Another dry, calm day to continue my Holderness series. The day started cool and with light clouds and sunny spells, but it cleared up and it became much warmer by midday. I took East Yorkshire bus 24 to Leven and walked by the public right of way between gardens to the beginning of the Leven Canal. I have walked the Canal before, and this time of year the area is known for its dragonfly diversity, and the presence of summer migrants like Cuckoo and Hobby, and plenty of warblers. Notable are also the canal's diverse aquatic flora, which is what affords it its SSSI status. The last half of the canal runs by the relatively recently created Leven Carrs Wetlands, which is under a Landscape Recovery Scheme. I'll summarise the highlights per group below. I have lunch at the end of the canal by the river Hull. A few Black-headed Gulls are flying up and down picking mayflies from the air in the same way as they pick flying ants in the summer.
Birds
I have barely left the village behind when I hear the clear notes of a Cuckoo. It's been a few years since I've heard one in East Yorkshire, so this is a great start of the walk. I spot the cuckoo, calling from a willow. It moves along at the same speed as I walk. I notice it is being chased by a pair of Reed Warblers and a Chaffinch lands close up, although it doesn't mob it. I wonder if it is the same cuckoo all along, as I hear a cuckoo call when I reach the river Hull.The soundscape is amazing along the canal, as it is away from roads (although there is the occasional plane taking off from the airfield nearby. Warblers are aplenty, with Cetti's, Reed, Sedge, Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Blackcap, Willow, and Chiffchaff. I hear Reed Buntings and Yellowhammers, and the occasional Lapwing alarming to a Kestrel or Buzzard. Two Hobbies is par for the site. A Grey Heron and a Little Egret are foraging on Leven Carrs, but my personal highlight is 5 Cattle Egrets, which are feeding amongst the cattle and goats. I love watching Cattle Egrets feeding, they are the opposite to the calm, almost stately stance of a Little Egret or Grey Heron. Cattle Egrets are comical, they sprint, snap, waggle their bodies like cats before they pounce on insects. Walking on long grass is not easy, which contributes to the general effect! Cattle Egrets are relative recent colonisers to East Yorkshire, aided by global warming. Only in 2012 there was much twitching of one hanging around Tophill Low, its amazing to think that in little over a decade they are scarce, but regular birds in the area. Several of the ones I saw had breeding colours, so there is a chance there is some local breeding too.
Dragonflies
The walk is very productive for dragonflies, with 7 species recorded: 10+ Hairy Dragonflies, including 2 pairs mating, and 20+ Four-spotted Chasers; 100+ Azure Damselflies, 40+ Red eyed, 20+ Large Red, 5 Blue-tailed damselflies and 5 Banded Demoiselles, the last all on the banks of the River Hull. As I walk, I keep flushing Hairy Dragonflies, as they often rest low on the grass by the path. The numerous Four Spotted chasers, are easier to spot as they prefer to sit on reed stems.
Male Red-eyed Damselfly, on its favourite resting spot, a lily pad.
A female Red-eyed Damselfly, more likely to be found away from water.
Hairy Dragonflies mating.
Male Hairy Dragonfly.
Female Banded Demoiselly.
Male Banded Demoiselle with prey, an alderfly.
Four-spotted Chaser.
Four-spotted Chaser.
Mammals
Plenty of Rabbits on fields by the village and a Brown Hare that got quite close and then run along the wheat crop.
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