A walk to Victoria Dock in June

 A drizzly, cold morning. 10 oC in the morning. It eventually cleared and there were even brief sunny spells. 

I first walked through the HR Infirmary square where I do one of my Breeding Bird surveys. I was very pleased to find10+ House Martins over St Andrews house/Thornton Park, but I was unable to find where the nests were. 

An impressive Agave!

I do most of the 1st transect and I pop into the Jubilee Arboretum. I'm pleased much of it still there despite being right next to the Mytongate/Castle Street A63 development. It is a lovely tree collection and the trees are maturing nicely.

Jubilee Arboretum information panel.

I move onto the old town and cross over Murdock Connection. I walk to Albert Dock first, but forgot to check the tide and the lock gates are kept open for a few hours at high tide, so no chance. A 15 min watch from the locks gave me a fly over Grey Heron. There were some Linnets and House Martins. An unexpected sad site tick is a Canada Goose by the lock gates. It feeds on the seaweed by the walls, but looks odd, with a swollen neck and it keeps shaking it's head. I reported it to Defra in case is bird flu.

I move onto the marina and The Deep and scan the Humber a few times. I check the red buoy in front of The Deep and I get this lovely sight: a family of Shelducks with 10 ducklings.

Shelduck family (also top shot).

At the half-tide basin there are many House Martins collecting mud and I see some of the nests under the eaves of houses. The saltmarsh is looking very lush.

The flowering Scurvygrass on the upper saltmarsh at the half-tide basin.

Both Coots are on nests at the freshwater basin. The House Martins take baths on flight. I walk around Victoria Park. Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs are singing. House Martins a plenty over the trees. I see a falcon silhouetted overhead, I seem to see some russet on the wings, so probably a Kestrel.

Juvenile Woodpigeon.

I return to The Deep and scan to find the Shelducks. Still going strong, now being helped by the tide. I wonder if it is the same pair that bred last year at Albert Dock. They can easily leave at high tide with the gates open and then swim to some saltmarsh at the lower Humber. The Gypsey Race, a dredger that I've seen at Bridlington, leaves Albert Dock and passes by the Shelducks. 

Gypsey Race and the Humber Bridge.

The Shelducks with Grimsby tower on the horizon.

At Queen's gardens, one Moorhenling going strong.

Fledglings at the patch

The usual Saturday morning visit to the Sculcoates patch. June can be regarded as a 'quiet' month bird-wise. The wintering birds are long departed, now in their summer grounds, busy breeding, whilst all the summer migrants have settled in their territories and are nesting. No new birds expected in the patch, but that doesn't mean that a visit won't pay dividends. I'm very keen to show which birds are breeding in the patch, so I've got my eye on fledglings and other signs of breeding, like adults carrying food. 

Fledglings

Fledglings can be a bit tricky to identify as on first appearances they look like the adults. There are several identification tips that will help get your eye on them. 

1) Fluff. Many fledglings look 'fluffier' even bigger than adults. This is partly because they have a newly grown plumage - in contrast with the battered adults that have been working very hard and might have started moulting themselves. The other reason is that they are much more relaxed, still naive about predators, relying on parents to keep an eye on danger and the feathers are not pressed against the body. 

2) Behaviour. They behave differently, curious about their surroundings, lacking a fixed purpose, pecking here and there, or watching. Adults this time of year are very alert and or busy looking for food. 

3) Gapes. Song birds fledglings have yellow gapes, which are visible for a couple of weeks after they leave their nest. The inside of the mouth can be visibly different. In Carrion Crows, the inside of the mouth is pink in fledglings, but this might be hard to see in other species.

 4) Plumage. In some species some plumage features are distinct. Starling fledglings are brown, Goldfinch ones lack the red mask of adults, Robin ones lack the redbreast, Bullfinches lack the black cap. In thrushes, including Blackbirds, juveniles are more spotted or speckled than adults. Others are just subdued versions of adults, like Blue and Great Tits.

5) Calls. Many fledglings have distinctive contact calls. Blackbird's are very distinctive 2-note ones, and the screeching calls of young Starlings and tits are also good way to spot them. Other fledglings have simple calls, and when a whole bunch of fedglings are scattered inside some bushes, their regular alternative calling makes it feel like there is a single one calling from different spots, making them quite hard to locate.

A Blackbird fledgling.

My highlight of the day: a Goldcrest fledgling on the cycle path. I heard a Male singing by the wildlife garden on my way to the patch, and that was the highest breeding evidence I've had in Hull before for my BirdTrack lists, so this little cutie made me very happy!

Note the lack of gold and black crest.

Fledged Long-tailed Tit.

The first Moorhenlings of the year at Sculcoates.

And a Goldcrest fledgling feeding on brambles.

There were several families of Great Tits about, but I didn't manage any photos.

The Temple Street butterfly patch was being razed to the ground and fenced off.

On the positive side, the aggregates 'hill' by the cycle lane was looking amazing this morning, a riot of colour of various annual plants have carpeted the soil, a male Bullfinch and some Goldfinches were feeding on sawthistles

Bullfinch.

A female Blackbird doing some litter picking.

Crow feeding on a pigeon. I wondered if the pigeon had died after colliding with the fence.

A roadrunner, new bird for the patch!

Sculcoates own Water Vole

An afternoon visit to the patch, hoping that the sunny, warm weather will get the dragonflies out in the drain. I do a butterfly list too. I start just by the cycle track and scan the drain. A family of Mallard pass by, and as I count them, a Water Vole swims past, my first one on the patch! I manage a record shot (above) before it disappears into the reeds. I wonder if the ducklings had flushed it.

 Today, there are a few Blue-tailed Damselflies about. Females lay eggs on the floating vegetation of the drain.

Blue-tailed Damselfly.

Azure Damselfly.

The first dragonfly of the year for me at Hull, a Four-spotted Chaser.

The water is very transparent, showing the lush underwater plants growing in the drain, and also allowing views of the numerous fish.

A Brown Rat crosses the drain running atop a pipe.

The three terrapins are basking separately from each other, two on old Coot's nests and one on the shore. They all look like Yellow-bellied Sliders.

The Yellow-belly Slider on the bank.

A visit to Beverley Minster

I heard the pair of local Peregrines at Beverley had bred on the box placed on the SW tower at the Minster and I took an early train to visit them. As I approached the Minster, the bells tolled 8 o'clock and I could already hear the Peregrines calling. 

Rooks and Jackdaws breed on or around the Minster, even Woodpigeons find it irresistible. One pair were nest building, while another was sitting on a nest on a ledge. I don't remember having seen Woodpigeons nesting on buildings before

A Woodpigeon nest with a view

Jackdaw on nest.

Rook.

And then I spotted the Peregrines. The pair, sitting on separate gargoyles of the same tower, overlooking the nest box. They camouflage perfectly when sitting on gargoyles.

Swifts circled high above, chasing each other. The Peregrine sat sunning itself, lazily watching the bluebottles and the Swifts flying about.

At some point it took flight and started gaining height almost effortlessly, soaring higher over the Minster.

View from the field.

I walk around the Minster. I scan the nest box but I can't see inside, until two little heads come closer to the front and I can see the two chicks or 'eyasses', watching the world outside their nest.

A  head poking out.

Head and tail.

Both young on the right hand side.

The bell tolls 9am. I take a walk around the town. At Beverley Market square, I spot one of the Peregrines soaring. 

Loving the photo-bombing Swifts today.

I remember about the Chough on a coat of arms, and I find it, with a pair of Collared doves, which have chosen it as a nest site.

I check on the Peregrines again at the Minster and have some better views of the chichs. The bell tolls 11 and it's time to get my train back.