A walk by the River Hull in September

 

It was cold and cloudy to start the day and didn't look too good for a bush-cricket survey walk, but I packed the bat detector and headed towards the river Hull via Barmston Drain at Cough Road. It was quiet, the only thing of note were Mallard flocks flying in circles.  

Mallard.

Elder branches Oak Road Lake with Willow Emerald oviposition scars. 

I stopped to check for bush-crickets at suitable habitat, and there was much along the river bank and adjacent land. It was at 10:30, when the sun started shining, that Long-Winged Coneheads started chugging near Ennerale ponds. The circuit was locked, so I couldn't visit the ponds. 

That time of year when I find dead shrews on paths. This Common Shrew, looking very fresh, it's little tongue out, was on the River Hull floodbank by Ennerdale Leisure centre.

I carried towards the reservoir and then it became obvious why the ducks were flying, there were two workers strimming the vegetation on the banks. A few gulls were in the middle of the water, the level so low that they were standing up.

I returned by the same bank of the river, it was warmer and sunnier. A Little Egret flew over.

I carried on mapping the Long-winged Coneheads and Roesel's. After Sutton Road Bridge a sheltered spot had attracted a Comma and a Speckled Wood.

The beautifully camouflaged and intricate pattern of the underside of a Comma wings

Comma, in all its brightness.

Speckled Wood.

Another patch of Long-winged Conehead habitat by the river bank.

Despite the almost continuous song along the river bank, this is the only conehead I saw all day, a singing male so bright green it contrasted with the dead grass stems.

Long-winged Conehead habitat shot.

Common Darter.

I was very pleased to spot a family of Little Grebes with two chicks in the drain, they quickly hid in the marginal vegetation, so this is the only chick I photographed.

Female Migrant Hawker.

Basking green shieldbug, Palomena prasina.

Sculcoates, KC Stadium railway triangle, Jack Kaye field and Hull Speckled Bush-crickets

After the session with the Speckled Bush-crickets in the Makro site and St Andrews Quay on Friday with the bat detector, I decided to check for them in several spots around Hull with suitable habitat. Although I thought it was a long shot, I know they are under-recorded, as research by the BTO has revealed. First, they are quite inactive during the day, resting motionless on the vegetation, sometimes high up. Second, their calls are very high-pitched, in the ultrasound range, at 40 kHz, almost as high-pitched as a Common Pipistrelle. The bat-detector converts their call into an audible signal, which is reminiscent of the regular 'click' of an electric fence. Third, they are superbly camouflaged, I seem unable to spot them, even when they are calling really close to me!

Until Friday I had been setting the bat detector to 25 khz, which picks both coneheads and Roesel's, but will likely miss the Speckled. I became determined to check for them across Hull.

Yesterday, I started the search at the Sculcoates patch, which has plenty of bramble patches. I pointed the bat detector to each bit of bramble with a sunny aspect I could get close to. I hit patch gold quickly, just by the Beverley and Barmston Drain, just south of the railway line. It was a faint signal, and I listened for a while to make sure it wasn't my imagination, but no, the Specked Bush-cricket signal was persistent and associated to a particular spot, and appeared to come from a single individual, possibly from the other side of a hedge of brambles atop the drain. Exciting, Speckled in the patch! 

I then moved to the North Sculcoates Cemetery. The chugging of the Long-winged Coneheads was very loud in the meadow, and after pointing the bat detector to several big, south facing patches of bramble with no result, I was about to give in. Then I saw the large privet in the middle of the meadow. Worth a try. I'm glad I did, as I got a Speckled signal, loud and clear on the area directly in front of the sun, also, a single individual. Despite appearing to be very close, again, no luck seeing the insect. Still, I was quite chuffed and got a nice record of the call.

Africa Gómez · Speckled n cem Sculcoates.m4a

Yesterday after lunch, I visited the KC Stadium railway triangle. It wasn't warm at all, but there was high cloud and the Long-winged Coneheads and Roesel's were calling. I spent a while around the brambles on the far end, but hit a blank with the Speckled: nothing.

Jack Kaye Field

Today, my plan was the Jack Kaye field, which has plenty of apparently suitable habitat. Again, brief sunny spells and cool weather. Long-winged Coneheads and Roesel's were calling, and there were plenty of invertebrates to keep me going but, again, no Speckled calls. 

There was no hesitation by this female Araneus quadratus at Jack Kaye Fields when a wasp bumped onto her web. It was swiftly wrapped up in silk and immobilised. Note the little glue dropplets in the silk threads.

Perks of staring at brambles looking for bush-crickets: Three sightings of Spiked Shieldbug three days in a row, I had never recorded them in Hull, now records at KC stadium triangle, Makro site and Jack Kaye Fields. Two individuals together on one occasion, at Jack Kaye three of them. It is a large, predatory shield-bug with pointy 'shoulders', which curiously communicates with substrate vibrations.

Three Spiked Shieldbugs in the same area.

A female Roesel's with only one hindleg.

A pair of basking Long-winged Coneheads on a tree trunk.

Male Long-winged Conehead.

Male Roesel's calling.

I returned home via Ella Street and the public footpath behind Ella Street and Victoria Avenue. There were some patches of ivy, cherry and some bramble over a fence facing the sun (top shot), and as I pointed the bat detector at the vegetation I realised I was standing in front of another surprise Speckled Bush-cricket colony, this time several individuals were calling, one of them very close (recording with bat detector here: https://on.soundcloud.com/czHUS ). Although I got no sightings today, I was very pleased with the detection rate so far.

Dispersal

I was talking about dispersal of this flightless species in the post yesterday. The Makro site is on the site of old railway sidings and very close to the A63 and the railway line. The two sites at Sculcoates are metres away from the Hull and Barmsley railway line, and Ella Street backs onto the Hull and Barnsley line too.  Railway lines and the scrubby vegetation growing alongside, with plenty of bramble, makes a perfect dispersal corridor for this species, and I will prioritise surveying along railway lines for now.

A walk from Hessle in search of Speckled Bush-crickets

The forecast was for sunny spells and mild weather today, with barely a breeze, the Autumn Equinox. I had wanted to visit the Makro site in search of Speckled Bush-crickets, armed with bat detector, but instead of going there directly, I decided to take the train to Hessle and walk along the Pennine Way to St Andrew's Quay.

I was at Hessle at 9:00 and crossed the pedestrian bridge over the railway line and the A63, then the cricket field and soon reached Hessle Haven. Luckily the tide was out and a curlew was feeding in usual spot on the Haven. A Great Black-backed gull was also in attendance with Black-headed Gulls and Common Gulls.

View of the saltmarsh near Hessle Haven, with many Sea Aster seedheads

I took the detour around the industrial units and returned to the Humber foreshore. There was a steep descent but I took it to explore the saltmarsh. There were many clumps of Sea Aster, but so far no bush-crickets. When it was time to climb back onto the footpath, I realised it wasn't so easy, so I decided to walk along the saltmarsh and look for an easier way up. I'm lucky I did as I spotted a Sea Aster Bee, Colleted halophilus, feeding on a sowthistle. 

Sea Aster Bee, Colletes halophilus.

Eupeodes latifasciatus

Small White, the most common butterfly today.

Sea Aster in bloom.

The views over the Humber and the Humber view were fantastic. I regularly checked the sides of the path with the bat detector. Shorttly after the Sea Aster bees I detected the call of Shor-winged Coneheads from the saltmarsh. As I scanned the exposed mud in the low tide, I spotted a mixed flock of Ringed Plovers and Dunlin, actively feeding.

Dunlin

Ringed Plover.

I reached the steps to Priory Way and here there were very accessible sections of marsh, with Long-winged Coneheads calling. I didn't manage to see any, but other invertebrates were more easily spotted.

Araneus diadematus, the Garden Spider.

Pisaura mirabilis, the Nursery Web Spider.

Araneus quadratus

Lesser Marsh Grasshopper.

Common Field Grasshopper.

Common Darter.

I'm not a big fan of the stretch alongside the Arco site. The path runs just by the A63, the noise is deafening and the passing trucks unsettling, but the Long-winged coneheads called all the way. Finally, I reached the wall by the Makro site. I had to stop and look back to take in the views. A large sand bank was exposed just by the shore. A mixed gull flock was spooked, but while I scanned the sky to find out the cause for their flushing, I found an Avocet, which settled in the middle of the sand bank. Avocet, Dunlin and Ringed Plover are new for the year for the Hull area.

Speckled Bush-crickets

The low brambles where I heard the first Speckled Bush-cricket

I entered the Makro site with some trepidation. I had been told that the site had had some large fires and I wasn't sure what to expect. It is a very large area and fortunately, large areas had escaped the fire. In the first clump of low brambles I pointed the bat detector to, I heard a 'chirp!', then another, a Speckled Bush cricket. I looked and looked and couldn't find it, so I carried on after recording the call. 

A habitat shot of the Speckled Bush-cricket, with the brambles where the second Specked Bush-cricket was sat.

I was luckier with the second Speckled. A lovely bramble patch and close sound. I stood there and looked at each leaf of the bramble, and there it was! There was a long sunny spell and I could take photos, videos and recordings of the individual. The calls indicate there was another individual around, responding to the call, possibly a female.

Speckled Bush-cricket.

A Long-winged Conehead, the only one I saw today, joined the chorus from the same patch of bramble.

Spiked Shieldbug, a species I hadn't seen in Hull before.

I walked around the brownfield site, checking brambles and trees. The Speckled Bush-crickets occupied each suitable bit of bramble, but also birch trees. Other than then there were Long-winged Coneheads and Common Field Grasshoppers, but I failed to spot any Speckled Grasshoppers. It was time to head back and I walked along the new sea defences by St Andrew's Quay. 

I was surprised to find more Speckled Bush-crickets in bushes and hedges by the wall and the pond, one of them was my best recording of them today, it was so close! How did the crickets got here is a bit of a mystery. The species is apterous, hence flightless, so dispersal is supposed to depend on individuals jumping or walking between suitable habitat patches. Although Speckled Bush-crickets are widespread and common in the southern half of the UK, the closest population is at North Cave Wetlands, where the earliest record is from 2002. There are no known populations in N Lincolnshire and they are very scattered north of the Humber. A possibility is human assisted dispersal. Eggs could travel with nursery plants, as hedges and trees are transported from nurseries down South for planting here or for sale in garden center (there is a B&Q in St Andre's Quay). Another possibility is train or road transport. Makro and St Andrews are right by the railway line and A63, so there is a chance of individuals being transported into the site as adults or young. Road transport is a know dispersal mode in the Southern Oak Bush-cricket. In any case, the population appears to be thriving, despite the fire, although it probably took many loses, given the area of brambles that was burnt.

Looking for bush-crickets at Rockford Fields LNR and East Park in September

A sunny, mild day, I decided to stop at Rockford fields on my way to East Park with the bat detector, hoping to find some bush-crickets. On my way there, I found two Willow Warblers, which were hunting insects by the cycle path. At some point one stopped to preen and bask in the sunshine.

Cricket recording conditions were optimal, and the chugging of the coneheads was loud when I turned on the bat detector. Now, only finding them remains. It didn't take long. The SE facing scrubby edge with long grass and bramble gave ideal watching conditions, as male Roesel's and Long-winged coneheads called and females basked.

View of Rockford fields LNR.

This is the corner of the field.

A pair of Long-winged Coneheads.

Four Long-winged Coneheads are visible in the photo.

Male Roesel's bush-cricket calling.

Araneus quadratus.

A group of basking Lesser Marsh Grasshoppers.

Female Roesel's basking.

Female Roesel's basking, note the lowered rear leg facing the sun.

Araneus quadratus with greenbottle prey.

Nursery Web spider.

In the south area of the field, there is a large tree trunk. I carefully moved around to the sunny side of it as it looked ideal for basking. There were at least 4 Roesel's, several coneheads, Lesser Marsh Grasshoppers are a large Araneus quadradus which ended up capturing one of the grasshoppers.

A rare face on view of one female Roesel's, note the tympanic organs on the tibia of the forelimbs.

East Park

As soon as I get to East Park I hear a persistent Ring-necked Parakeet, calling from deep in some bushes.

Ring-necked Parakeet.

The Great Crested Grebes haven't been successful this year.

Six terrapins were visible. Four on the zoo island fallen trunk.

One of the central island terrapins keeping a close eye on the Grey Heron.

This one just emerged from the water, covered on duckweed.

It was time to do an Odonata count. Migrant and Brown Hawkers were present along the lake, a Brown Hawker female was seen looking for oviposition sites, but it was chased away by a male Common Darter.

Male Migrant hawker.

Common Darter. At least 2 pairs in tandem and one ovipositing were seen.

In 2019, I saw my first Willow Emerald by the boardwalk (discovered by Richard Shillaker a couple of days earlier, the first of East Yorkshire), today, three years later, I saw a male in exactly the same spot, but it was the first of at least 8 individuals. There is now a thriving population at the park. I saw many males guarding trees and one pair in tandem.

Willow Emeralds in tandem.

Migrant Hawkers in tandem.

The now widespread Alder Leaf beetle.