on Red Clover.

 Dragonflies
It is quite warm and sunny by 11, when I get to the Clubley scrape area. Dragonflies become quite evident, with a patrolling Emperor and several darters, including common, Ruddy and a stunning male Red-veined.

Common Darter.

Red-veined darter

Four-spotted chaser.

Blue-tailed skimmer male.

Common Darter.

Female Black-tailed skimmer, resting on some driftwood by the saltmarsh.

An Emperor resting.

I have my lunch at Canal Scrape hide. There is a pair of Swallows in residence. One of them sits on a post just by the hide, preening.

 and then starts sunbathing, opening it's bill and leaning to one side, feathers fluffed, I had never seen a swallow sunbathing before, but it makes sense as the sun is shining after many dull, cloudy days.

The view from the hide.

 I continue my walk alongside Canal Scrape bank, the Discovery centre is merging more and more with its surroundings.

Dragonfly survey at East Park

There was a window of opportunity with a hazy, sunny morning and I headed to East Park hoping for dragonflies.

I was amazed to see a dead eel by the shore.

Lovely to have a recently fledged Grey Wagtail on the central island.

A parent Great Crested Grebe feeding its demanding grown chick.

The Canada Geese have done well this year, with several families about.

This is a (blurry) Anthophora furcata male, just leaving the yellow flag flower where he was feeding. A site tick for me.

Several Painted Ladies about, this one feeding on bramble.

A single Southern Marsh orchid just by the westernmost shore of the main lake.

Hull Dragons
The sun was strongest between 11 and 12, where I managed to find 4 species of odonates in two complete circuits of the lake. Nothing on the boating lake though. Two quick sightings of four-spotted chasers, one at each end of the lake, but unfortunately, they didn't settle.
 On the eastern part of the lake there were plenty of Blue-tailed, at least 3 mating pairs, a few Common Blue and two Red-eyed Damselflies, another site tick for me.

There were two beautiful flowering patches of Amphibious bistort, favoured by the Red-eyed damselflies.

After an encounter with a blue-tailed male, this red-eyed jumped on a leaf and floated away.

Resting Red-eyed, quickly disturbed by...

...a blue-tailed, who took posession of the flower.

The terrapins
I had seen single red-eared terrapins at East Park before, but today I counted 7 of various sizes. Four were together on the western side of the lake, and three sunbathed in the E side of the central island, viewable from the bridge. These are some of them.

The largest of them all.

and the smallest and most colourful.

Terrapins are not thought to breed in the UK, the existing individuals are presumably the result of unwanted pets being dumped in waterways after the 1990s craze of the Ninja. turtles. Individuals survive and have reached adulthood, but they rely on sustained heat for reproduction as eggs need to be warm (22-27oC+) for two to three months to hatch. In the UK, these conditions are not met, and in case they did the cooler incubation temperatures might result in the production of males, as sex is determined by temperature.

A sunny morning walk by the River Hull at Bransholme

There was a record of a Banded Demoiselle by the river Hull just in the boundary of the city las week so I took went to the river in the morning to see if I was lucky enough to see any. I parked by Ennerdale and walked alongside the left margin of the river from Sutton Bridge on the grassy bank most of the time hoping for some resting damselflies or dragonflies. I couldn't believe when shortly after I started I flushed a female Banded Demoiselle. She alighted further ahead on the bankside vegetation and I could even take some shots. This was my first Banded Demoiselle within the city boundaries. This species is expanding in the river Hull and can now be found easily near the Tickton area.

Female Banded Demoiselle.

A 24 spot ladybird, a new species for me.

I completed a butterfly survey too including Green-veined, Brimstone, Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral and a Painted Lady powering north by the river bank aided by the breeze.
 Further ahead, by Bransholme reservoir outlet, a male Banded Demoiselle fluttered by and settled on some reeds. Two makes a pair! I wonder if they will be able to breed in this stretch of the river Hull or they are just dispersing individuals from the upstream population. The river is strongly tidal here and there is not much floating vegetation, but they might be more lucky on the several drains that run through the city.

 I turned round to investigate two ponds I had spotted in Google Maps.

 There is a tarmac circuit with lights where some kids were cycling and in the centre of one of the loops two nice ponds.

The N pond. Quite exposed with bare sides, very promising for dragonflies! Today it was too breezy. I only saw a single Common Blue Damselfly.

The South Pond. 

The South Pond was sheltered by a line of trees. Also quite exposed and with aquatic plants and a few tufts of reeds. The middle floating platform was teeming with Common Blue Damselflies, including a mating pair. 

Azure Damselflies ovipositing on the S pond.

A walk by the river Hull is never complete without a grazing pony, here posing nicely for the camera.

Swifts and Spoonbills at Tophill Low

A cool day with almost constant light rain or drizzle, I decided to have a trip to Tophill Low. My last trip there was at the end of March, and the reserve has changed a lot in the meantime. The first surprise on arrival was the large numbers of Swifts over the car park quietly feeding over the trees and the water on D res. Other than that the reservoir is devoid of birds, just a pair of Mute Swans in it. I decide to head south towards South Marsh first. The pond by the visitor centre looks and sounds amazing: a carpet of Water Violets flowering with a chorus of Marsh Frogs.

Water violets.

Reception centre pond.

Marsh Frog calling, my best shot ever of a calling one!

I stop at North Lagoon and there, the chorus of frogs is even louder. There are fights, veering for prime position in the middle of the pond.

 On the wall of O-res, there are wagtails. Pied and Yellow, both with bills full of insects. 

Female Yellow Wagtail on the wall of O res, holding what looks like a bunch of damselfly nymphs for her chicks

A male Yellow Wagtail stops its wagging walk for a few moments, calling.

  The verges by the reservoir are looking stunning. I've never seen so many Bee Orchids.

Bee Orchid

The following are several other orchids from around the reservoir and the path to Watton. I'm still learning about orchids and I know they are not easy as there are many hybrids. Still, the diversity of colours and shapes is fascinating.

I stop at South Marsh. There are two slumbering Spoonbills, a site tick for me. I look for Garganeys...

My heart jumps when I think I had spotted the drake Garganey. No, it was just a sleeping Black-headed gull.

Spoonbills

The spoonbills start to wake up. One of them preens and scratches and then starts fishing.

 Both are juveniles, probably one year olds, with a pinkish bill tip and lacking the crest and bare yellow chin and golden chest patch of breeding adults. They look goofy and so much fun to watch!

 The young spoonbill starts picking up sticks, just manipulating them with its bill and letting them fall in the water again. A playful, nest building behaviour?

 There are five Little Egrets at some point. One of the Little Egrets catches a fish with a quick dart of its neck.

 But I keep going back to the Spoonbills, trying to get a shot showing what they are feeding on. This one is a tiny fish.

 The other Spoonbill wakes up. If flies to the first one and they have a little skirmish before setting up in a line to feed.

 Spoonbills have a fascinating way of feeding using their unusual spatula-shaped bills. They submerge their bill and, keeping it open, they move it side to side steadily and quite rapidly under shallow water, all the while steadily moving forward on their long, sturdy legs. The bill is very sensitive to touch and can detect small swimming animals such as invertebrates, or tadpoles, newts and small fish. As soon as a prey item touches the bill, there is a quick snap reflex and the bill closes. Every few seconds, they seem to catch something, they lift their bill and throw their catch in the air in order to swallow it.

Starting a feeding session.

Another stickleback bites the dust.

***

A Kingfisher flies past, settling on the new bank by the photographic hide.

It has been raining lightly and steadily, but it appears to ease a bit and I move on. I first go to Watton, where there's not much to report, and then quickly trundle on the wet grass path around the reservoir to have lunch in the reception centre.

Swift vortex

The swirling swifts are in full swing right in front of the reception centre window. They are mesmerising to watch, and we do as we eat our sandwiches. I'm not very good counting birds, but surely, there must have been thousands. They seem to be mainly concentrated in the north of the D reservoir. But what are they doing, and where are they here, flying in the rain? As on cue, Richard Hampshire, the Tophill Low warden turns up and tells us of the mass emergence of non-biting midges (also called chironomids) the night before, when a visitor reported humming, so many there were. The larvae are aquatic, and they pupate on the water surface before emerging as adults and flying off. Adults, which look superficially like a mosquito, emerge from the reservoir and mate in huge swarms. Fortunately for us they don't bite, and adults may feed on nectar or honeydew. If they are lucky they will mate and lay eggs before being eaten by a swift or a wagtail or falling on a spider web! I took a photo of this one on the wall of one of the hides later in the afternoon.

Swift food: Male non-biting midge

 As I walk later towards Hempholme meadows, on the faint hope that a Cattle Egret has returned, I watch the swifts and take some photos that, due to the grey light, makes no justice to the spectacle. As I look back I realise that the densest concentration of swifts is now just over the hide! (photo above), so many that they look like a cloud of mosquitoes.


via GIPHY
Looking harder, I spot some sand martins, house martin and a swallow around, but,mainly there are swifts.

Unfortunately, there was no Cattle Egret. Just a nervous Lapwing, that spends much time chasing three crows. Ah, and the chorus of Marsh Frogs.

Not a bad way to spend a rainy day.