Urban birding at Hull: Sculcoates week 30

A sunny, warm morning, I looked forward to a visit to the patch, hoping in particular, to add Gatekeeper to the butterfly list. As I got to the patch boundary, 5-6 Swifts started chasing, trilling, low over the street.

 

I didn't have to wait long to see my first Gatekeeper, sunnying itself on the verges of the footpath by the drain. 

Gatekeeper.

Speckled Wood.

Comma.

Green-veined White.

Nice to see just half a meter has been mowed on the sides of the footpath/cycle lane by Barmston drain, the verges are rich in wild plants and teeming with insects, including Small Tortoiseshell caterpillars (and I presume pupae) a good compromise between access and nature.

Two Small Tortoiseshell Caterpillars in search of fresh nettles.

Drinking and bathing

There appear to be a group of birds in a particular bush at the other side of the drain. They are a mixed bunch: Chiffchaff, Lesser Whitethroat, Wren, Robin, Blackbird, a family of Goldfinches, Woodpigeon and Dunnock. I think there might be a cat or another predator on the ground. I wait and keep identifying birds and adding them to my list, one of them is a young Sedge Warbler! the first one I actually see on the patch, I heard one singing earlier in the season. A bird, all soaked up, flies onto a branch to dry. They I think that the reason all these birds are there is that there might be a place where they can drink and bathe. It has been very dry in the last couple of weeks and the drain is not easy to access for a drink due to the marginal vegetation and how steep it is.

Lesser Whitethroat and Sedge Warbler.

Robin.

Young Sedge Warbler.

Lesser Whitethroat.

Soaking Blackcap.

Cemetery

In the Sculcoates N Cemetery a Southern Hawker is feeding on the main path, but almost immediately it stops hanging from a leaf, maybe it has hunted something as it seems to be holding something, maybe a moth? 

There are many Gatekeepers and whites, but no Skippers. In a corner with Tansy, I search and find some Colletes bees, likely daviesanus.

Colletes on tansy.

In the Air Street cemetery, a Holly Blue flutters over a bed of ivy, but doesn't stop and flies high into the trees. I search for the small Elms growing in the corner, but since the last time I saw them a couple of weeks ago, one of them has died.

A woodpigeon struggling with a mishapen branch. It left it on the ground.

Before leaving I looked for dragonflies on the drain. An emperor and a Brown hawker were disputing a stretch of drain under the bridge. On the elevated ground, a Migrant hawker was hunting, and I was lucky as it stopped quite quickly for a rest, the first Migrant Hawker I photograph this year. I saw two others today. There seems to have been an influx in Hull in the last couple of days.

Migrant Hawker.

Brown Hawker over the drain.

Two species of grasshoppers on a small patch of brownfield with many wild carrots at Temple street.

Lesser Marsh Grasshopper, Chorthippus albomarginatus.

Common field grasshopper, Chorthippus brunneus.

Urban birding at Hull: A walk to Oak Road

 It felt just like spring today. Although it started a bit drizzly, it soon stopped. It was very mild and in the afternoon there were some lovely sunny spells, I even took my gloves and hat at some point. I walked through Pearson Park, Beverley Road, Ryde Street, Ryde Avenue, and Clough Road. At Pearson Park, two Great Spotted Woodpeckers were drumming, responding to each other, each with a different tone on their drumming. I stopped to count the gulls, which appeared particularly numerous. 300 Common Gulls, 19 Black-headed Gulls and 15 Herring gulls fed on the grass.

When I reached the Beverley and Barmston drain at Clough Road I had a peek over the bridge. A Little Grebe! A new addition to this stretch of drain. The light was lovely and I took some photos. As I was recording a video it was joined by a second one.

Little Grebe

Little Grebe with a stick, some stirrings of nesting behaviour?

Two little grebes.

View north (above) and south (below) of this accessible stretch of the drain.

I crossed the road and took Oak Road. Some local volunteers have been doing a great job clearing all the litter and planting trees along the path. Song Thrushes and Greenfinches were singing.

 Oak Road playing fields were very flooded and muddy. I regretter not taking my wellies. I didn't even walk around the lake, joining the river bank instead. The family of Mute Swans, 7 Coots and 3 Mallards were all the water birds in the lake.

Cob mute swan.

mute swan family, two young still around.

A view of the lake, on the left one of the fishing pontoons can be seen, giving an idea of how full the lake was.

The river was at high tide.

Four Cormorants resting atop this pylon near the Stoneferry bridges, with the Reckitt chimney in the distance. 

The bend of the River Hull near Oak Road Lake.

Goldfinches feeding on Alder cones.

Song Thrush singing.

A female Kestrel, the first kestrel this year.

On the way back I was pleasantly surprised to hear a Jackdaw at Pearson Park. They are not regular birds of the avenues, so it was a nice surprise.

Migrants Way. Stage 7. Garton to Aldbrough

 A beautiful sunny, mild morning with no wind, I head to the start of the walk at St Michael's Church, Garton.

The first part of the walk is inland, due to lack of access, but the last stretch before Aldbrough I do on the clifftop path.

There is a new woodland by Garton, a Willow Warbler sings from it. Beacon Hill, on the right reaches 25 m over sea level. The public footpath is straight, a track between fields of wheat and barley. As I top a ridge I can see the sea, with Flamborough in the horizon.

A Skylark sits on the wooden footbridge over East Newton Drain (top shot).

After this, there is a field of flax, which is starting to bloom.

At Ringbrough Farm I hear the first Corn Bunting. On the way back I count five singing males around the farm, two of them on the approach road, singing on the wires, the rest atop hedgerows. At some point, three species of bunting are in the same hedgerow near the farm building.

Corn Bunting.

Yellowhammer.

A Yellowhammer carries food, nervous atop a hedge. 

A new road was built when a Gas storage facility was set up in the area. I carry on the straight path to East Newton, I see a Grey Partridge ahead, but it scurries into the field as I get closer. 

Grey Partridge record shot

There is still no access to the clifftop path on East Newton, despite it being quite close to the sea. Some of the farm buildings are derelict, but boulders line the fields to deter parking. Tree Sparrows chirp from a tiled roof. I follow the minor road to Aldbrough. 

Cliff Farm, East Newton.

The house at Low Farm has a thriving House Martin colony; Swallows fly in and out of Hill Top farm; Sand Martins are present through the walk feeding over the fields, presumably breeding along the cliffs. Strangely, I see not a single Swift. I surprise a Brown Hare making an impressive impersonation of a lump of soil on a side road. 

I am a rock.

At Old Dale road I finally join the clifftop path to Aldbrough. A Reed Bunting sings from an oilseed rape field. 

The cliffs here are quite high, 20 m, and slumped in places, instead of a sheer cliff. The rapid rate of erosion is patent in the two colour sea.

A Meadow Pipit by the clifftop path.

Lambwath stream is born just south of the caravan park at Aldbrough. Despite starting just a few metres from the sea, by the fishing ponds of the caravan park, it flows west. A few miles away there is an infilled basin of a holocene mere, with water chestnut, a plant not found in the UK nowadays, is Lambwath meadows SSSI.

 I arrive at Aldbrough. Most of the caravans closest to the cliff edge have been removed, their concrete bases witness of their previous locations. A fisherman appears to have found a way down, and a family with young children, bucket and spade, start cautiously climbing down the clay cliff.

Swallow singing at Aldbrough.

 I walk a little further and scan the sea. I spot two Porpoises several times, but I can't find them with the camera. Herring Gulls pass by, four Black-headed gulls float offshore. A Fulmar powers north right over the cliff, then a Kestrel coasts over the beach, below me, on the opposite direction. 

Looking north from Aldbrough

I return to East Newton, stopping by a clifftop path at Cliff Farm, for lunch. A Gannet passes by in front of the wind turbines. A noisy plane overhead disturbs an Oystercatcher near Ringbrough. I make my way back, counting Corn Buntings.

Featured bird: Corn Bunting
A farmland species, associated to open arable land with few trees, the Corn Bunting is strongly sedentary, with small movements in the winter, when it flocks. It has suffered strong declines related to changes in agricultural intensification and is a red listed species in the UK, with an estimated 11,000 territories. Corn Buntings have strong bills that allow them to feed on large cereal seeds such as wheat and barley, and they will feed on stubbles and weedy tracks. Males often sing their song reminiscent of jingly keys from wires and atop hedgerows.

Walk information
June. 11 km circular. Start: Garton Church TA270354. Finish at Aldbrough Seaside Rd. No toilet facilities.