Urban birding at Hull: early May at Noddle Hill

 A badly timed attempt to get up for the dawn chorus (it's International Dawn Chorus day) to Noddle Hill as I searched for sunrise not dawn. By the time I got to the reserve it was 6:00 and quite bright. There was a hard frost, I even had to scrape the ice off the car windscreen. On the way there I saw a Fox by the road and a rabbit on a verge in an area I don't see them. This bode well for the rest of the day.

I parked at Kesteven way and made my way to the reserve. The frost made me feel like I was in January. I spotted a fox at the other side of the road (top shot). It occasionally game me a glance, but it carried on its way. 

It was a bit misty over the fields. A view through the binoculars revealed a hare, and another was further away in a different field.

As I walked by the playing fields I spotted another fox. First I thought it might be the same, but the photo reveals a much paler individual, with a warier stance. It kept looking back and trotted away.

I walked by the Foredyke Stream, taking in all the bird song, with Sedge Warblers, Lesser Whitethroats, Whitethroats, Linnet Blackbird and Willow Warblers singing. A Roe Deer buck stood at the other side of the drain and gave me a good look before bounding away. 

Linnet Singing.

Roe Deer doe feeding.

I walked around the reserve as my bird list became longer. At some time I realised I was going to hit 50 species, which is a first for me at the reserve. As I walked the north side of the reserve a Cormorant flew over. A Kestrel was sitting on wires and a Buzzard in usual post. I listened for Tree Sparrows without success, but there was a pair of Yellowhammers about and the female posed nicely.

Female Yellowhammer.

Whitethroat.

Two Swallows at the dairy farm. There were a few about.

Noddle Hill lake.

The lake was dominated by the greylag growing retinue of young. But the reeds hosted a few Reed Warblers.

A line of 9 goslings behind their mother. There were many families about this morning.

There was also a family of coots with 5 young, 2 of them limping.

Before leaving I walked to the Foredyke Green Pond. As always, plenty of rabbits about.

Rabbit.

A Coot was eating a fish. It had to shake it really hard to get chunks off. I presume the fish was dead.

Urban birding at Hull: Avenues dawn chorus

Today is International World Dawn Chorus Day, and I usually celebrate it with a very early morning rise and a short drive to Noddle Hill Nature reserve. I have been doing my daily exercise during lockdown walking in my local area, so I decided to do an urban dawn chorus walk. Blackbirds are singing and House Sparrows chirping in the garden. It is quiet, and already light when I left the house at 5:00am. It is still, cool and with some clouds. I walk the streets in the Avenues. There is no one about. Great Tits, Blue Tits, Robin, Wren, Blackcap, Chaffinch, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Woodpigeon join the chorus.

Dunnock singing.

I make my way to Jack Kaye fields via the path by the railway track.

There is a low patch of mist over the playing field, making it very atmospheric.

I hear a Lesser Whitethroat is singing from a sycamore. It's hard to photograph, so I record it's song.

Chiffchaff is also singing from the railway line, a pair of Linnets are about and a Swallow flies north over the fields.

Linnet.

It is sunrise.

I move through the avenues to Pearson Park. I get there about 6:20. There are a couple of dog walkers about. I

This is a first, a Greylag nest with an egg in the Pearson Park island. 

The female greylag by her nest.

Is it the time of the day or the effects of the lockdown? Another first: a pair of Greylags walking along Princes Avenue.

I'm back home by 7:20, time to go for a quiet grocery shopping!

Bird List

1. Blackbird
2. Blackcap
3. Blue Tit
4. Carrion Crow
5. Chaffinch
6. Chiffchaff
7. Collared Dove
8. Dunnock
9. Feral Pigeon
10. Goldcrest
11. Goldfinch
12. Great Tit
13. Greylag Goose
14. Herring Gull
15. House Sparrow
16. Lesser Black-backed Gull
17. Lesser Whitethroat
18. Linnet
19. Long-tailed Tit
20. Magpie
21. Mallard
22. Mistle Thrush
23. Moorhen
24. Robin
25. Song Thrush
26. Starling 
27. Stock Dove
28. Swallow
29. Woodpigeon
30. Wren

Dawn Chorus day 2018: Noddle Hill

As in the last few years, I headed for Noddle Hill early in the morning with friend Helen. We got there about 4:45. There was a moon and clear sky and it was very bright already. The chorus is well under way: Blackbird, Robin, Wren, Woodpigeon, Reed Warbler, Pheasant, Song Thrush just from the car park. We walk alongside the lake and head for the scrub. The warblers come in en force: Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, in the woods, Lesser Whitethroat, Sedge Warbler, Whitethroat in the scrub.
There are several families of Greylag with young goslings of various sizes, including a family with three adults. A set of ducklings too.
 In the scrub, we stop to listen to a barking roe deer. After a few minutes a magnificent buck walks near the dairy field.
Helen sees a rabbit running and then we see a Mink behind, who stops in its tracks to check us out. For a few seconds we have a great view of it, until it turns away.
 The scrub has plenty of Linnet (top shot) and Reed Bunting, also singing now. No sign of Grasshopper warblers though. We walk around the reserve a couple of times and come across at five roe deer and another rabbit.
 It was nice to be out early on such a mild morning. Noddle Hill is much wetter than usual and some of the paths are not passable without wellies. The fields around are flooded, but no signs of Lapwings. There seem to have been some fires, the brambles are coming out stronger and some of the deer were actually browsing the new growth. Overall 37 species for the morning.

Dawn with clear sky.

Light mist on a Greylag creche.

Doe Roe deer.

Flooded field.

Young deer browsing on a burnt patch which is sprouting.

Reed Bunting.

Roe deer and Pheasant.

Whitethroat.

Bullfinch.

Trio of greylag with goslings.

Canada and eggs. 

Female linnet.

Robin.

Song thrush.

Sedge warbler.

Noddle Hill Dawn Chorus 2017

As it is becoming customary, I headed to Noddle Hill to celebrate Dawn Chorus day, this time with tweep Helen. We arrived at this one and only nature reserve at Hull at 5:00, with enough light to see our way through the paths. A Blackcap, Blackbirds and a Chiffchaff sung from the car park, soon to be joined by nest calling Woodpigeon. As soon as we made it out of the woodland a Whitethroat sung from a hawthorn, followed by Sedge Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, Song Thrush and Linnet. We listened for Grasshopper Warbler but it wasn't to be, maybe the cool temperatures the last few days have delayed their arrival to the reserve? A local we met said they haven't been heard yet this year, but also commented on the presence of SEO on the site this winter. Must visit the site more!
 I decided to check a pair of pheasants by a field edge and focused on a pair of Grey Partridge, my first of the year and a lovely sight indeed! In the same field, and later on the paddock four Lapwing were displaying, which I hadn't seen in the site for a while.
 The persistent mobbing call of gulls 'kyeow!' alerted us to the presence of a raptor, a cream top marsh harrier, which quartered over the reedbeds and dissappeared in the distance. Not much later a Snipe flew around a few times, and another small wader which flew away before I could identify it.
 We walked around the reserve a couple of times until 8:20 and added some nice birds to my site list: Snipe, Marsh Harrier, Grey Partridge and Shelduck. We also had a Barn Owl and a Kestrel hunting around the reserve. A great total of 42 sp. To top up the morning I had my first Swift on the way home, which takes me to 160 species this year.

We spotted two hares grazing on the pastures. They hung around long enough for photos.  

Singing Whitethroat. 

One of two Shelducks on the wet pastures just outside the reserve.

Reed Bunting. 

The sun already high making a brief appearance. 

Pair of Grey Partridge. 

Reed Bunting. 

Sedge Warbler. 

Coot on the pond. 

Three Greylag families with goslings were gathered at the side of the lake. This gosling approached us confidently, but its dad wasn't so sure and threatened us, hissing. This family had this single gosling whereas... 

...this other family had 11 of two different sizes. 

Some here nuzzling to their mother.  

A view of a reedbed. 

Back in the car park we had great views of this male Song Thrush. 

In the fields, a group of non reproductive Greylags gathered to feed.