I spent some time at Albert Dock this morning. It is really surprising how this heavily industrial area with little green space has a surprising array of birds. Of course, it is not surprising to find Herring Gulls and Lesser Black-backed gulls, which nest on the roofs of the dock's buildings.
Two Lesser Black-backed gulls on docks warehouses.
Or cormorants...
A cormorant roosted on a light by the locks.
But there is more. Around the lock-keeper cottage, four house martin pairs were busy building their nests. When I visited a couple of weeks ago the old nests were gone, so they haven't wasted any time rebuilding them!
One House martin from the inside and the other from the outside. Not long to go!
The shadow of a landing House Martin by another collecting mud from a puddle.
Three House Martins collecting mud.
Family of Starlings.
A starling on a vent by house martin nest.
Although I had seen Shelduck flying close to shore in the site, I was most surprised to see a family of Shelduck, with the adults leading 9 shelducklings. After some excitement, I realised this might not be the best habitat to raise the ducklings. The sides of the dock are sheer, and they might not find enough food to eat. As I looked to Google Earth later at home, the dock might have some derelict areas that might allow the ducklings to climb up to get dry and be brooded. The question is, will they survive?
Starlings seem to find plenty of food for their hungry chicks.
Pied Wagtail.
A Goldfinch fed on Stagshorn Plantain seeds, and then...
it moved to the bladder wrack, to eat what? I observed a similar behaviour last week.
The tide was ebbing, revealing a sand bank. As I scanned the water, I spotted a porpoise, my first Humber cetacean, but I couldn't find it again with my camera.
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