Hull City Nature Challenge - Day 4 - Albert Dock, Victoria Dock, city centre, Wildlife Garden

Weather was good for the final day of the City Nature Challenge, with sunny spells, still and mild. After another early start, I headed to the core of the city, which hadn't been surveyed much, Albert Dock and Victoria Dock, the tide low. I started by ticking some common birds, including this crow carrying a piece of plastic. Starlings were busy collecting food for chicks and singing.

Crow with bit of plastic.

Singing Starling.

At the Milky Way square, the usual pair of Stock Doves, and not usually, a singing Whitethroat.

Whitethroat.

At the city centre, the frantic calls and flapping from a Feral Pigeon chick being fed by a parent called my attention. I took the photo once the commotion was over, both chick and parent looking very sedated. It always amazes me how tiny ledges they use as nests. With time, a rim of poo makes enough of a cup to told eggs and chicks. There is barely any indication of a nest hete.

Feral Pigeon with chick.

This Herring Gull forgot it was a Bank Holiday.

A Woodpigeon on the City Hall.

I had to record the Sea Spleenwort by the outer dock wall. It really suffered with the dry weather, but is already growing back.

Seaweed was exposed at low tide.

Henbit Deadlettle was a nice addition to my Hull plant list.

A Stock Dove feeds on the roof of a warehouse at Albert Dock.

After recording a number of plants at Albert Dock, which was very quiet bird-wise, I headed towards The Deep and Victoria Dock. It was a first for me to see Blackbirds mating atop a roof (top shot), then, a few houses ahear, a female House Sparrow requested mating repeatedly. 

Mating House sparrow.

Three-spined Stickleback.

Coot.

Lesser black-backed gulls displayed by the tideline at the Half-tide basin.

A Skylark flew up from the new saltmarsh and sung briefly, before disappearing.

I returned via Victoria Dock park. The sun shone for a while and I recorded a few Butterflies, including my first Holly Blue of the year.

Holly Blue.

Peacock.

Windowframe wildlife.

After lunch we had a spot of recording at the Pearson Park wildlife garden.

Celery fly, very active, beautiful fly.

Pond Skater.

Nursery Web Spider.

The final push was to check the remote camera I had placed in the garden for the CNC. I hadn't used in a long time and I wasn't sure it was going to work. After a few cat photos I was very pleased to see a few Fox selfies, which was a great record to end the challenge.

 

Fox in the garden

Hull City Nature Challenge - Day 3 - KC Stadium railway triangle, Noddle Hill

I got nice and early and I was ready to go, only to realise I had stupidly forgotten to charge my phone overnight, which meant waiting for half an hour for it to charge before leaving the house. My plan was to head to the KC stadium triangle via the General Cemetery, then to Albert Dock. Not encouragingly it was cloudy and drizzling intermittently. 

I love to record Convalaria majalis, it reminds me of my mum, one of her favourite plants! Small and beautifully formed.

I was up for a lovely surprise as I hadn't even got inside the cemetery when I heard the song of a Treecreeper. This species can be very hit and miss, despite being resident at the cemetery. I recorded the song and then even managed a few record shots. A good start for the day!

I found a great illustration of rewilding at the cemetery (top shot), the Ivy and the Sycamores hugging a headstone, with the lush growth of Cow Parsley on the ground. But must concentrate on recording.

After a good search, I managed a single individual of Discus rotundatus under a log. They don't seem to be doing well, maybe the dry summer and autumn has meant their hiding spaces have declined. The cemetery is one of their hotspots in Hull.

The Wood Anemone, its last flowers all ragged, was hard to find, hidden by the incredible plant growth on the cemetery verges.

I moved to the KC stadium triangle, my aims were Rabbit, Kestrel and Long Tailed Tits, which had evaded me so far.

Rabbit was pretty easy, I found a young one right away, feeding with relish on the fresh growth of Giant Hogweed!

Giant Hogweed on the foreground and KC stadium on the background.

A carpet of Cowslips.

I briefly saw a Kestrel, but it didn't reappear and I got no record.

A view of the site from the mound, currently a Rabbit warren.

Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps and Whitethroats were singing. The scrubby area by the railway line was favoured by Linnets and a singing Sedge Warbler, which I failed to see.

Singing Linnet.

Singing Song Thrush.

The Long-tailed tits were very busy moving back and forth between a patch of brambles and some Sycamores, obviously feeding chicks. I failed to take any photos of them and they were quiet so sound recording wasn't an option. After a long wait, I decided to try and find the nest. I pointed my binoculars to the area where they were getting into the brambles, and luckily found it right away as the nest opening was facing me. My camera zoomed in to the entrance, it was a matter of waiting for an adult to return to get a photo. The Long-tailed Tits nest is very distinctive, so it alone could have made a record. After getting some photos, I left the Long-tailed tits to their busy feeding schedule and moved on. 

Long-tailed tit entering the nest with food.

The beautifully camouflaged, lichen-covered nest.

This Rabbit posed for me for a while.

Male Linnet collecting nest material.

My phone charge was getting low, so I headed back for lunch and a battery recharge at home via Princes Avenue. I made a stop at the Church on the Way to record some ferns, which were looking very fresh.

Wall Rue

Hart's tongue fern.

Maidenhair Spleenwort.

I was meeting MM after lunch for a trip to Noddle Hill Local Nature Reserve. I have blogged quite a bit about this wonderful suburban reserve, a haven for warblers. Blackcaps, Whitethroats, Lesser Whitethroats and Willow Warblers were recorded quickly, as was this Yellow-bellied Slider swimming in the pond.

Roe Deer.

I wanted to record Tree Sparrows, but the hedge at the pumping station where I usually find them up to two months ago had been completely removed. The removal of the hedge revealed these three old nest boxes, one of them without a roof. To my knowledge, this was the last area where Tree Sparrows nested in Hull. The species is Red Listed, and also in the Biodiversity Action Plan of Hull. We can't even give them a hedge and some decent nest boxes, so sad.

Reed Bunting.

Raptor wise we had Kestrels, two Buzzards and two Marsh Harrier flyovers, a species I wasn't expecting to add to the challenge. Yellowhammers are regular there but we missed them too.

Buzzard.

Marsh Harrier.

We walked on the north side of the reserve, and flushed a Fox without getting a photo, a Little Egret flew past and after an enjoyable chat with a very knowledgeable local, we managed a recording of a singing Cetti's Warbler. A nice bunch of species added to the challenge.

Hull City Nature Challenge - Day 2 - Sculcoates, Pearson Park, garden

 

Day 2 of the Hull City Nature Challenge was more promising weather wise, with little or no rain forecast. I had agreed to participate on a moth trapping event, and several wildlife walks at Pearson Park. Two moth traps had been set and the night had been calm and dry, if a bit cold. I got up early and had a wander at the Sculcoates patch to start the recording. What a difference a day makes, I started recording common birds busy feeding chicks.

Starling with food.

The patch started very well, with a pair of Swallows at Fountain Road flying in and out of the bridge. One of them was kind enough to sit on an aerial for a while.

Goldfinch and Swallow on aerial.

As I moved towards the Sculcoates Cemetery the sky become brighter and the sun shone, bringing butterflies, other insects and spiders out. A Whitethroat was singing on territory, the first one for the patch (top shot) in the same spot where they nested last year.

Speckled Wood

Small Tortoiseshell.

Small White

Peacock

Box Bug

Courting spiders.

Very nicely marked female wolf spider.

Nursery Web Spider basking.

It was time to rush to Pearson Park Wildlife Garden for the moth event. Unfortunately, it hadn't been a good night for moths and the trap was empty. Mac, our local moth recorder, had brought the only catch in his garden and the people attending were happy to listen to him explaining how moth trapping works, whilst I went around the garden finding creepy crawlies with the kids.

This one was found in a rummage through my log pile later.

The only attendees to the invertebrate and plant walk said they had sadly missed the bird walk, so I showed them the current, and very fresh inhabitants of the park, a clutch of Coots, the first that has graced the park since I've been recording there.

'Cootlings' on nest.

Blackbird with worms.