Urban birding at Hull: Sculcoates sunny afternoon week 26

 After the long walk this morning I wasn't planning to go to the patch this afternoon, but then, the sun came out and I fancied having a sunny session at the cemetery, so I headed towards Sculcoates via the cycle track. As I passed the garage, I saw a Kingfisher on a pipe under the bridge, the first on the patch! It stayed long enough for me to change the settings of the camera and take a few shots. On my way back, I told one of the locals who said that's what he had seen a couple of weeks back (but he did say he had seen a hummingbird!). Anyway, I'm glad the 'hummingbird mystery' is sorted, and also glad this is not a one off, but the Kingfisher might be using the drain regularly.

A nice, unexpected addition to the patch list. On the breeding bird side, I added Dunnock fledgling to the growing list of birds with confirmed breeding in the patch. A young moorhen was also present near the metal pipes used by the terrapins.

Dunnock fledgling.

Moorhen chick.

It was warm and the sunny spells were long enough for insects to be active. I was quite surprised of the number of damselflies feeding in the cemetery, despite the distance to the nearest water. 

Volucella pellucens having a rest.

A male Red Admiral guarding its patch. It flew up to passing red admirals and while close to the other individual it fluttered almost hovering behind, possibly assessing if it was a female?

Merodon equestris.

The wonderful Volucella zonaria, one present in the south cemetery.

Eristalis arbustorum, not very common in East Yorkshire at all.

Another guarding Red Admiral on a headstone.

Nursery web spider with it's beautiful egg sac. 

I need to determine which species this is. A burnet moth with 5 spots, could be narrow bordered or 5 spotted burnet.

Oedemera nobilis.

Common Blue damselfly.

The first Ringlet of the patch made an appearance, but it wasn't settling for photos, so to end, here is a much more obliging Large Skipper.

Urban River Hull: Oak Road to Reich Carter Way in summer

 

A walk between Oak Road and Reich Carter way this cloudy, mild morning, the river flowing strong at a very high tide. I walked around Oak Road and had to leave to escape the clouds of large biting mosquitoes. Three cygnets with their parents were at the lake. The banks have just been mowed and a tractor was mowing the playing fields, circled by three Swallows. 

A fledgling Pied Wagtail just after being fed by its parent. 

A Reed Bunting singing from the river bank.

Sutton Bridge. If you climb the stairs visible in the photo you get the view at the top of the blog.

Male Sparrowhawk. After Crows were calling in an agitated way, I spotted the Sparrowhawk, it was flying along the bank, close to the ground, barrelling towards me, and then landed on a tree just by me, allowing a few shots. The dark red eye colour identify it as an adult male.

By Haworth Hall I heard and spotted a singing Sedge Warbler, then presumably the female turned up with a billfull of food for chicks. 

Also feeding chicks, a crow being hasled by 3 youngsters. Young crows have a red mouth, quite obvious when they beg.

I looked at a grassy ares by hedgerows where I often find rabbits and there was this cob roe deer, chewing the cud, oblivious to me taking photos of it. It only glanced at me once.

You can see the rabbit by the roe deer in this photo.

The view west from Reich Carter Way.

Kestrel overhead.

This Whitethroat was alarmed atop a bramble bush, probably nesting in it.

Roe Bank (or Bransholme) Reservoir.

The only thing of note a Little Grebe. A pair was trilling closer to the path, but I couldn't see them.

Several fishermen were in position along the river.

Sculcoates in June

 I have a backlog of three weeks at the patch to write up so I decided to do a summary and a bit of an overview of the year so far as I am half way through my weekly visits to this urban 1 km grid square in the heart of Hull.

Breeding birds

I have recorded 58 species this year in the square in 47 visits. Of those, 27 are resident and 9 are summer migrants.  The fledglings of residents, including Feral Pigeon, Great tit, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Blackbird, Robin, Wren, Starling, House Sparrow, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Moorhen and Mallard have been recorded in the area, most in the last few weeks. Several Song Thrushes (possibly 3 pairs) have been seen carrying food, indicating the presence of young in nests. The presence of a Sparrowhawk nest was noted by the begging call of the female from trees, but due to the foliage, the nest itself could not be located. Even the fledglings of the summer migrants have started to appear in the last couple of weeks, with Blackcap and Whitethroat young seen. In total, fledglings of 15 species have been recorded. Furthermore, Herring Gulls and Lesser Black-backed Gulls are breeding on the roofs of the industrial estate (crown paints must have quite a few nests). Except for a visible Lesser Black-backed Gull nest, no gull nests are visible from ground level. Several Swallows have been seen circling the bridge at Fountain Road.

Blackcap fledgling.

Greenfinch Fledgling.

The Greenfinch parent looking a bit bedragled.

The latest and most numerous batch of ducklings, 8 (one just out of the frame).

A duckling watches for insects on the drain.

Fledgling crows just by the drain, they were quite entertaining to watch.

Flegdling Whithethroat (also top shot).

Other birds

Six of the species are wintering and were regularly recorded (Common Gull, Black-headed Gull, Cormorant, Redshank, Goldcrest, and Little Grebe). The rest of species include fly-overs (Grey Heron, Rook) and occasional visitors from outside the area (e.g. Kestrel, Grey Wagtail, Greylag, Coot) and some come from single records during passage (Teal, Red Kite, Willow Warbler, Sedge Warbler). The status of a few species remains a bit mysterious. For example, House Martins seem plentiful over the drain from the cycle lane to Fountain Road, but I haven't located the colony, although it must be nearby. Lesser Whitethroat has just 3 records in the same area, but spread in time, so a pair could be breeding. A passing cargo train disturbed a couple of Grey Wagtails, which were seen flying off from the river. This was to the north of the km2 in an area out of difficult access by the river Hull, so it is possible that a pair is breeding in the area. 

Pied Wagtail.

Herring and Lesser black-backed gulls gather to bath on the river at low tide.

Feral Pigeon under Wilmington Bridge.

Painted Lady.

Butterflies

The butterfly season, which started in late march, pretty much halted for a couple of months with the cold April and wet May. In June there have been plenty of warm, sunny days and I've been able to add several new species to the year list. So far 12 species have been recorded including: Comma, Small Tortoiseshell, Painted Lady, Speckled Wood, Peacock, Large White, Small White, Green-veined white, Brimstone, Large Skipper, Common Blue and Orange Tip. Hopefully a few more species will be added for July. Caterpillars of Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock were plentiful in nettles along the drain and a Red Admiral was observed ovipositing. The Sculcoates N cemetery has an excellent meadow where Large Skipper and Common Blue have been seen, and also the day-flying five-spot burnet moth.

Common Blue.

A very fresh Small Tortoiseshell.

Small White.

The first Red Admiral of the year.

Red Admiral.

Common Blue.

Ovipositing Red Admiral.

Other insects

The verges by the drain and the meadow area of the north cemetery at Sculcoates are a haven for insects.

Volucella bombylans

5 spot burnet, Sculcoates cemetery.

Speckled Wood.

The only (to my knowledge) resident horse in the patch came to check me out.