Sunday, 5 December 2021

A Sunday morning at East Park

 An impromptu, but well worth short visit to East Park this morning, despite the showery weather. I had been alerted on twitter of the presence of a drake Goldeneye earlier in the week and this was my first chance for a trip there for the Hull year tick. It didn't take long to find, it was in the middle of the lake, just by a Black-headed Gulll who followed it closely, waiting every time it dived. The Goldeneye spent very little time outside of the water, just a few seconds up and it would dive again.

Goldeneye and Black-headed Gull.

A Grey Heron was on the fallen tree, and a number of Goosanders. They were very flighty and individuals came and went, but I counted three courting groups in different parts of the park and a total of 30 were present. Three Pochards were also snoozing in different parts of the park and 20 Tufted Ducks. 

Grey Heron 1.

I walked around the Khyber Pass to try and find some passerines. A visitor was putting seed for the birds, followed by a retinue of Crows, Coal Tits and Great tits. I waited for a while, watching, when I noticed a parakeet atop a cotoneaster, feeding on berries. I took a few snaps and called the man to watch it, he'd never seen a parakeet in the park. I took if for a Ring-Necked Parakeet, but two different people on twitter recognised it as an Alexandrine Parakeet, a larger species distinguished by a pink shoulder and a larger bill. Must be an escapee?

On the railings by the lake I found my first ringed gull of the season. It had one of these metal Danish rings that can be read from photographs: VA5269. I checked back home and I had this same gull on October 2020 when it was a first year bird!

The now adult plumaged Black-headed Gull.

I moved to the eastern side of the lake. Another heron on an island, this is the first time I see two herons at East Park.


There were many Mallard, Tufted Ducks, Canada Geese and Gulls near the boardwalk, feeding frantically on the water. Amongst them, a drake Gadwall.



The view from the boardwalk.
The view from the bridge, looking east.
Cormorant.
Drake Goosanders.
A group of Goosanders by the central island.

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