There are spring tides these days, so I decided to head towards the Humber. It was misty and dark this morning. I first crossed the Cemetery, the highlight a treecreeper, and then towards Walton Street and West Park, then Anlaby Road and across to Hessle Road.
Avenue of Horse Chestnuts at West Park.
One of the young Carrion Crows at West park, with white wing feathers due to poor diet (probably bread) fed by parents when it was a nestling. These feathers don't form a good flight surface, it is obvious how much more effort these birds make when flying.
I was initially planning to walk down Boulevard, but when I got to a footbridge over the train line it was closed, so I had to take a detour via St Georges Rd.
Singing Dunnock near the M63.
I walked under the A63, reaching St Andrews Quay. I had a look at the pond by McDonalds. There were two Moorhens and this male Pied Wagtail in breeding plumage.
There wasn't much of a view across the Humber with the mist. The tide was ebbing strongly and Black-headed gulls rode the flow as fast as I walked. The sea wall by the Humber has been having some reinforcements, it's height raised and at places is not yet accessible.
The last remained section of St Andrew's dock is silted up and has rewilded nicely into an extensive reedbed with some open water and scattered trees. As I approach I hear a repeated call, and as I get there I realise is a Water Rail. A little bit ahead and another one sings its squealing pig call. Two male Reed Buntings chase each other around me, but I don't see them stopping, so no photos of these two new species for the Hull year list. These are some views of the reedbed.
Two anglers are fishing by the lock of the old dock. I peek over the wall. Seven Redshank are roosting on the sea wall and a drake Mallard floats about nearby.
Pigeons hatching all around you! I found two shells on paths today.
Redshank.
Appropriate wall marking! The quarantine area of the Albert Dock.
An immature Common Gull on an old groyne.
Stairs to walk over the rooftops.
The entrance to Hull Marina.
A small flock of Black-headed gulls loafing on the exposed mud.
A motor boat passes by the Humber, quite close to the mouth of the river Hull, creating some waves in the until then flat estuary. The loafing gulls on the spit by the Deep take flight, a curlew comes along, and then an Oystercatcher flies over my head! The perks of disturbance.
I walk towards Scale Lane bridge and find 13 Redshank roosting in their usual spot. There are 2 others along the river.
I walk to the city centre by Scale Lane. A Sparrowhawk flushes the gulls and pigeons by Queens Gardens and is closely escorted by a pair of Crows. As I pass Princes Quay I stop to check the gulls, and I notice the Murdoch's Connection bridge is open to the public, so I take another detour to cross this new pedestrian bridge over the A63 before heading back home.
Overall, a 14k circular today, with 34 bird species and 3 new additions to the year list.
The new pedestrian bridge.
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