A blustery, cold afternoon with occasional rain showers, I headed to East Park for the second time this week in search of the Barnacle Geese that Wes Payne found a couple of days ago. Barnacle Geese used to be regular at East Park and Pearson Park 20 years ago, with a small flock commuting between the parks, but they disappeared and became a bit of a rarity in Hull since. My last sighting, also at East Park, was of two yearlings in May 2013.
The usual route, takes me around 55 minutes to walk. As I cross the Beverley and Barmston drain, from the bridge I check for Little Grebes, and, as I am scanning with the binoculars I spot a Kingfisher in the distance, powering towards me, then flying under the bridge and disappearing downstream. A very nice addition to localbigyear, but sadly no photos. A single Redshank is visible from Wilmington bridge.
I get to East Park about 13:45 and I find the Barnacle Geese in the spot where Wes saw it, just by James Reckitt Avenue by the school. It is quite relaxed, feeding on the grass with Greylags and not even too bothered when some large dogs, pass by (fortunately on leads).
Barnacle Geese
I walk around the lake and the Gadwall is still around. I'm amused at it's fluffy head. Something hard to spot from a distance.
Something I love about birding in parks is that you can get really close to birds and appreciate things that are hard to see in other settings, like the oddly furry head of Gadwall. It has been in the park now for a few months and is as tame as the Mallards.
The same can't be said (yet) of the small flock of Shoveler. They keep their distance and stick close to the islands in the centre of the lake. Here a pair do their communal feeding, swimming round and round while they filter the water near each other.
There was a second drake Shoveler, a bit less dapper than the other one, still half way through its moult, probably a 1st winter bird.
As I walk near the bridge, the Black-headed gulls take flight. The reason, a Buzzard flying over. Some Black-headed Gulls follow if as it drifts South.
Buzzard.
The wind is picking up and it's hard to keep the camera steady. A parakeet flies over and lands on the trees. I get some poor shots, and it must have moved on, as I don't find it again. The pink wing patch, just visible in this and other photos, identifies it as an Alexandrine parakeet. I'll have to wait for the Ring-necked Parakeets.
Alexandrine Parakeet record shot.
I move onto the centre of the park for the way back, trying to keep away from the wind, although being under trees is probably not the most sensible thing to do. I find Coal Tit, Robin and Dunnock, and a single Redwing with a poorly leg.
Redwing.
On the way back I manage to spot a couple of Little Grebes on the drain, which do their 'whining' duet.
Overall, a great twitch and pleasant enough walk, with two nice additions to LocalBigYear, taking me to 66 species.
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