Buckton and Bempton with Hull Nats

The March outing with Hull Nats started at Buckton village, just west of Bempton. We made a first stop at the village pond, where we had Teal, Curlew, Canada and Greylag Geese, Pied Wagtail and Mallard. It was cold, showers and brief sunny spells. A stiff bumblebee fell off the willow by the path. We carried on by Hoddy Cows Lane. Skylark after Skylark singing, sometimes two at the same time, were the soundtrack. A Chiffchaff joined in at some point. There are patches of Gorse in full bloom, and we see the Heligoland trap in a patch of scrub. There are menacing clouds coming, but we only get brief, light showers. A wetland has ample botanic interest and slows us down. I scan towards the sea in the distance and see my first Gannets this year.

Naturalists in action.

Hoddy Cows Lane.

A cold bumblebee laden with mites.

Skylark.

As we arrive at the cliffs, we watch numerous Gannets collecting grass at the clifftop (top shot). As they leave, they hang in the updraft like kites. A Kestrel powers over us.

Gannets collecting nest material.

Razorbill.

Fulmars.

Raft of Razorbills on the sea.

Herring Gull.

A lone Guillemot on the cliffs. Hard to take sharp photos in the strong wind.

The only Puffin we saw on the cliffs.

Most of the Kittiwakes were in large rafts off sea.

Skypointing.

Feral Pigeon.

A Motus antenna has recently been installed at the visitor centre of Bempton Cliffs, where we stop for lunch.

Recent sightings panel

The ever present Tree Sparrows.

This House Sparrow was at Bempton village on the way back.

Jay at the Sculcoates patch

 

I saw a Jay at Pearson Park last week on my way to the patch. Today, as I was searching for Redwings under the trees, I saw which was probably the same bird in the same area. It was carrying a shelled peanut, which it cached at the base of a bush. Jays are pretty rare at Hull and the behaviour of this individual suggests is a resident, visiting a garden and planning to retrieve its cache some time in the future.

Jay at Pearson Park.

A male Bullfinch was feeding at the feeders.

A Coot was bringing nest material to its nest.

Ongoing nest building. The recent rains have raised the water level at the drain quite a lot, so coots probably need to increase the level of their nests. I'm not sure if they can do this once they have laid their eggs.

Chiffchaff singing. Five males were singing around  Sculcoates.

It was a very chilly day with sunny spells. I carried on toI had never seen a Jay at Sculcoates, so I did wonder if I would do sometime. I didn't have to wait very long, as I heard a Jay alarm call and saw one flying into the South Cemetery. I haven't visited the South Cemetery for a while, so I popped in. There was no luck finding the Jay, but I did find a large patch of Dog's Mercury, which was another surprise for the day.

Flowering Dog's Mercury. This is a very rare woodland plant in Hull. 

The Greylag appears to be now sitting on eggs at the park's island.

This Grey Squirrel sitting on a next box had alarmed Grey and Blue tits, which were calling frantically above it.

A train trip to North Ferriby

 

A short train trip to North Ferriby, Long Plantation and Red Cliff. The day ended up being of sunny spells and mild, although it was quite windy by the Humber. I walked straight to the Humber from the station, then walked east to the pond. A dozen Wigeon were at the Humber and on the shore.

Wigeon

Wigeon and gulls.

The pond was interesting, with Coot, Little Grebe, Mallard, Gadwall, Greylag and Teal, all single pairs.

View of the pond.

 

Little Grebe.

Gadwall.

Teal.

Afterwards, I followed the high tide route of the Wolds Way along the village and into the top of Long Plantation.

Goldfinches feeding on Lavender seedheads. The advantages of not deadheading your lavenders!

The entrance to Long Plantation.

Long Plantation is a deciduous woodland with mainly beech and Sycamore. Some large trees had been cut and most of the trees are quite young, although there is a fair amount of dead wood on the ground and stumps. A Buzzard flew over and a Sparrowhawk flew onto a tree, looking like it just had a bath.

Great Woodpecker nest hole.

Great Tit.

The days of the fields west of the plantation appear numbered due to impending development. A Green Woodpecker Yaffled and flew onto a mound, I only managed a record shot.

Large Oak and flooded fields.

The view towards Brickyard lane.

I didn't spend much time at Redcliff as there was a flock of Curlew on the foreshore. I counted 15.

Many Dun Sentinel snails at low tide.

Curlew

The cliff looked quite different from last time and I wonder how much success the Ivy bees and Sea Aster bees will have in such fast eroding cliff.

A Bombus terrestris worker on Red Dead-nettle.