Hull urban birds. 4. Buzzard

Buzzards are medium size raptors. They are mainly brown on top and pale underneath, with a variable amount of brown patches and speckles on the chest and under the wings, making different individuals look from very dark to very pale. On flight they look stocky, with broad wings, with a pale flash and dark wing tips. Adults have a dark terminal band on the tail. They mostly feed on small mammals (rabbits, rats, mice, voles), but they will also take birds, reptiles, amphibians, insects and earthworms, and also feed at carrion. Buzzards feed using different techniques. They can sit and wait on a perch, watching for prey or hover like a kestrel. Breeding pairs show their presence by soaring over their territories, often 'mewing', a very distinctive ke-uuw!. Buzzards are resident in the UK, but there are distinctive passage movements in mid April and Early September.

Regarded as 'vermin' by game keepers, buzzards had been exterminated from East Yorkshire by the mid 19th century, and they remained extremely rare birds in the Hull area through the 20th century. A combination of myxomatosis, which decimated rabbit populations, illegal killing and pesticide use were factors involved in the reduced Buzzard populations in the UK in the 20th century. Banning of organochlorine pesticides, reduced persecution and recovering rabbit populations meant that by the end of the 1960s, the Buzzard started to recover in the whole of the UK from strongholds in Wales, Scotland and Western England. By the 1990s they were rapidly recolonising lost ground, especially into the central and eastern counties. From the 2000 they become more regular in East Yorkshire. They are now regarded the most abundant raptor in the UK, showing their flexibility and adaptability to a range of habitats, from uplands to farmland and urban areas.

Buzzard sitting on the grounds of an industrial estate in north Hull, 2/01/2021. The top shot probably is the same individual, on the same site on 10/11/2020.

In his 'Birds of Hull' book (published in 2002), Richard Broughton details a few single individual sightings over Hull, the last in 1986 over Salt End, but concludes with a positive note: "Buzzards look set to reclaim their long-lost territories throughout the region within the next few decades, as long as they are left in peace". Indeed, in the last few of years, Buzzards have become urban birds in Hull. Previously, I would have single yearly sightings of birds flying over, or one right on the outskirts, like at Noddle Hill LNR, but records have become more regular and I have bumped onto several sitting in cemeteries and industrial estates in the city, as well as individuals soaring very regularly in the are over my garden. The fact that they are now seen year round also suggests that they are now breeding in the city and lets hope they flourish.

Buzzard soaring over the garden.

During the April 2020 lockdown, I watcher Buzzards many days over the garden. On the 24th, four buzzards were soaring and squabbling over my garden in the centre of Hull.

Buzzard flying over the garden.

Buzzard in a cemetery near the River Hull.

Buzzard in a different cemetery, taken today.

These are my Buzzard records since 2013. A clear increasing trend in records. Singe birds passing overhead used to be the norm, but in the last three or four years records are more regular and Buzzards have now became city residents. 

A very early sighting of buzzard, mobbed by crow, over my garden in Hull, 10/06/2006.

More information

RSPB Buzzard population trends.

Broughton, Richard K. Birds of the Hull Area.

Nelson, 1907. The Birds of Yorkshire.

Sim, I.M.W., L. Campbell, D.J. Pain & J.D. Wilson, 2000. Correlates of the population increase of Common Buzzards Buteo buteo in the West Midlands between 1983 and 1996. Bird Study, 47(2), pp.154-164.

Clements, R., 2002. The Common Buzzard in Britain. British Birds, 95, pp.377-383.

Hull urban birds. 3. Little Grebe

The Little Grebe, also called Dabchick, is a small, dumpy bird that can be found in lakes and water courses. Adults in breeding season are dark brown, with chestnut-red neck and bright yellow spot at the base of the bill. In winter the plumage is more subdued, brown with paler chest and throat and a dark cap. They feed on small fish, snails, tadpoles and invertebrates which they obtain by diving. When disturbed, they dive or hide in marginal vegetation, so they can be quite unobtrusive. However, in the breeding season their loud trilling call make them much easier to record.

Little Grebes in Hull

Little Grebe used to be quite rare within the Hull boundary. However, they winter in the Hull drains and Bransholme Reservoir. Recently, I've been regularly finding them on two stretches of the Beverley and Barmston Drain, with a count of six today, my top count in the area. Last year I got a record at Noddle Hill. In recent years they have become more regular at East Park, with one or two individuals present (top shot). They successfully bred in the park 2018.

A grown chick at East Park Boating lake, 31 August 2018.

Conservation

Little Grebes used to be in the amber list due to population declines, a recent increasing trend meant that now they are green-listed.

Two of three individuals at Beverley and Barmston drain near Sculcoates road (23 January 2021).

Young with stickleback at East Park boating lake, 28th September 2020.

Little Grebe at Noddle Hill lake. 14th December 2020.

Adult in breeding plumage at Beverley and Barmston drain near Beresford Avenue, 30th July 2020.

More information

Little Grebe. BTO Bird facts.
Broughton, Richard K. Birds of the Hull Area.

Urban birding at Hull: Oak Road Lake, River Hull, Stoneferry road circular walk

 It was -3°C,  as I left the house, still and with sunny spells. I had decided to head to Oak Road via Beverley Road. I spied the Beverley and Barmston drain, peeking over the bridge walls,  I'm happy I did as there were two Little Grebes on one side and four on the other. 

Two of the little grebes.

Oak Road lake was mostly frozen and the paths around quite flooded, they would have been impassable without wellies had it not been so frosty. 

Frosty view by Oak Road Lake

Eight Coots were at the lake, with Black-headed gulls for company but no Mute Swans.

After days of very wet mud everywhere, I was really enjoying the crunchy frosty mud underfoot, so I made an impromptu decision to head back via the River Hull banks. I don't recommend this walk in the winter as it is slippery and muddy, but the frozen mud made it an interesting option. 

It had just been low tide and the river was going down fast (top shot). On a clearing of the industrial state, a doe Roe Deer stood, alert, watching me for as long as I took her photo. A Cormorant sat atop a large pylon drying its wings.

Roe Deer.

A Cormorant on a pylon, the top of the Reckit's chimney on the background.

A Sparrowhawk flushed the gulls and Feral pigeons. At regular intervals, a Redshank will fly and call before I could spot it. I reached the Stoneferry Bridges having had just one tumble on an icy slope.

Stoneferry Twin bridges.

I crossed Clough Road and moved onto the other side, which is where the Wilberforce Way goes, for a little stretch, by the river. What an unloved part of the way, the path overgrown, at times made of rubble. Finally I managed to spot a Redshank on the other side, a bend that is not straightjacketed by metal pilings. 

Looking south from Stoneferry Bridges.

The steam from a factory clouds up the view of the Isis mills and the Reckit chimney. An area of bank with no pilings on the right.

Redshank.

After a short stretch on Stoneferry Rd I joined the Hornsea cycle track. On a roof where gulls loafed I spotted a Jackdaw. I crossed Wilmington bridge and got back home, totalling 10k for the walk. 

Jackdaw.

Urban birding at Hull: Sculcoates patch. Week 4

A clear, morning, the ground hard with frost, I head to the Sculcoates patch. The walk there takes me fifteen minutes and I do the usual route: Abbey Way via the drain, then the cemeteries, then the river Hull and back through the drain again.

I briefly spot 3 Little Grebes near each other at the drain. They are quite shy and disappear in the reeds or dive when I look over the bridge. One of them has an adult plumage, other a more juvenile looking one.

1st winter juv?

The individual on the left looks like an adult, the one on the right more juvenile or winter plumage.

Two Golcrests chase around a large ivy. A Great Spotted woodpecker  flies to one of the tall poplars, a new addition to the patch bird list (number 37). At the cemetery, a Song Thrush is in full song (top shot).

Nice to see a group of 8 Greenfinches in the north cemetery.

Hazel catkins in flower.

Bullfinch eating hawthorn seeds.

Bullfinch warbling.

A male Bullfinch singing quietly, and feeding on Hawthorn berries.

At the River Hull the tide is low. A group of Black-headed gulls, Herring Gulls and common gulls sit on the mud. A Redshank flies off.

Urban birding at Hull: Sculcoates, a rainy second trip on week 3

Despite the persistent rain I decided to go and visit the Sculcoates patch. There were very few people about, which was great. A cap kept the rain from my glasses, the most annoying thing I find from the rain. The birds were active and singing, with the first Song Thrushes of the year in the patch singing, three individuals in all. A Goldcrest on the way there was a new for the patch year list.

I started at Abbey Way. Two Little Grebes fished in their usual spot, diving as they saw me. 

Little Grebe.

Moorhen

On the drain, another new bird for the year, a young Mute Swan (top shot, number 37 in the list), which are dispersing now from their natal ponds. The closest young would be those at Oak Road, so it might be one of those.

Mute swan, Moorhen, Coot and Mallard. Mute swans disturb the sediments and lift vegetation when they feed, and other species might take advantage of this, staying near the swan.

I went to the river via the cycle lane. Just then, an alarm went off and the Wilmington Bridge started swinging round. In all the years I live in Hull I've never seen this happening. 

I popped in two of the cemeteries, but there was little of note, other than some of the paths were flooded on the south cemetery. 

South cemetery.

I returned by the drain. A couple of Bullfinches fed on the trees by the path. The birds went silent and the cause became apparent when a Sparrowhawk flew to the large trees.

Record shot of Sparrowhawk

The first patch invertebrate was a Blue-grey worm (Octolasion cyaneum). See my blogpost at Bugblog for more details on this species.

Urban birding at Hull: Sculcoates week 3

 A walk around Sculcoates with my son. At the drain, the usual group of Mallards and Moorhen were joined by a pair of Coots and a Little Grebe, both new for the year.

At Wilmington Bridge, a Sparrowhawk flushed the feral pigeons. Three Redshank fed on the river Hull, which was flowing fast. Later we flushed a Buzzard, which was on the ground and flew to a tree, allowing me to take its portrait.