King's Mill with Hull Nats

A breezy, sunny and mild day, I take the train to Driffield and walk along The Bottoms between the young river Hull and Driffield Navigation. At Riverhead, a family of Moorhens relaxes in the sunshine. An adult briefly grooms a juvenile, and the juvenile reciprocates with a long grooming session. Two Little Grebes are chasing, running along the water surface like tiny coots. Little Grebes are plentiful today, I see at least 4 pairs, some with juveniles during the day. By the canal, there is some Himalayan Balsam, a plant that hasn't invaded the river Hull yet, despite being plentiful elsewhere.

The footpath by the canal is a bit enclosed, with poor views both to the canal or the river due to the marginal vegetation. I hear a Kingfisher beeping as it zooms past over the water, but I don't even get a glimpse. There is a slight elevation in the path and I get a view of a bend in the river: Mallards, Little Grebes and a wader resting on the shore: a Green Sandpiper!

Moorhens preening.

Himalayan Balsam.

Green Sandpiper.

A view of a bend in the river Hull from the footpath.

Pair of Mute Swans, one has angel wing, I wonder if it is the juvenile I saw in the same area in 2017 when I walked the River Hull. It is the left wing too. A Grey Heron is behind them.

A nymph of Blue Shieldbug.

Two Roe Deer running towards the river.

I retrace my steps towards Driffield and go to Bell Mills. Another pair of Little Grebes, these with two large chicks.

Little Grebes trilling.

It's time to head to the meeting point for the Hull Nats meeting. Before that, I have a coffee at Roberto's and visit All Saint's Church. I take my picnic lunch at the benches in King's Mill. A Kestrel briefly lands on a bare branch, but quickly leaves as it is getting more windy.

House Sparrow male and juvenile in Driffield.

We start by the pond near the entrance. Completely dry, which allows us to examine the aquatic plants on the bed of the pond and some interesting invertebrates. 

Cinnamon Bug.

Phasia hemiptera, a fly that parasitises shieldbugs, swiped by Bill.

A view of the central pond, also dry.

Common Green Grasshopper.

Common Groundhopper.

Common Emerald.

Common Field Grasshopper.

Long-winged Conehead.

 

An August walk to Victoria Dock

A mild day with light drizzle showers, and a low tide, I head towards Victoria Dock, hoping to see some waders to add to my year list. On the way, I watch two Sparrowhawks over the city centre and another over Ha'penny bridge. The Feral Pigeons at Queen Victoria Square are enjoying the reopened fountain and are bathing enthusiastically, displaying their curious habit of exposing the underside of their wings to get it wet. There are many Lesser Black-backed fledglings begging to parents around Princes Quay, with plaintive whistles and crouched stances. At Victoria Pier, a Lesser Black-backed gull feeds on a dead woodpigeon, it is a young one, its back open.

Sparrowhawk.

Feral Pigeon bath time.

Begging Lesser Black-backed juveniles chasing a parent.

A Lesser Black-back Gull feeding on a young Woodpigeon.

A second Sparrowhawk.

Young House Martins getting ready to fledge.

Young coot chick being fed by parent.

No waders at the Half-tide basin, but many House Martins around, some in their nests almost ready to fledge. A surprise are three Mute Swans, which are feeding on the foreshore near Corinthians Way. All three have small bill knobs and one of them has brown fringes in its wings, so probably they are yearlings moulting. The limping Curlew is still there, still limping, but actively feeding.

One of the Mute Swans. 

The limping male Curlew. 

I scan the mudflats at the end of Corithians Way. The Curlew and some Black-headed Gulls are there, but no Oystercatchers. After a short spot, I turn round. A flock of Starlings feed on the exposed seaweed, turning it like Turnstones and using their open bill probing technique to hunt for invertebrates.

Starling open bill probing on seaweed.

Young pied wagtail.

I get to the Half-tide Basin. There are two juvenile Pied Wagtails now. I watch them as they chase and flutter after insects on the mud, when the House Martins start alarm calling. The wagtails immediately fly off, and I scan the sky, hoping for a raptor. A Hobby! It's flying low parallel to me, and soon it's going to fly behind the buildings, so I'm lucky to be able to take a couple of record shots. I haven't had a Hobby in Hull since 2022, and the last time was on Myton Bridge, powering towards Victoria Dock. This time of year the young House Martins are on the wing, and it must be easy pickings for Hobbies.

Hobby.

I follow the Hobby as it flies NE towards the trees by the A63. Hobby is number 96 for my Birds in Hull, so a very nice outcome for the walk.

A male Vapourer landed on the path in front of me. It appeared to be struggling against the wind, and I acted as a windbreak.

Stoneferry to Foredyke Green along the river Hull

I wasn't planning this walk in the morning, as I was going to walk the old course of the Foredyke Green to join Hull Nats at Wilberforce Wood. In the event, a Peregrine deflected my walk and sent me up the river Hull. The forecast had been for cloudy weather most of the day, instead, there were long sunny spells and warm conditions with a very light breeze, ideal for insects. The peregrine, on its favourite building, was plucking and eating its prey, probably a Feral Pigeon. I hid behind a fence, taking photos from between the bars. When it stopped feeding, it swiped its bill clean on the edge of the alcove, and looked around. After taking some photos I left it on its ledge and continued on my new path. 

Peregrine feeding.

Atop its perch.

I hoped that I could tick the Common Sandpipers near B&Q. The tide though, was very high and rising.An alarm called my attention, it heralded event that I don't see very often these days, the twin bridges of Stoneferry opening for a boat to pass. It was a small boat and the bridges didn't completely lift up, luckily, I thought, for the Swallows that nest under the bridge. I waved at the people on the boat as the boat passed, and waited until the surface of the river settled again. Maybe the sandpipers won't happen today anyway.

The Swallows landed on the bridge shortly after it went down. I hope eggs or chicks on the nest won't have been dislodged.

With such a high tide I thought I wouldn't risk it on the soft banks of the west side, so I walked on the East side. It a hard surfaced bank in its first stretch, with moorings and a short lane called Ferry Lane. Buddleias laden with sweet blossom dot the bank and there were a range of butterflies, manly nymphalids.

Small Tortoiseshell.

Painted Lady.

Peacock.

Just as I had taken this photo of the peacock a small bird flew past behind the buddleia and landed on a fence. A quick look with my binoculars and I got very excited: a Black Redstart! I managed some photos as it perched on the fence, likely an adult female. Would it be nesting nearby? It is peak breeding season for Black Redstarts, a species I hadn't seen in Hull since 2022 at Albert Dock, and also species 95 for my 100 birds in Hull challenge. The screeching noise of the cranes lifting metal of the scrapyard opposite grate against this lovely sighting, it couldn't be a more fitting habitat!

Black redstart.

Three large old warehouses have recently been cleared in this plot. Herring anf Lesser Black-backed gulls were loafing on the ground. The warehouse to the right of the photo has several Lesser Black-backed pairs with grown chicks.

About 20 Swifts descended over the river, and disappeared again.

I continue up river until Sutton Bridge, then I head for Bude Park. Several tethered horses graze on the grassland. A new aquagreen has been created, and it looks like it was full in the winter, the field next to it bare but for a few scattered plants. I continue by ASDA into Wilberforce Wood.

Aquagreen Bude Park.

The temporary pond at Wilberforce Wood is teeming with tiny ground hoppers.

I sit by the Foredyke Green Pond to have my packed lunch and do some dragonfly watching. The weather is  perfect for it, and I list 8 species on the wing.

Brown Hawker ovipositing.

Ruddy Darter.

Emperor leaving oviposition site.

Male Broad-bodied Chaser.

Migrant Hawker.

I meet up with Hull Nats after that and we walk in a circuit around Wilberforce Wood. There are many butterflies on the wing and Roesel's and Coneheads are calling.

Brimstone

Roesel's

Peacock.

Red Admiral.