Nightjar to Woodpeckers

Nightjar (European Nightjar) Caprimulgus europaeus

The mysterious Nightjar probably still breeds in a few places in the west of the East Riding, mainly in the district of Market Weighton, as mentioned by Nelson (1907), Chislett (1952) and Mather (1986), but it has never bred in the Hull area. Nelson mentions that migrants were regularly encountered in gardens around Beverley at the turn of the last century and comments by John Nicholson, writing in The Naturalist in 1902, prove that this partly applied to Hull also, but Nicholson could only say that they were "few and far between" in his town house garden. The only modern record of a Nightjar in the Hull area concerns one reported in the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union's Bird Report for 1990, this being "in the centre of Hull on 1^st September". Unfortunately, a large cloud of doubt hangs over this record, as around the same time an article appeared in Hull Daily Mail that featured a 'Nightjar' found in a central Hull garden by a man and his dog. The finder did not know what kind of bird he had found so he telephoned the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) for advice. From his description the RSPB identified it as a Nightjar and advised the man to feed it moths until dusk, when he should then release it by gently throwing it into the darkening sky. Informing the Hull Daily Mail of his rare find, a reporter visited that afternoon and an article documenting the event appeared in the paper the next night, accompanied by a photograph of the bird sitting on the man's shoulder. Sadly, however, the photograph clearly shows that the bird was a Swift.

Swift (Common Swift) Apus apus

The Swift is an amazing creature. Throughout the course of its life, which can last more than 10 years, a Swift may never touch the ground. Nesting in the roofs of buildings, they feed, mate and even sleep on the wing. Young birds are independent of their parents as soon as they leave the nest and may not breed until their second summer after fledging. During this time, having no nest to attend to, these young birds may not land at all and remain in constant flight for a full two years! If a Swift ever does touch solid ground, after crash-landing, its short legs mean it is usually unable to take off again and it must be 'launched' into the air by a kind passer-by or face death. The sight or sound of the first Swift over the rooftops is the true harbinger of summer more than any Swallow, as Swifts are wholly dependent on good weather to enable them to catch enough airborne insects to be able to breed. The first birds to arrive back from their winter quarters in southern Africa are seen over the Hull area in early May, occasionally not arriving until after the 10^th of the month if bad weather holds them back. In the early 1900s Swifts were breeding in roofs around Southcoates and were commonly seen over the city. By the 1960s the main breeding area was the pan tile roofing of the North Hull Estate, where they were common, although regular breeding was apparently uncommon elsewhere. Breeding was noted in Cottingham during the 1980s and birds have probably always nested here, in the churches and old houses, as they still do today. A wildlife survey conducted by Helen Crowther in the Avenues area of Hull found good numbers of Swifts in 1996, though whether they were breeding here is unclear. Michael Flowers noted an increase in the number of Swifts seen over Hedon Road between the 1970s and 1990s and breeding is suspected in the roof of Hull Prison and old dock buildings. Any church tower, such as those in Sutton or Wawne, or traditional tiled roofing with plenty of gaps to allow the Swifts access is likely to hold breeding birds, but numbers are very difficult to judge. It is clear that the modern housing estates built in the 1970s, such as Bransholme and Orchard Park, are unsuitable for breeding Swifts as they cannot get under the eaves to nest in the loft spaces. Re-roofing of the North Hull Estate during the 1990s led to a decline in breeding numbers as the birds were shut out and known breeding sites are now few and far between, though it is likely that many are overlooked.

Feeding Swifts can be seen anywhere in the Hull area from May to August, with water or stands of trees apparently attracting the most insects and hence the birds. Up to 50 can regularly be seen over the Bransholme Sewage Works, with 100 or so over the Saltend area, while areas such as Northern Cemetery, East Park and Woody Carr near Wawne also have local concentrations. The Priory Road fields regularly attract small numbers. Early August concentrations are often the highest of the year, with up to 200 milling around High Bransholme on occasion in the early 1990s.

Most British Swifts leave the country as soon as their young have fledged and they become quite scarce by late August, though passage birds move through the area well into September. Passage can sometimes be heavy, especially ahead of bad weather, and 222 Swifts streamed south past Swine in just 20 minutes on 13^th July 1993. A sample count of an enormous passage down the eastern edge of Hull on 7^th August that same year gave 300 birds in just five minutes. The last birds are typically seen around the middle of September, with maybe a handful of stragglers over the next couple of weeks. October Swifts are rare, and the latest bird recorded in the Hull area passed over Bransholme Sewage Works on 9^th October 1997.

Kingfisher (Common Kingfisher) Alcedo atthis

The Kingfisher is another one of those birds that is widely known among the general public though few people have ever actually seen one. Even many birdwatchers only ever see them as a flash of electric blue streaking past, accompanied by a strident piping whistle. Despite their dazzling plumage, Kingfishers are incredibly well camouflaged against waterside foliage when at rest and can be very difficult to see. A good way of getting a respectable view of a Kingfisher is to place some kind of perch, perhaps a stout stick, along the edge of a drain or pond that they are frequenting. As the birds rely on suitable perches from which to launch their dives, this approach may also encourage a passing Kingfisher to stick around if the fishing is good. Kingfishers are not common in the Hull area, but they occur more frequently than one might assume and probably breed within the city boundary in most years. During the 1840s a pair of Kingfishers bred alongside the pond at Hull Bank House on the bank of the River Hull, this being the residence of the Lord of the Manor, Colonel Haworth Booth, and today known as Haworth Hall. The Hall now sits behind the built-up Beverley Road, opposite the Bransholme Sewage Works over the River Hull, but in Haworth Booth's day it was several miles out into the countryside. Despite having recently stocked his pond with yearling trout and being an ardent sportsman, Haworth-Booth hadn't the heart to kill Kingfishers and allowed them to feed on his fish as they nested in a hole in the bank. One year, however, Haworth Booth was surprised to find a live Kingfisher flapping around his grand house, apparently brought in by his son's cat. By 1895, however, Haworth Booth reported that Kingfishers were becoming rarer each year at Hull Bank House. In the winter of 1906/7 a furore erupted in Hull when the locals of Newland killed as many as 10 Kingfishers in just a few weeks, presumably for their feathers or stuffed trophies. Many people were upset that such beautiful birds, which back then brightened up an otherwise grim area, were allowed to be killed so readily by ignorant residents. Hull kept some of its Kingfishers, however, and on 19^th November 1943 no fewer than three were seen over East Park Lake. Another bird wintering in the park in December 1952 was found in a nearby garden just before Christmas after being caught by a cat. Kingfishers bred on the King George Dock until the 1960s, though there were only four more sightings in the city up until 1966. In 1984 at least one bird was present at Thwaite Hall Lake, Cottingham, throughout the breeding season and may have tried to nest. Others were seen around the eastern docks from January to March 1985, becoming regular on the Holderness Drain in that area from August to the year end, with others on Oldfleet Channel (west of Saltend) in December. One was seen on Oldfleet Channel again in April 1986, with singles at Saltend Marsh throughout September and on the nearby stretch of the Holderness Drain in November and December. The majority of sightings since the mid eighties have come from the two main drains that pass through the Hull area, namely the aforementioned Holderness Drain in East Hull and the Barmston Drain in West Hull. The water in these drains is usually very clear, particularly in the upper reaches, and this enables the Kingfishers to see the tadpoles, Sticklebacks and Roach fry that they feed on in a way that they are unable to do in the muddy waters of the River Hull. Most of the Barmston Drain sightings, from Dunswell to Clough Road, are in autumn as young birds are dispersing from their natal waters, and breeding does not seem to occur on this drain. In contrast, the Holderness Drain appears to be the stronghold for the species in the Hull area and birds have been breeding along the Bransholme stretch since at least the 1980s. A pair has usually returned to this area in March or April since 1989 and this is probably the best place to see Kingfishers in Hull as they fish along the drain or the adjoining Foredyke Stream throughout the summer. Breeding was thought to occur on this stretch in 1989 and in April 1992 a female was disturbed from a nest but high water levels flooded them out soon afterwards. Around 1990 a nest of six young was actually dug out of the bank of the Holderness Drain at Bransholme by vandals, with the chicks being simply left on the bank to die. Luckily, they were later rescued and hand-reared. In 1997 breeding was proven again on the Bransholme stretch when a pair of birds were seen repeatedly carrying fish into a hole in the bank but, again, no fledged young were seen and the nest may well have been flooded again before they had chance to leave.

Kingfishers can be seen on the Holderness Drain up to late autumn, with David Turner seeing two in November 1996 at the Carr Lane Nurseries near Longhill, although they seem to abandon it between December and early March. Wintering birds are more widespread and may turn up on any large pond, lake or substantial ditch. Lone Kingfishers have been recorded several times during recent autumns and winters at East Park and the Bransholme Sewage Works. Wintering has also occurred at Saltend, Thwaite Hall Lake and Willerby Carrs, with a bird seen at Carr Lane near the Springhead Park Golf Course in February 1981. Kingfishers are rarely seen on the River Hull itself, though they sometimes occur along the Wawne stretch, and Richard Middleton of the Hull Natural History Society saw them regularly on the nearby Engine Drain during 2000.

Bee-eater (European Bee-eater) Merops apiaster

On 27^th May 1997 Brian Fendley saw a Bee-eater flying southwest over his garden in Kirk Ella, calling as it went. This is the only record of a Bee-eater in the Hull area but, although Fendley was sure of the identification, the sighting was not reported due to the single-observer status and improbability of the bird being re-found and verified.

Hoopoe Upupa epops

The striking and peculiar Hoopoe is an uncommon vagrant to Britain on migration, particularly in spring when birds migrating from Africa to their European breeding grounds overshoot their destination in fine weather and find themselves on our shores. While most quickly move on, a pair very occasionally remains to breed somewhere in southern Britain. Although most Yorkshire Hoopoes occur on the coast there are a surprising number of records for the Hull area. On the exceptionally late date of 9^th December 1943 a Mr Turpin was watching the Starlings on his lawn in Victoria Avenue, Hull, when a Hoopoe landed on his rosebush not ten feet away. Calling his daughter, they both watched the bird for several minutes as it nervously watched the feeding Starlings, looking as if it wanted to come down to join them. The Starlings eventually turned on it, however, and drove it off. A few years later a spring bird was seen in a garden in Kirk Ella on 17^th April 1948, while in 1949 another was seen and callously shot from a flock of Starlings near Hull, though no specific date or location was recorded. A Hoopoe reported from Hull on 15^th April 1953 was not sufficiently documented to totally convince Ralph Chislett, editor of the Ornithological Report for Yorkshire at the time, and he expressed some doubt over the sighting. One in September 1953 in the grounds of a Hull factory was less controversial, staying for a full three days. There is a suggestion in Boylan's 1967 Birds in Hull of another seen in the city in the early 1960s, though it perhaps refers to one of the previous birds.

S. L. James and B. Richards found a Hoopoe along the Holderness Drain near King George Dock on 23^rd September 1985, yet again demonstrating the ornithological calibre of that corner of the city. The bird was watched bounding towards them before alighting on a hawthorn bush, raising its crest, and then disappearing into the thicket, never to be seen again. Another autumn Hoopoe was found in the grounds of Ainsthorpe School, off Willerby Road in Hull, on 6^th October 1987. The bird stayed until the 10^th, allowing observers from all over Hull to see it. There is another record of a Hoopoe from East Park for which I am unable to provide a date, though I believe it was sometime in the 1980s or 1990s.

That other Hoopoes have occurred in the Hull area over the years is highly likely. Any relatively open woodland, parkland or bushy field may play host to a passing bird, but such a find is very rare and something to shout about as they really are one of the most remarkable-looking species that Europe has to offer.

Wryneck (Eurasian Wryneck) Jynx torquilla

The Wryneck has always been a rare bird in the Hull area, even when it was a common summer migrant to southern Britain in the 19^th Century. A bird killed on the Holderness coast in 1899 was the first that Colonel Haworth Booth, of Hullbank Hall (now Haworth Hall), had heard of in Holderness. It was sent to Mr Darley, a Hull taxidermist, and he declared that it was the first specimen he had received for 37 years. This rarity has remained the case throughout the past century and there are just three modern records for the Hull area. One at Paull on 9^th September 1969 was a typical location for a Scandinavian passage migrant, these being scarce but regular on Britain's east coast during spring and autumn. Slightly more unusual was another migrant well inland at Willerby Carrs, seen early one morning in the autumn of 1984, this being followed by another "on scrub land in West Hull" on 9^th September 1999. This “scrub land” was possibly the Priory Sidings off Clive Sullivan Way.

Green Woodpecker Picus viridis

The Green Woodpecker, or 'Yaffle' to give it its country name, is a scarce wanderer to the Hull area that has been recorded on only a handful of occasions, chiefly in winter or early spring. Members of the Hull Scientific and Field Naturalists' Club saw just one in the city between 1960 and 1966. The next documented record was not for another 20 years when one was along the Holderness Drain at North Bransholme, intermittently, from 12^th November 1983 to 16^th February 1984. Another at the Holderness Drain near Alexandra Dock on 19^th April 1986 was the first for the Saltend/docks area. Crowther's 1996 survey of the Avenues in Hull uncovered an alleged sighting in 1992 and a reported yaffle, or call, heard in 1995. One was seen on Hessle Foreshore on 5^th January 1997, two were in the nearby Humber Bridge Country Park in January and February 1998 and one near Sutton Golf Course in 1999 was seen on the unusual summer date of 18^th June. Peter Bonavia's compilation of the 1981-6 survey of the birds of the Cottingham area found no sign of Green Woodpeckers despite the pasture and good stands of timber in that area. Why our corner of the world should be shunned so much by this loud and assertive woodpecker is a mystery, but it is clear that anyone coming across one should consider themself rather blessed.

Great Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos major

This, the most regular woodpecker in the Hull area, is nevertheless a fairly uncommon bird in our part of the world. West Hull and the villages thereabouts have always had more to offer the Great Spotted Woodpecker in terms of mature trees and woods, with the isolated pockets of woodland in East Hull and beyond being less frequently tenanted. Great Spotted Woodpeckers certainly breed in the Hull area, though most records are of wandering birds in autumn and winter.

Boylan's Birds in Hull (1967) mentions just five winter occurrences of the Great Spotted Woodpecker in 1960s Hull but goes on to suggest that breeding may have occurred, indicating that they were being under recorded. Birds were certainly present in year-round Cottingham in the late 1960s and were still regular near the Cottingham Recreation Ground in winter and spring in the mid 1980s, with others seen in the Thwaite Hall grounds around that time. Still in the west of the Hull area, Great Spotted Woodpeckers have been seen on and off around Kirk Ella since the late 1970s at least. Most of the Kirk Ella records were outside of the breeding season, though birds were seen in Kerry Woods during the spring and summer months in 1982, 1987 and 1993. A pair was in Chanterlands Avenue Cemetery in January 1986 and, more recently, others have been seen on the Priory Sidings, off Clive Sullivan Way, during autumn and winter in the late 1990s. Recent breeding has been noted in Western Cemetery. The 1996 wildlife survey in the Avenues area of Hull (Crowther, 1996) revealed Great Spotted Woodpeckers to be occasional visitors to that part of town despite the perception of a decrease since the 1960s. Over the river in East Hull, Hedon Road Cemetery had its first Great Spotted Woodpecker in September 1977 but birds have occurred most years since then. Breeding has occurred several times at that site, including in the summer of 2000, though M. Flowers was saddened to find a female shot dead by a heartless airgunner along the nearby Hull to Withernsea railway line in November 1998. A Great Spotted Woodpecker was calling from the Paradise Wood at Woody Carr, near Wawne, in April 1989 and it is highly likely that breeding is occurring there but access restrictions make this difficult to confirm. Two juveniles along the Old Main Drain hedgerow near Carlam Hill Farm, just a quarter of a mile from Woody Carr, in August 1990 were a strong hint that breeding had indeed occurred locally that year. Great Spotted Woodpeckers also visit the small copses and scrub to the east of Bransholme, just a little further south of Woody Carr, in most years between autumn and spring.

Great Spotted Woodpeckers have been seen elsewhere along the eastern margin of the city, such as the Carr Lane Nurseries near Sutton. There were just three records from Saltend during the well watched years of 1985 and 1986, all between September and April and all involving lone birds on brief visits. Further into town, birds were present in East Park throughout 1997 and I saw one calling from the top of a tree on James Reckitt Avenue, just outside the park, in November 2000. Breeding has been suspected in East Park for several years and another pair has nested in the grounds of nearby Holderness House, on the corner of Laburnum Avenue and Holderness Road. The loud, metallic call of a Great Spotted Woodpecker was heard coming from the tiny Trinity graveyard behind the Castle Street/Ferensway roundabout in the city centre on 24^th February 1998. That just goes to show that one should not be too surprised to come across a wandering bird in virtually any mature trees anywhere in the Hull area, particularly in the autumn and winter months. To see or hear a Great Spotted Woodpecker in the Hull area, however, particularly in East Hull, is not an everyday occurrence and a good view of one of these strikingly patterned birds is certainly something to be appreciated.

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker Dryobates minor

The first record of Lesser-spotted Woodpeckers in the Hull area came in 1944 when a pair were first seen in Anlaby on 27^th April and stayed to breed. The species was seen again in 1945 at nearby West Ella and once more on 9^th August 1946 in a Willerby garden. It seems likely that this collection of records involves the same individuals or their progeny. This tiny woodpecker is a very rare bird in the East Riding with sporadic breeding at Hornsea being their only isolated outpost anywhere near Hull since the 1940s. There is a very remote chance of finding a wandering Lesser Spotted Woodpecker in the Hull area these days, most likely outside of the breeding season, but there is tantalising evidence that occasional birds still visit every now and then. In the extreme northwest of the area covered by this book, in Fishpond Wood north of Skidby, there were several unconfirmed reports in January 1986. Helen Crowther's 1996 survey of urban wildlife in the Avenues area of Hull, meanwhile, revealed yet more unconfirmed reports. Clarification of this issue would indeed be useful, not to mention interesting, in light of the species’ scarcity in the East Riding.