Raptors

Honey Buzzard (European Honey Buzzard) Pernis apivorus

During the 1960s members of the Hull Scientific and Field Naturalists' Club recorded seven unidentified Buzzards over Hull, being unable to assign any of them to either Rough-legged or Common Buzzard. All of these birds were seen on spring or autumn passage and I can't help wondering, if they were that unsure of their Buzzards, whether they had adequately eliminated Honey Buzzard. Perhaps they thought this species to be too unlikely?

The first definite record of a Honey Buzzard in the Hull area is of one flying over the Humber Bridge on 14^th September 1993 after easterly gales. This remained the only cast-iron sighting until the incredible autumn of 2000, when a strong easterly airflow swept migrating Honey Buzzards off their southerly route over central Europe and brought an unprecedented influx into Britain. From 19^th September until well into early October at least 1,000 Honey Buzzards arrived on the British east coast, many of them making landfall in Yorkshire, and they quickly penetrated inland. The big movement through our region took place between 20^th and 22^nd September and around 15 individuals were seen in the Hull area. The first was a single bird drifting west over Bilton at 9.45 a.m. on 20^th. A flock of eight unidentified buzzards, almost certainly Honeys in the circumstances, passed over Skidby that afternoon. The next day saw two landing in trees just west of the Humber Bridge, one later heading off south over the Humber. On the morning of the 22^nd another was seen crossing the Humber from the direction of Hessle, with three more moving south past the Humber Bridge during the course of the day. How many more passed through unseen can only be guessed at, but southbound birds were so numerous in eastern counties during that period that scanning literally any patch of sky for long enough was likely to produce a passing Honey Buzzard or two. Events such as this are, in all probability, a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence and the Honey Buzzard has now returned to being an extremely rare passage migrant in the area.

Black Kite Milvus migrans

Common across much of Europe and Asia, the Black Kite is only a rare visitor to Britain but a couple are seen most years. Up to three have occurred in the Hull area, though not without controversy. On 8^th July 1979 H. O. Bunce saw what he identified as a Black Kite from his garden in Skidby. Although seen rather briefly as it was being mobbed by crows, Bunce had been the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union bird recorder for the vice county covering East Yorkshire for 14 years up to 1974 and was therefore a very experienced and respected observer. Indeed, Bunce had seen another Black Kite the previous spring along the River Derwent but, despite these credentials, the Skidby record was judged to be unacceptable by the British Birds Rarities Committee on the presumed grounds of brevity. To many people, however, including J. R. Mather in his 1986 Birds of Yorkshire, the identification appears sound. The next record was less controversial. On 26^th August 1986 S. L. James and a companion watched an adult Black Kite come in from over the Humber before passing north over West Wharfe at Alexandra Dock. This record was accepted by the British Birds Rarities Committee. The final record concerns a report of a Black Kite over Victoria Dock on 2^nd May 2001, although further details were not available at the time of writing.

Red Kite Milvus milvus

The Red Kite has one of the most chequered histories of any British breeding bird. England’s most common raptor until the 18^th Century, they were familiar scavengers in many towns and were protected for their valuable role in keeping the streets clean of refuse. Red Kites were even a favoured falconry quarry for noblemen. By the early 20^th Century, however, there were just four or five birds left in the whole of Britain and these were confined to the remote Welsh hills. The Red Kite was pushed to the brink of extinction in the name of game and livestock preservation, and the Victorian zeal for shooting and vermin control very nearly wiped them out. In fact, the rather feeble Red Kite mainly eats carrion and earthworms and does not attack gamebirds or lambs at all. The Hull area, along with much of England, probably lost its Kites sometime around the mid 18^th Century. The only ones seen after this time would have been the very occasional Continental immigrants that may have wandered up the Humber in winter, although none were officially recorded around Hull. While the Welsh population slowly increased under protection during the 20^th Century it became clear that they would never recolonise their full British range on their own. This led several conservation agencies to begin a reintroduction programme in the 1990s by releasing Swedish, German and Spanish Red Kites into the Chilterns, Scotland and the English Midlands. In July 1997 a farmer saw what he described as "a big hawk with a forked tail" over Wawne Common, northeast of Wawne itself. This may well have been a Red Kite from one of the reintroductions, as some of these birds wandered far and wide. The reintroductions were so successful, however, that it was decided to bridge the gap between them by reintroducing the species to Yorkshire.

On 7^th July 1999 a group of young Red Kites were released from their pens at Harewood House near Leeds, where they had been reared after being taken from nests in the Chilterns. One bird, bearing an orange-red wing tag on the left wing and a black tag on the right wing, remained at Harewood until early September before moving into East Yorkshire. The bird, known as ‘Orange/Black 4’ after its wing tags, gradually worked its way over to Risby Park (just north of Skidby) on 3^rd November. Incredibly, Orange/Black 4 was seen in the company of a second, untagged, Red Kite that day. This untagged bird was probably a youngster reared in the wild by reintroduced birds in the Midlands. The two of them were seen on and off around Risby Park until Christmas Eve before moving north out of the Hull area. The movements of Orange/Black 4 could be tracked using a radio transmitter attached to its tail, however, and this showed that the bird wandered as far west as Market Weighton and as far east as Burton Constable. In early February 2000 there were at least four Red Kites lingering in the area between Hull and Beverley, these being Orange/Black 4 and another wing-tagged bird from Harewood with an untagged bird accompanying each of them. Wandering Red Kites from the Yorkshire reintroduction scheme and the offspring of these birds when they begin nesting, as well as birds from further afield, are likely to be seen more frequently in the Hull area once a Yorkshire population becomes established. It cannot be long now before these magnificent birds are seen regularly over the outskirts of Hull and the surrounding villages.

White-tailed Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla

Early on the morning of Sunday 14^th November 1999 a very large bird of prey was seen soaring over Swine. It was the immature White-tailed Eagle, the 'flying door', that had been discovered wintering further east on the Burton Constable estate earlier that month. Standing two and a half feet tall with a wingspan of eight feet, the eagle had become something of a local media celebrity during its two-week stay at Burton Constable and many hundreds of birdwatchers went to see it. Half an hour after being seen at Swine the eagle was back at Burton Constable, this being its only recorded visit to the Hull area. Three days after leaving Burton Constable, however, what was presumably the same bird was seen on the opposite side of Hull at Welton on 22^nd November. It is therefore possible that it passed over the Hull area again, unseen. Despite a reintroduction programme in western Scotland it is more likely that the Burton Constable eagle was from Scandinavia; small numbers migrate from that region to winter on the southern North Sea coast and the odd one or two are reported from eastern Britain in most years. What was probably the East Yorkshire bird was later rediscovered in north Norfolk where it spent the rest of the winter in the loose company of an adult eagle.

The only other record of this spectacular species sadly comes from less enlightened times. In his 1809 British Birds, T. Bewick remarks that a White-tailed Eagle was shot at Hessle "a few years ago". At this time native birds were still nesting in northwest Britain, being more common than the Golden Eagle in many places, so the doomed Hessle bird could just as easily have been a British wanderer as a traveller from overseas.

Marsh Harrier (Eurasian Marsh Harrier) Circus aeruginosus

The Marsh Harrier only recolonised Britain in the latter half of the 20^th Century after being exterminated by the ignorant persecution of gamekeepers and collectors a century before. The population has increased over the last 30 years and there are now several pairs on the upper Humber. Marsh Harriers are also increasing as passage migrants in the East Riding and, as a result, one or two are probably occurring annually in the Hull area these days. The first modern records coincided with the increase on the Humber in the 1980s. An all-dark bird was at North Bransholme on 16^th May 1985 and a female was observed flying south over the Humber at Saltend on 4^th April 1986. Another female was at Saltend on 14^th and 16^th May 1986 and an adult male was flushed from Saltend Marsh on 5^th October. On 23^rd July 1996 I was walking my dog in the field where the Bransholme Fishing Pond now lies, between the housing estate and the Holderness Drain, when I noticed a large bird of prey slowly quartering a reedy pond in the next field. It was a second-year male Marsh Harrier, but was lost to view as it left to the northeast. Around 4pm on 30^th April the following year I was at the Holderness Drain just upstream of the Great Culvert Pumping Station, merely half a mile from the previous year's sighting, when I saw another Marsh Harrier flying low along the drain close to Carlam Hill Farm. This time it was a full adult male, a very impressive bird, and I watched for ten minutes as it gained height before passing overhead and flying off over East Hull at great height. On 22^nd September 2000 a Marsh Harrier flew south over the Humber close to the Humber Bridge, with four Honey Buzzards and an Osprey also crossing the estuary there the same day. On the evening of 5^th April 2001, meanwhile, observers looking in vain for a White Stork that had been reported on Anlaby Common were given some compensation in the form of a Marsh Harrier overhead.

Hen Harrier Circus cyaneus

The Hen Harrier is a scarce and infrequent winter visitor to the Hull area. Recorded sightings are actually quite few and far between, though several wandering Hen Harriers probably go undetected as they quarter the more remote fields and ditches each year. Most birds are seen close to the Humber and in the more open ground around the outskirts of Hull. They may turn up anytime from September to April, with a distinct trend for midwinter records.

A 'ring-tail' Hen Harrier, the generic term for female and immature birds, was at the Holderness Drain on North Bransholme on 14^th December 1984. It or another was seen again from 2^nd to 15^th January and 12^th to 15^th March 1985. Another ring-tail flew along the Humber at Saltend before roosting in Saltend Marsh on 29^th September 1985, remaining in the area until 5^th October. More recent sightings include a ring-tail near the Humber Bridge on 9^th February 1997 and another drifting northwest over Saltend on 31^st December 2000. There are also several undated records for Saltend since 1985.

Montagu's Harrier Circus pygargus

The only acceptable Hull area record of this rare passage migrant and summer visitor is of a single bird seen at Paull by S. M. Lister on 7^th June 1986. An undated record of a Harrier in Hull between 1960 and 1966 could not be assigned to either Montagu's Harrier or Hen Harrier by the observers, but was more likely to be the latter.

Sparrowhawk (Eurasian Sparrowhawk) Accipiter nisus

Few birds have gone through such a roller-coaster of fortunes in the 20^th Century as the Sparrowhawk. In the early part of the century it was fairly common around Hull, as it was over most of Britain, despite the relentless persecution of gamekeepers. In 1901 John Nicholson noted that Sparrowhawks sometimes hunted in his garden near Pearson Park, as they no doubt did throughout the area. Our own birds were supplemented by European immigrants in winter, with one ringed at Wassenaar, Holland, in August 1938 being found dead in Hull on 21^st January 1939. This bird was already migrating when it was ringed so its birthplace was likely to have been even further afield. In the 1950s, however, pesticides such as DDT and Dieldrin were working their way through the food chain and killing birds of prey wholesale. The Sparrowhawk population crashed and they completely disappeared from most of eastern England. By the 1960s Sparrowhawks were so rare in Hull that one present in Northern Cemetery for two weeks in October 1963 was a very notable occasion. In fact, the only other Sparrowhawk to be seen in Hull that decade was a flyover bird on 14^th December 1966. Both of these birds were probably passage migrants. Despite a ban on the deadly pesticides they continued to linger in the environment, accumulating in Sparrowhawks' bodies up to lethal doses or rendering their eggshells so thin that they cracked before they had chance to hatch. Throughout the 1970s the situation remained the same around Hull, with the only Sparrowhawks to be seen being the occasional migrant. One such bird flew west over the city on 26^th September 1972. The upturn in fortunes came at the end of the 1970s, with the arrival of a Sparrowhawk at Kirk Ella in October 1979. The bird was seen again in December and there were more sightings in nearby Kerry Woods in August 1980, April 1983 and August 1984. One was also seen at Andrew Marvell School on 13^th February 1980. Up to two birds were hunting at Saltend at the end of 1984, with two in June 1985 and three different birds from August to December. Birds were also seen at Saltend throughout 1986, including a pair in February, but there was no evidence of breeding. Between 1981 and 1986 sightings were becoming increasingly common at Willerby Carrs and Priory Road fields in winter. In November 1985 a pair were present at Kirk Ella. Sightings continued to increase in the west of the Hull area and by 1989 Sparrowhawks were regularly seen in that district. Birds were also spreading into East Hull and became a regular sight at North Bransholme by 1988, although they often disappeared between April and September to breed in some unknown location.

In 1991 I was shown a Sparrowhawk egg that a lad had taken from a nest full of chicks at the Humber Bridge Country Park. The egg couldn't be 'blown' and clearly contained a now dead chick almost ready to hatch. Aside from strongly pointing out the mindless ignorance of the lad's act there was little more of benefit that could have been done. Around the same time I was brought a dead juvenile bird that was found at Ings Plantation, where Kingswood is now being built. The expansion continued, however, with the first birds arriving at Hedon Road Cemetery in the early 1990s and breeding occurring in the vicinity from 1995 onwards. Recent breeding has also been recorded around the railway sidings behind Calvert Lane and the Bransholme Sewage Works Plantation/Haworth Hall area. Breeding is probably occurring in East Park and many of the woods and copses around the outlying villages. A pair was displaying over the Humber Bridge Country Park in April 1999, indicating continued breeding at this site. By the mid 1990s it was possible to see a Sparrowhawk almost anywhere from Queen's Gardens to Hessle, Wawne, Paull and all areas inbetween. In the winter of 1996 no less than three different Sparrowhawks, recognised as an adult male, adult female and juvenile male, were raiding my North Bransholme bird table. Their cunning and determination was often breathtaking and several experiences are worth repeating. One afternoon the familiar alarm calls of the garden sparrows alerted me to a female Sparrowhawk clinging to a chickenwire fence that bordered a neighbour's privet hedge. On the other side of the wire was a Dunnock, too scared to break cover. The Sparrowhawk was hanging by one foot as it reached through the wire with the other to make repeated lunges at the potential victim. The Dunnock eventually escaped after about five minutes of frantic dodging. On another occasion I opened my front door to be greeted by a Robin flying directly at me at head-height, only to disappear over my shoulder and into the front room. In hot pursuit, about three feet behind it, was a Sparrowhawk that made a right angle turn at the very last second. It was so close I felt the draft from its wings on my face. The Robin was later released unharmed. Finally, early one winter morning I had been quietly waiting at a bus stop (the lamp post type without a shelter) across the road from my garden when, around a foot from my head, a Sparrowhawk darted past, flew 30 feet across the road and into my garden whereupon the small birds exploded in panic. The Sparrowhawk had actually used me, in conjunction with the lamp post, as cover to screen its approach across open ground and launch a surprise attack.

Common Buzzard Buteo buteo

Common Buzzards were exterminated from lowland Yorkshire by the mid 19^th Century. By 1900 they were very rare birds around Hull, with those that did occur being just occasional passage or winter migrants. In November 1905 a gamekeeper shot a Common Buzzard with a 4 feet 2 inches wingspan as it flew over Woody Carr near Wawne. That was the only bird reported from the Hull area in the first half of the 20^th Century. Others probably went unrecorded, however, and there were seven records of unidentified Buzzards over Hull between 1960 and 1966. These birds were described as either Common or Rough-legged Buzzards although, in my opinion, Honey Buzzard was not eliminated either. Common Buzzard was probably the most likely in many or all cases, however. On 23^rd July 1972 a Common Buzzard flew north over Kirk Ella. This was a very odd midsummer date that raises a few questions about exactly where this bird had come from. Another unidentified Buzzard was seen over Wyke Junior High School in West Hull on 13^th September 1979; the time of year was right for either a Honey Buzzard or Common Buzzard but probably too early for a Rough-legged Buzzard. Again, Common Buzzard was more likely but we'll never know for sure. On 18^th January 1986 S. L. James and others watched another Common Buzzard making its way slowly east over the Saltend area. Common Buzzards, having been banished from lowland England for so long, have made notable inroads into eastern counties since the late 1990s. Small numbers are now breeding sparingly in many eastern areas and it has been suggested that the East Yorkshire Wolds may have been hiding a pair or two in recent years. Breeding has also been suspected in mid Holderness. It is pleasing to say that Buzzards look set to reclaim their long-lost territory throughout the region within the next few decades, as long as they are left in peace.

Rough-legged Buzzard Buteo lagopus

There is just one definite early record of this very rare winter visitor from Scandinavia in the Hull area, with one being taken near the borough of Hull in late autumn 1903 during an influx of Rough-legs into Britain. Boylan (1967) reported seven unidentified buzzards over Hull between 1960 and 1966, however, which he was unable to assign to either Common or Rough-legged. The former is much more likely in all cases.

Osprey Pandion haliaetus

Ospreys originally bred throughout Britain but persecution led to extinction from their final Scottish outpost in 1916. They returned to breed in Scotland in the 1950s and now number over 130 pairs. An English reintroduction scheme at Rutland Water and a naturally colonising pair in the Lake District both produced their first young in 2001. Ospreys are summer migrants from West Africa and most Scottish birds, as well as many from Scandinavia, move south through Britain before crossing over to the Continent.

Ospreys have been seen migrating over the Hull area on many occasions and increased in frequency as the Scottish population grew. Occurrences are probably annual now. Spring records began with one at Saltend on 6^th May 1990, with another flying west over Kirk Ella on 31^st March 1994 and then one over Bricknell Avenue on 17^th April 2001. There was a midsummer record of one flying east at Saltend on 4^th July 1986.

All autumn records have been in September. One was over Kirk Ella on 18^th September 1976 and I watched another from my window on 22^nd September 1991 as it circled for ten minutes over fields east of North Bransholme before heading off south over Hull. One flew west over the Humber Bridge on the morning of 9^th September 2000 and another flew south there just under a fortnight later on 22^nd. In addition, there are two or three undated records from the city centre and Witham areas of Hull since the 1970s. An interesting event concerns an ailing immature Osprey, almost certainly a Scandinavian bird, coming aboard a trawler off Scotland in August 1963 and remaining on board until it reached Hull. It was taken into care before being released.

An Osprey may be spotted migrating anywhere over the Hull area in both passage periods, from late March to early June and late August to early October, and they can occur literally anywhere. Several of the records given above have been seen from the gardens or windows of lucky observers, only going to show the benefit of keeping a sly eye on the skies wherever you are during migration time.

Kestrel (European Kestrel) Falco tinnunculus

The Kestrel was the Hull area’s most common bird of prey for much of the last century but has probably been overtaken by the Sparrowhawk in recent years. Kestrels are still common in the area, however, often seen hovering over any patch of rough grassland, carr, drain or railway embankment from the outlying farmland to the industrial quarter of Hull. The usual prey is small mammals, especially in the outlying areas, but in the more urban habitats they are not averse to catching small birds in a Sparrowhawk-style ambush.

Kestrels were breeding in Wincolmlee and the Hull parks in the 1960s and were regular at Northern Cemetery in autumn and winter. Other pairs have been breeding around the eastern docks and Hedon Road Cemetery since the 1970s, usually on a disused water tower, and they are present all year in this area. What may have been another pair was breeding around Saltend in the mid 1980s and it is still possible to see Kestrels there. There were several pairs around Cottingham and northwest Hull in the 1980s, including the Sutton Fields Industrial Estate, and nesting was regular in the roof of the Kinnersley factory into the early 1990s at least. Even now, hunting birds are frequently seen over the rough grassland off Cleveland Street, especially around the motorcycle track, despite recent development and the loss of grassland in that area. Up to three pairs breed in old Carrion Crow nests or tree holes to the east of North Bransholme, with a regular pair at Carlam Hill Farm, another at High Bransholme Farm and often another around Castle Hill Farm. There is still much excellent habitat for them on this eastern fringe, with plenty of rough grassland and small copses. A pair bred on top of the Reckitt and Coleman building, on Dansom Lane, in 1990 and 1991. They were found to be using pockets of rough grassland for catching voles and mice, although half of their diet consisted of Blackbirds, House Sparrows and Starlings. I occasionally saw what was probably one of this pair diving at Feral Pigeons and Starlings at the top end of Holderness Road. Other recent nesting sites include the Bransholme Sewage Works, Priory Road fields, Hall Road area, the Priory Sidings off Clive Sullivan Way, Humber Bridge Country Park, Hull’s Avenues and Dunswell Road in Cottingham. A pair at this latter site in 1999 delayed construction workers who wanted to remove the old pylon they were nesting on. Breeding is therefore widespread throughout the Hull area and one should not be too surprised to find a Kestrel nest in any part of the city or the surrounding farmland and villages.

There is some evidence that our local Kestrels are joined by passage migrants in spring and autumn, with up to six noted at Saltend during April and September in the 1980s. Elevated numbers of Kestrels can also be seen in July when the young leave the nest and family parties gather on a pylon or tree. Patient observation is often rewarded by views of the youngsters clumsily practicing their hovering, a skill it appears to take some time to learn!

Red-footed Falcon Falco vespertinus

Up to 10 Red-footed Falcons, vagrants from eastern Europe, occur in Britain in an average year and they always quicken the pulse of their lucky finders. One such observer near the Humber Bridge on 19^th August 1987 was disappointed, however, as the record was not accepted by the British Birds Rarities Committee.

Merlin Falco columbarius

The nearest breeding Merlins to the Hull area are to be found on the North Yorkshire moors and the Pennines, and they only visit the low ground in our region during the winter months. At this time of year the native stock is supplemented by birds form Northern Europe and Iceland that visit East Yorkshire in variable numbers. Merlins are rather easy to overlook, however, being fast, low-flying and looking superficially like a kestrel from a distance. Occurrences are rather poorly documented around Hull due to birds being overlooked, unreported or sightings being lumped in with accounts for Holderness or East Yorkshire as a whole. Most Merlins in the Hull area appear to be seen between September and April but they are rather unpredictable in occurrence and can nowhere be described as regular or common. Any open ground may attract them, from the farmland to the estuary shore.

Just one Merlin was reported in the old Hull boundary during the 1960-66 Hull Scientific and Field Naturalists' Club survey. The next report did not come until 1983 when one was seen at Willerby Carrs on 22^nd January. A female carrying prey flew from Saltend over the estuary on 13^th January 1985 and another was at Wold Road on 31^st January. An immature male was at Saltend from early February to early April. A female was back in the Saltend area from late September 1985 to early March 1986, while a male flew in from the south on 22^nd November 1985. Another male was seen near Saltend in February and March 1986, with a female again in September and December and two on 27^th of the latter. One was at Kerry Woods, Kirk Ella, on 19^th September 1992 and it was a good autumn at North Bransholme that year, with a large stubble field near Carlam Hill Farm attracting flocks of Linnets that, in turn, brought in the Merlins. The first was a lone bird seen flying east on 3^rd September, while two females or immatures were over the stubble field on 23^rd October. One bird remained throughout November.

An immature was perched in an area of burnt rough grass at High Bransholme, near the Great Culvert Pumping Station on the Holderness Drain, on the exceptionally early date of 12^th August 1996. It left to the southeast in the direction of Saltend. A male was seen in much the same place on 20^th November 1998 and a female was at Saltend in October and November. Two were there on 10^th December and one was seen the next day. Saltend seems to be the most regular site for Merlins in the Hull area, with the combination of rough grass, open fields and shoreline being classic winter territory.

Hobby (Eurasian Hobby) Falco subbuteo

Around 1872 W.W. Boulton regarded the Hobby as being a fairly frequent summer visitor to the Beverley area, having received several locally-killed birds from the River Hull over the years. They were no doubt occurring as passage migrants in the modern-day Hull area at the same time. As with virtually all other birds of prey, however, Hobbies were shot on sight by gamekeepers and farmers and soon became very rare. This culture of killing anything with a hooked beak in the name of 'pest control' continued well into the middle of the 20^th Century. Hobbies were not reported again in the Hull area until 1980, when one passed over Kerry Woods at Kirk Ella on 23^rd June. One was chasing House Martins at Hull Marina on 29^th July 1985 before departing to the west and another spent two hours at Saltend Marsh on 21^st August the same year. One passed over Saltend and Paull on 18^th May 1986 with others at Saltend on 21^st June, 19^th August and 6^th September. A Hobby was also seen perched at Kerry Woods on 20^th May that year. Yet more were at the eastern docks on an unspecified date in 1987 and “in Hull” on 25^th August 1988. On 3^rd September 1991 I saw an unmistakeable Hobby pass overhead at the Bransholme Sewage Works and, two days later, I saw what may have been the same bird chasing Swallows over North Bransholme. A Hobby spent over a month around Bransholme in the summer of 1993. I first saw it as it swooped low over the reservoir at the Bransholme Sewage Works in hot pursuit of House Martins on 20^th June. On 3^rd July it was seen hanging on the wind over the plantation between the Sewage Works and Thomas Clarkson Way. I watched it for an hour as it picked insects off the leaves and chased any passing bird from Woodpigeons and Swallows to the resident male Kestrel. On 11^th July what was probably the same bird was seen sat on a tussock near the Holderness Drain at Low Bransholme, east of Noddle Hill Way. It flew off in the direction of Bransholme Sewage Works. On 24^th July it was seen for the last time as it flew northwest over North Bransholme. On each occasion the bird was noted to have a distinctly brown tail, possibly denoting a female or immature. On 12^th May 1994 I was lucky enough to see another Hobby, chasing Swallows again, over playing fields off Bellfield Avenue in East Hull. On 12^th May 1997 a Hobby was seen over scrubland in West Hull with another at Kerry Woods again on 23^rd September.

Mid May to late June appears to be the most likely time to come across a spring Hobby in the Hull area, with autumn birds occurring from August to late September. The occasional Hobby may be seen during midsummer, however, and this might encourage one to believe that the recent northward creep of breeding birds in Britain might spread to the Hull area at some point in the future. In the meantime, Hobbies are undoubtedly increasing as passage migrants in the Hull area and it is well worthwhile keeping a close look out for this most graceful of British falcons.

Gyr Falcon Falco rusticolus

Sadly this huge and spectacular falcon has never occurred in a totally wild state in the Hull area, although there are two records tempered with human interference. The first was in October 1954 when a probable Gyr was at large in Hull after escaping from captivity. The bird was later seen at Beverley and Flamborough, on both occasions with a tether around its leg. It probably survived in the county for quite some months and is included here for completeness. The second was a wild bird that was brought into Hull on board a ship on 11^th August 1964. The bird, a juvenile, alighted on board in the Bear Island region of the Arctic and was either captured or fed by the crew until it reached Hull. It was then taken to the Hull RSPCA who released it at Bempton on 12^th August.

Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus

Most people have heard of the Peregrine and to see one hunting is one of the most impressive sights in the natural world. The power, speed and agility of their stooping dives (which can reach 180 mph) and level-pursuits really does leave you open-mouthed and wondering how anything can escape when they mean business. Indeed, I have only once seen a Peregrine beaten by its quarry.

Peregrines occur in the Hull area more often than one might imagine and there are records going back to the late 19^th Century. The first documented occurrence appears to have been that of an adult bird shot at Sutton in early 1895. In the last week of October 1924 a pair were frequenting the area around Paull and eastwards to Stone Creek. The female of the pair was seen to make several kills, including a Curlew and a Partridge, with the smaller male in attendance. On 21^st December 1930 a male was killed at Sutton but records almost totally dried up by the 1960s - legal protection was removed during the Second World War in order to give safer passage to homing pigeons and the toxic effects of pesticides in the 1950s and 60s finished off most of those that were left. Despite these pressures a Peregrine was seen over Hull some time between 1960 and 1966 and an adult was observed over the Hull University campus, Cottingham Road, on 28^th November 1973. As with the Sparrowhawk, the recovery was well under way by the 1980s and Peregrine records increased in the Hull area as a result. An adult male was at Saltend on 12^th January 1985 before leaving to the northwest over Hull, with an immature male there from 20^th January to 5^th March. An immature male flew upstream past Saltend on 28^th December that year and what was possibly the same bird was chasing Feral Pigeons over Hull city centre on 29^th January 1986. Later that year a juvenile flew past the Saltend Chemicals Plant on 26^th July. Other Peregrines were seen over Hull on 17^th March and 20^th December 1987. On 19^th March 1994 I was observing a flock of Golden Plover in a flooded field at North Bransholme when they exploded into the air in sheer panic as an immature Peregrine dived low into them from the east. As the plovers scattered the Peregrine circled for a while before leaving in the direction of Saltend. I don't know about the Golden Plovers but it certainly set my heart racing! A Peregrine was at Saltend on 21^st May 1996 and on 25^th July a juvenile flew upstream over the Humber just west of the Humber Bridge. As with the 1986 juvenile this bird posed an intriguing question as to its origins and birthplace. Another Peregrine flew west over Victoria Dock on 5^th January 1997 and an adult caught a Black-headed Gull over my North Bransholme garden on 23^rd August 1997 before carrying it off southeast. Visitors to Pickering Park were no doubt similiarly impressed by the bird flying overhead on 28^th August 1998. The Humber bias was apparent once again when a Peregrine was seen attacking a Herring Gull over the Humber Bridge in November 1998. Another was at Paull on 10^th January 1999.

The majority of Peregrine sightings in the Hull area have occurred in winter but late summer records are not unusual. The only time when it is rather unlikely to see one is during early summer when they are away breeding on their cliffs and crags. While many of the more recent local sightings have been around the estuary a significant number of Peregrines have been seen inland over built-up districts. Records are increasing and their current status is probably best summed up as scarce winter visitor and passage migrant.