Urban birding at Hull: City Centre and Albert Dock

A warm day with barely any wind and clear skies. I take an early morning walk to Albert Dock, via the City Centre, Queen's Gardens and the Hull Marina. At Queen's Gardens ponds I'm surprised there are still two ducklings left, now well grown, that have survived Herring Gull predation. I hear a soft call and find a fledgling Mistle Thrush. A passer by flushes it inadvertently, and it is still unable to fly well. It is surprisingly speckled.

 There is also a Blackbird fledgling in the same area.

 Two Feral Pigeons are doing some courtship feeding. They mate and then they stand next to each other, their plumage all fluffed up, like posing.

 A male Pied Wagtail looks for insects on the lawns.

 After a walk around Queen's Gardens, I move onto Princes Quay. While searching for wagtails I notice a fishing Cormorant and manage a shot in the few seconds that it surfaces between dives.

 I walk around the city centre, to the Minster, Princes Street and then move to the Marina and towards the right of way entrance to Albert Dock. There are lots of insects in the air, and there is a spectacle of starlings hawking for them. An abundant resource pushes them into an unusual way of feeding. Judging by the insects landing on me there seems to be a mixture of them including flies and beetles, maybe brought in by the warm air.

 As I cross the lock, I notice the busy House Martins hunting, and then, from the elevated bridge, I watch them collecting mud from the only puddle in sight.

 A Shelduck flies along the Humber, and then two Black-headed Gulls, taking the list of urban birds since lockdown to 60 species.

 My heard skipped a beat when this robin landed on a truck as I had been searching for Black Redstarts, but no luck.

Two House Martin nests under the eaves of the buildings by the entrance to the dock.

Linnets are more common around town than I expected. This male was singing from a traffic sign in a car park in front of the Bonus Arena.

 On the way back, the first House Sparrow fledgling, begging to its parent.

Bird list

1. Black-headed Gull
2. Blackbird
3. Blackcap 
4. Blue Tit 
5. Buzzard 
6. Carrion Crow
7. Chaffinch 
8. Collared Dove 
9. Cormorant 
10. Dunnock 
11. Feral Pigeon
12. Goldfinch 
13. Great Spotted Woodpecker 
14. Greenfinch 
15. Greylag Goose 
16. Herring Gull 
17. House Martin 
18. House Sparrow 
19. Lesser Black-backed Gull
20. Linnet 
21. Magpie 
22. Mallard 
23. Mistle Thrush 
24. Moorhen
25. Pied Wagtail 
26. Robin 
27. Shelduck 
28. Sparrowhawk 
29. Starling 
30. Stock Dove 
31. Whitethroat 
32. Woodpigeon 
33. Wren

Urban birding at Hull: Signs of breeding in the General Cemetery

I had only a short morning walk today before work, to the local Hull General Cemetery. Bird breeding season is well under way and I paid special attention to signs indicating breeding in the cemetery birds. Territorial behaviour was well in evidence, with Blackcap, Robin and Wrens very vocal. More subdued songs were also evident, with a Treecreeper and a Goldcrest in song, joined by a Chiffchaff in the centre of the cemetery.
Mobbing is a sign of breeding, and a pair of Mistle Thrushes were in full swing with their rattling call when a Magpie was nearby.
I heard a Chaffinch singing, it sounded a bit distant, then realised it was just above me, and when I took it's photo saw that it had his mouth full of insects. I'm amazed it managed to sing Still had to sing a few times! He may be feeding an incubating female.

A male Blackbird carrying worms for his chicks. 

This Blackcap interrupted his singing to have a look.

There are two or three pairs of Mistle Thrushes breeding in the cemetery. They become very noisy and aggressive to corvids or sparrowhawks near their nests.

A young fledged Blackbird looking for food.

Robin.

Singing Stock Dove.

I only noticed an elm when the ground was littered with the clusters of their green winged seeds, called samaras. These are much loved by pigeons and finches. Here, a Goldfinch feeds on them, and the culprit of the samara clusters on the ground was a Grey Squirrel dropping them.
Bird list

1. Blackbird
2. Blackcap
3. Blue Tit
4. Chaffinch
5. Chiffchaff 
6. Collared Dove
7. Dunnock 
8. Feral Pigeon
9. Goldcrest 
10. Goldfinch
11. Great Tit
12. Herring Gull
13. House Sparrow 
14. Lesser Black-backed Gull
15. Magpie
16. Mistle Thrush
17. Robin
18. Starling 
19. Stock Dove
20. Treecreeper
21. Woodpigeon
22. Wren

Urban birding at Hull: KC Stadium Railway triangle

My morning exercise walk today took me to a triangle formed by railway lines between the KC Stadium and Hull Royal Infirmary. This is mostly grassland, with scrub around the edges, mostly of Giant Hogweed and brambles. and there is a small hill in the middle with sycamores and more scrub.

A mostly sunny day with a cool easterly breeze. A male Kestrel is hunting over the railway line.

There has been some recent planting of bushes or trees.

There are several Whitethroats singing.

A Lesser Whitethroat sings. Brambles and sycamores? yes! There seems to be a clear pattern.

I walk around the site using the several paths. This is a view of the SW corner.

This is my favourite view. Hull Royal Infirmary in the horizon.

A male Goldfinch.

 I reach a corner with plenty of brambles and giant hogweed where the birds appear to be on edge. It could be me, but there is also a magpie about.

Alerted Blue tit and Greenfinch.

Male Linnet.

Female linnet with nest material. I did a double take, such a neat bunch of hairs (horse, maybe?) that it looked like a moustache.

male Greenfinch in dry flower stem of Giant Hogweed.

Magpie on the prowl.

After a very pleasant hour at the site, it's time to go back. Starlings are at their busiest. Their flight paths crisscrossing over roads carrying beakfuls of insects for their young, and back to feed in flocks on the verges and playing fields. A sparrow (below) joined them.

 These street verges, which are not cut infrequently, are a haven for insects and weeds, and keep goldfinches, greenfinches and linnets well supplied of seeds, here, a Goldfinch feeds on dandelion seeds.

A Blackbird sings from a lamp post.

Bird list

1. Blackbird 
2. Blue Tit 
3. Bullfinch 
4. Carrion Crow
5. Chaffinch
6. Chiffchaff 
7. Collared Dove 
8. Dunnock
9. Feral Pigeon
10. Goldfinch 
11. Great Tit
12. Greenfinch
13. Greylag Goose
14. Herring Gull 
15. House Sparrow
16. Kestrel
17. Lesser Black-backed Gull
18. Lesser Whitethroat 
19. Linnet 
20. Long-tailed Tit
21. Magpie
22. Robin
23. Song Thrush
24. Starling
25. Stock Dove
26. Whitethroat 
27. Woodpigeon
28. Wren

Urban birding at Hull: Oak Road Lake and the River Hull

A morning walk to Oak Road Lake via the Beverley and Barmston drain.

Beverley and Barmston drain.

I walk round the lake, the cob mute swan is busking on the male canada goose. The canada goose is forced to step out of the water, it hisses to me when I walk past, obviously still riled by the swan attack. 

The Canada female is momentarily standing over the nest on the raft, but no eggs are visible. The female swan is sitting on her nest eggs amongst the reeds, but then she stands up, looks down and does the egg rolling movement, before sitting again. 

No Willow Warblers singing today, but there is one singing Reed Warbler. After a circuit around the lake, I move to the river bank. A group of Swallows and House Martins are flying over the river. A male Kestrel flies over. I hear a singing Reed Bunting and find him on the other bank amongst the reeds. 

Spot the female Reed Bunting on the river bank.

A Sedge Warbler sings from the hedge in a display flight, but no photos. Then I hear a high-pitched song I don't recognise coming from the bottom of the bank. I hear it again a few times and then a Grey Wagtail flies to the other bank. It is a summer plumage male! In the last year I saw a pair of Grey Wagtails in Zebedee Yard in town and also a young fledged one at East Park. I'm used to Grey Wagtails as upland birds in summer, although I come across them in the city during migration and during the winter. But they now breed in parks in London. I wonder if they are becoming urban birds? 

Male Grey Wagtail by the river Hull

A few habitat shots follow.

Bird list

1. Blackbird 
2. Blackcap 
3. Blue Tit 
4. Canada Goose 
5. Carrion Crow 
6. Chaffinch 
7. Chiffchaff 
8. Collared Dove 
9. Coot 
10. Dunnock 
11. Feral Pigeon
12. Goldfinch 
13. Great Tit 
14. Greenfinch
15. Grey Wagtail 
16. Greylag Goose 
17. Herring Gull 
18. House Martin 
19. House Sparrow
20. Kestrel 
21. Lesser Black-backed Gull 
22. Lesser Whitethroat 
23. Long-tailed Tit 
24. Magpie
25. Mallard 
26. Mistle Thrush
27. Moorhen 
28. Mute Swan
29. Reed Bunting
30. Reed Warbler 
31. Robin
32. Sedge Warbler 
33. Song Thrush 
34. Starling
35. Stock Dove 
36. Swallow
37. Whitethroat
38. Woodpigeon
39. Wren

Urban birding at Hull: Avenues dawn chorus

Today is International World Dawn Chorus Day, and I usually celebrate it with a very early morning rise and a short drive to Noddle Hill Nature reserve. I have been doing my daily exercise during lockdown walking in my local area, so I decided to do an urban dawn chorus walk. Blackbirds are singing and House Sparrows chirping in the garden. It is quiet, and already light when I left the house at 5:00am. It is still, cool and with some clouds. I walk the streets in the Avenues. There is no one about. Great Tits, Blue Tits, Robin, Wren, Blackcap, Chaffinch, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Woodpigeon join the chorus.

Dunnock singing.

I make my way to Jack Kaye fields via the path by the railway track.

There is a low patch of mist over the playing field, making it very atmospheric.

I hear a Lesser Whitethroat is singing from a sycamore. It's hard to photograph, so I record it's song.

Chiffchaff is also singing from the railway line, a pair of Linnets are about and a Swallow flies north over the fields.

Linnet.

It is sunrise.

I move through the avenues to Pearson Park. I get there about 6:20. There are a couple of dog walkers about. I

This is a first, a Greylag nest with an egg in the Pearson Park island. 

The female greylag by her nest.

Is it the time of the day or the effects of the lockdown? Another first: a pair of Greylags walking along Princes Avenue.

I'm back home by 7:20, time to go for a quiet grocery shopping!

Bird List

1. Blackbird
2. Blackcap
3. Blue Tit
4. Carrion Crow
5. Chaffinch
6. Chiffchaff
7. Collared Dove
8. Dunnock
9. Feral Pigeon
10. Goldcrest
11. Goldfinch
12. Great Tit
13. Greylag Goose
14. Herring Gull
15. House Sparrow
16. Lesser Black-backed Gull
17. Lesser Whitethroat
18. Linnet
19. Long-tailed Tit
20. Magpie
21. Mallard
22. Mistle Thrush
23. Moorhen
24. Robin
25. Song Thrush
26. Starling 
27. Stock Dove
28. Swallow
29. Woodpigeon
30. Wren