Embedded Files
Oystercatcher (Eurasian Oystercatcher) Haematopus ostralegus
The Oystercatcher used to be known as the Sea Pie, ‘pie’ meaning black and white and not in the culinary sense. Oystercatchers were nevertheless very much on the local menu in days gone by. Inventories for Lord Percy's castles at Wressle and Leconfield (north of Beverley) in 1512 mention "Sea-Pyes" as being served for "Princypall Feestes" and these were probably acquired from the Humber via Hull. Nelson himself, in his 1907 The Birds of Yorkshire, is able to provide tasting notes for the Oystercatcher, stating that the young birds are excellent eating in early autumn but the older ones are a bit fishy. Boylan (1967) relates that the Oystercatcher was a scarce passage migrant and very rare breeding bird within the Hull boundary during the 1960s, with 10 records and one breeding pair. This pair was summering on The Growths, then an expanding area of reclaimed mudflats just east of King George Dock, and they were first noted in 1960. Breeding was first confirmed in 1964 when a nest was found on the cinder ballast, the eggs being conspicuous against the dark substrate though the sitting adult was well-camouflaged. The addition of dredging waste in 1964 made the site more gravely and the pair returned to breed in 1965, when another pair also nested at Paull. Pairs bred at The Growths and near Paull into the early 1970s, with singles and pairs occasionally being seen over nearby Hedon Road, although The Growths was abandoned by the late 1970s. A breeding pair appeared on the railway sidings at Hessle in 1988, returning to nest there for at least the next two years, and a pair was present around Saltend throughout the summer of 1999 but breeding was not proven.
Oystercatchers are still predominantly passage migrants in the Hull area and numbers have changed little since Boylan's time. Regular watching at Saltend in the mid 1980s revealed peak counts of around a dozen birds in May, July and August, with single figures on and off throughout the rest of the year. Things were pretty much the same in the late 1990s, with a maximum of 13 at Saltend in May 1998 and up to six now and again at other times. Birds may turn up anywhere along the Humber, however, and I saw a mobile flock of a dozen of so roaming around Hessle Foreshore in late July 1996. Some were immatures and they may have been reared locally.
Oystercatchers occur inland with some regularity and are more likely to turn up in bizarre situations than most other waders. Two were on Willerby Carrs on 3rd March 1983 and one was feeding in a ploughed field at North Bransholme on 23rd October 1992. In 1993 I heard the unmistakeable piping call of a lone Oystercatcher passing over North Bransholme in the middle of the night on no less than three occasions, these being in May, July and September. Another was seen on the Bude Road playing fields, near Sutton Park, on 27th November the same year. In January 1997 Michael Flowers saw an unseasonal Oystercatcher probing for earthworms in a snow-free patch of ground in Hedon Road Cemetery. It must have been starving. On 20th February 1998, meanwhile, an Oystercatcher was doing its best to dodge traffic on Leads Road, East Hull, as it pecked for food on the tarmac! On that basis I wouldn't be surprised to find an Oystercatcher anywhere in the Hull area, though spring or autumn along the Humber offer the best opportunities of seeing them.
Avocet (Pied Avocet) Recurvirostra avosetta
In 1837 the Avocet was exterminated as a British breeding species when the last nest was flooded and robbed on the upper Humber at the mouth of the River Trent. Avocets only returned to breed on the Humber in 1992, at Blacktoft Sands, having recolonised the country in East Anglia fifty years earlier. The Avocet was recorded from the Hull area on just a handful of occasions during its long absence as a Humber breeding species. It is now best described as a very scarce passage migrant along our stretch of the estuary.
The first 20th Century record was of a single adult spotted by wildfowlers on the mudflats at Paull in mid August 1955. On 25th March 1984 E. W. Clubley saw two at King George Dock, while S. L. James saw another roosting with Curlews at Saltend on 1st December the same year. B. Richards saw two more at Saltend on 23rd May 1989 and a party of three were seen there on 23rd April 1998.
Breeding colonies are now firmly re-established on the Humber. In autumn 2000 over 300 Avocets were present on the estuary, with colonies at Read's Island and Blacktoft Sands having a total of 71 breeding pairs between them that summer. With the recent increase in the region it is likely that more Avocets will occur in the Hull area in the future. The most likely place to find them is the Saltend/Paull mudflats during spring or autumn migration.
Little Ringed Plover (Little Plover) Charadrius dubius
The Little Ringed Plover, or LRP as it is often called by birdwatchers, only colonised Britain in 1938 and the first Yorkshire record was as recent as 1947. The date of the first bird to occur in the Hull area is not recorded for posterity, but none were found nesting anywhere in the East Riding in 1950. None of the 10 pairs nesting in the county in 1972 were in the Hull area, despite two pairs displaying near King George Dock (probably The Growths) in May 1970. A couple were seen on the Saltend mud in 1985, one in mid April and the other mid May, but none were seen in 1986 and they appear to be very infrequent there to this day.
Shallow floodwater pools on fields to the east of North Bransholme were the best place to find Little Ringed Plovers in Hull from the mid to late 1980s, with the first being two on 29th June 1985 and three on 23rd July. One was back at North Bransholme on 24th April 1987, with two on 5th May, and breeding was confirmed when B. Richards saw four tiny chicks on 14th June. Three survived until 6th July at least and the last bird was seen on 27th. The nest site was just south of the Foredyke Stream, between North Bransholme and the Holderness Drain, and while a second pair was also present nearby it is not clear if they bred. A pair returned in 1988 and up to three birds were present between 19th April and 22nd June, but any breeding attempts apparently failed. The site was now becoming a little overgrown for Little Ringed Plovers, who prefer barren, stony ground alongside water, and just a single bird returned in 1989 on 9th May.
That was it as far as North Bransholme is concerned and they have not been seen there since. Indeed, Little Ringed Plovers have been very scarce around the whole of the Hull area since that time. The only other records to reach me are of one at the Bransholme Sewage Works on 13th April 2000 and a juvenile at Castle Hill Farm, between Sutton and Swine, in late July. This last bird raises hopes that breeding may have occurred locally that year. The Little Ringed Plover is nevertheless best described as an uncommon passage migrant and sporadic breeder in the Hull area. I am sure, however, that if suitable habitat were created for them then the nesting birds would soon return.
Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula
Much more common in the Hull area than the Little Ringed Plover, the Ringed Plover is also more restricted to the Humber and the immediate vicinity. In 1967 Boylan stated that the Ringed Plover was merely a "scarce passage migrant" on the foreshores in the old Hull boundary but numbers were much higher at nearby Saltend. Breeding was also occurring in the Hull area soon afterwards, with three pairs on The Growths (east of King George Dock) and another pair on the shore near Hessle in 1970 being the first proven breeding in the upper Humber. Two pairs were also present on The Growths in the summer of 1979 and a clutch of four eggs was found there on 29th May 1985, although the site was known as Saltend Marsh by then. A pair with two young were seen on Victoria Dock on 16th August 1986 but breeding seemed to dry up during the 1990s. R. Eades then saw an adult bird acting suspiciously on an area of rubble off Wellington Street, at the eastern end of Albert Dock, in late March 1999. Return visits by Eades were rewarded by a pair displaying in mid April and an adult sitting tight, probably on eggs, by early May. Ringed Plovers are much more abundant in the Hull area as passage migrants and winter visitors and concentrations at the primary site for them, Saltend, can be very high. Spring passage is usually heavier than in autumn but peak numbers are quite variable. The build up at Saltend occurs in late April when the late winter population of typically less than 50 birds grows to as many as 400 by mid May before invariably dropping to less than 20 by mid June. Many of these May birds are of the smaller and darker Arctic race, Charadrius hiaticula tundrae, sometimes numbering several hundred, but they have generally moved on by the second week of June.
Counts at Saltend start to creep up again from mid July, with perhaps 50 birds by the end of the month. August sees another influx as the both nominate and tundrae birds pass through again on their way south. Up to 260, more typically 150, can be found at Saltend by the end of the month. Many more are scattered along the whole shoreline at low tide, up to the Humber Bridge and beyond. Numbers remain high, if not still increasing, into September but the proportion of tundrae among them is generally much lower than in spring. The autumn passage is often much more protracted than that of the spring, however, and while numbers are falling by October there can still be well over 100 into November. The late autumn period is nevertheless characterised by fluctuation. The peak November count in 1984, for example, was just 10 while the following year it was almost 150. This trend carries on until the following spring, albeit with ever decreasing numbers, with anything between five and 50 birds remaining by mid April. The following week sees the first passage birds arriving and the build up begins once more.
The Ringed Plover, then, is a common passage migrant on the Humber shore, especially at Saltend, but is very rare inland; I saw one or two at North Bransholme around 1990 but have received no other such reports. A visit to Saltend at any time of the year will produce at least a handful of Ringed Plovers, although the shoreline off Clive Sullivan Way typically holds less than 10. Breeding, on the other hand, is possibly an annual occurrence in the Hull area somewhere within sight of the Humber, but in this respect the species is clinging on by a little more than a toehold.
American Golden Plover Pluvialis dominica
On 8th September 1998 B. Richards identified a moulting adult of this species on the Saltend mudflats. This is the only record from the Hull area of this rare North American wader and it was duly accepted by both the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union and the British Birds Rarities Committees.
Pacific Golden Plover Pluvialis fulva
Like the American Golden Plover this species is rather similar to our European Golden Plover and also hails from North America, breeding farther west than dominica from Alaska and into Siberia. Yet again the Humber shore between Paull and Saltend proved its worth when a Pacific Golden Plover was spotted there on 7th July 1993. The bird remained on the Humber for much of July, mostly around Read's Island farther upstream, and this was its only visit to the Hull area.
Golden Plover (European Golden Plover) Pluvialis apricaria
The plaintive call of the Golden Plover is a familiar sound to anyone walking through farmland surrounding Hull or along certain sections of the Humber shore between late July and April.
Golden Plovers were regularly caught for the table in the old days and in 1560 the price in Hull was officially set at a penny each. At Christmas time in 1900 heavy rainfall attracted an unusually large number of Golden Plovers to floodwaters on farmland around Paull, with the local farmers taking the opportunity to make some easy cash by netting the flocks of Plovers and accompanying Lapwings to sell for food. This was the first time the practice had been carried out in the area in living memory, though farmers elsewhere in Holderness left the birds alone so that they could clear the fields of harmful insects. Flocks of Golden Plovers were common on the fields of the northern and western suburbs of the city in the 1960s, a time when the land between Sutton and Wawne was mainly inhabited by sheep, and large flocks of birds have frequented the arable and wet fields along Priory Road between Hull and Cottingham for many years. A flock of 875 was present there on 27th November 1983, 1,000 were at Well Lane (north of Willerby) in January 1984 and 850 were at Haltemprice Farm the following March. In 1996 numbers at Priory Road rose from just 10 in September to over 1,000 by late October. Another favoured location since the 1970s has been the arable fields between Bransholme and Swine village, particularly those at Carlam Hill Farm when heavy rain creates pools of floodwater. A flock of 500 there on 22nd January 1994 rose to around 1,000 a fortnight later and remained so well into March. Over 640 were still present in early April though the last few dozen left on 27th of that month. One of these birds, sporting very wide white wing-bars, was seen throughout the previous week and indicated that the same individuals were present day after day.
Golden Plovers are usually in the company of Lapwings during winter and a mixed flock of around 1,000 was near Swine on 12th December 1999. Smaller flocks of 50 to several hundred Golden Plovers can often be found on almost any ploughed field or freshly sprouting arable crop throughout the Hull area from autumn onwards, though they do not seem very keen on rape fields.
The inland flocks appear to be based on the Humber, returning there to roost or feed when the mudflats and sandbanks are exposed. Flocks have frequently been seen arriving at Bransholme from the direction of Saltend around high tide, sometimes carrying on northwards to fields beyond Wawne, and very large numbers can be encountered at Saltend throughout autumn and winter. A thousand or more begin to gather there from late July and by mid September up to 4,000 may be present, although 7,250 were counted on 21st September 1998. October sees a big influx of Golden Plovers on the Saltend mudflats and 5,000 or more are regular. An incredible 20,000 were estimated to be present on 18th October 1997, however. Up to 10,000 have been logged from November to February although numbers decrease during March and April as birds move off to breed on the moors and bogs of Britain and northern Europe. Very few are left around Hull by late April and they are all but absent in May and June.
As the Humber is the source of the inland birds in the Hull area the numbers found in the fields generally reflects the pattern on the estuary, though they often aren't seen away from the Humber in any numbers until late October or November.
Grey Plover Pluvialis squatarola
The earliest record of Grey Plovers in the Hull area comes from 1900 when an unusual inland flock was seen at Bilton on 21st December. Boylan (1967) mentions five passage records from the old Hull boundary during the 1960s. The frequent observation at Saltend between 1984 and 1986 showed Grey Plovers to be regular passage migrants in small numbers, primarily in autumn. Peak spring counts at this time were seven in May while in autumn a couple of birds in July typically built up to around 25 in October before decreasing again to perhaps five by December. Single figures were occasionally seen throughout the winter months.
Late 1990s counts at Saltend indicated that the number of Grey Plovers stopping off on spring passage had greatly increased over the previous decade. In 1997 a total of 63 were logged on 20th April and 71 on 28th May, with 94 on 22nd May the following year. The autumn peak for 1998 was just five birds during September, however, with one or two in all other months except June. This is strange, for why Grey Plovers should increase drastically during the spring but then fail to appear in the autumn is a mystery.
Grey Plovers are very rarely reported away from Saltend and the only recent records to reach me are of one flying up the Humber past Corporation Pier on New Years Day 1997 and a flock of 40 heading upstream past Hessle on 25th October 1999.
Lapwing (Northern Lapwing) Vanellus vanellus
This is likely to be the most familiar wader to most residents of the Hull area, as it is the most widespread and often most abundant member of the clan throughout the region. Lapwings were mentioned in the Wildfowl at Hull pricing list of 1560 under the name "Bastard Plover", with the sum of three-halfpence each being levied on them, and they were still being taken for the table right up to the 20th Century. In 1900 unusually large flocks of Lapwings were gathering in the fields around Paull in the company of Golden Plovers, and the local farmers began taking them with nets to sell on for food. It was the first time they had attempted this in living memory, although it was a well-used tactic for catching waders in general on the extensive wetlands north of Hull in the 18th Century. At the beginning of the 20th Century it was perfectly legal to take Lapwing eggs for the table before April 15th but there was some concern at the time that this was seriously depleting the local breeding stock. Lapwings were very common back then, however, much more so than today, and the eggers argued that taking the early clutches actually improved the fortunes of the birds as chicks from later clutches were more likely to survive. It is unlikely that many people actually obeyed the law and stopped taking eggs come April 15th, however, and in the spring of 1901 the breeding Lapwings on Saltend Common were completely wiped out by egg collectors. The stoppage of the nearby East Hull shipyards was disastrous for breeding waders on the common as people were now free to wander over it at will, though the building of the chemical works there some years later was no doubt far worse! Come the 1920s there had been a huge decrease in breeding numbers in the East Riding and the species was virtually extinct as a breeder by 1923. Numbers gradually recovered over the following decades as the tradition for gathering eggs waned. By the 1960s Lapwings were breeding not uncommonly in the pasture fields surrounding Hull, right up to the suburbs. Boylan (1967) also tells us that they were very common passage migrants, often being seen over the city centre, and fairly common in winter.
The rapid expansion of Hull during the 1970s as it sprawled over the pastureland of Bransholme and Sutton Fields, combined with the gradual switch from livestock to arable in the remaining farmland, severely restricted the breeding opportunities for Lapwings in the area. A few pairs were breeding on the wet pasture off Priory Road in the 1980s, a pair tried to nest on Saltend Marsh in 1985 and up to eight pairs were nesting on fields just east of North Bransholme in 1989. A few scattered pairs also managed to hold on in other areas, breeding on spring-sown crops which gave them just the right amount of cover to nest in. Things got even worse, however, with the almost complete change to autumn-sowing of crops by the 1990s. By spring time the sward was now too tall and dense and Lapwings were unable to nest on most areas of farmland. By 1991 there were just three pairs at North Bransholme and breeding had ceased at the Priory Road fields by 1995. By the late 1990s the only regular breeding sites within the Hull boundary were on North Carr (east of Bransholme) and south of Carlam Hill Farm (east of North Bransholme). North Carr is permanent grassland while the nearby Carlam Hill field is regularly flooding arable land that is often left uncultivated until late in the spring. Up to five pairs now regularly nest at Carlam Hill with perhaps two more on North Carr. I was pleased to find 13 pairs between them in April 2001, however, after the very wet winter had created many shallow floodwater pools and left the fields too waterlogged to sow crops.
The tumbling display flight is usually seen over the Carlam Hill fields from the middle of March. The first eggs appear in the last week of March or first week of April and chicks towards the end of the month, though they are rarely left in peace here. Aside from early ploughing and raids by Carrion Crows leading to nest failures, one of the Carlam Hill birds was shot by an airgunner on 5th May 1993. Later that month I watched a pair of Lapwings desperately mobbing a large male Pheasant that was threatening to eat the young chicks. Of 12 chicks seen in April 1994 only two could be found a month later. Despite these depredations the birds seem to return each year if they can find enough bare ground to feel secure about nesting on, and a flock of 23 at Carlam Hill on 26th June 1993 probably represented the whole local breeding population and their fledged young that year. While a few scattered pairs may still manage to rear young outside of the Hull boundary, the only indication of any success in recent years was the sight of four juveniles on floods south of Castle Hill Farm, between Sutton and Swine, on 27th July 2000.
Lapwings are much more common and widespread in the Hull area outside of the breeding season and the first small flocks start to arrive at Saltend in mid July. These are probably local breeders from Yorkshire, with the main build up not occurring until September when large flocks can suddenly appear overnight. Inland flocks begin to appear around then, with the first of 1992 at North Bransholme being 250 on 12th September. This had grown to 300 by 10th October. The first 91 on 10th September 1993 had swollen to 250 by 25th. In 1995 a flock on the Priory Road fields grew from 150 in September to 300 by October. The numbers at Saltend increase steadily as the autumn progresses. A flock of 30 on the mudflats in July 1984 had grown to 117 by 10th November before jumping to 700 two days later. Numbers reached 900 the following month before climbing to almost 1,400 in January 1985. These late autumn and winter influxes often involve Continental birds that are escaping cold weather in Europe. While these flocks often use the Humber at low tide they are pushed onto open fields throughout the Hull area come high tide. Floodwater near Carlam Hill Farm in January 1994 attracted 350 birds on 8th, this building up to 600 two weeks later. Around 500 were in fields between Bransholme and Swine in February 1998, with up to 2,000 the following winter in November and December. The largest gatherings recorded in the Hull area were reported from Saltend in the winter of 1998; 1,600 on the mudflats on 18th December grew to a whopping 3,000 later in the month before dropping back to 1,600 in January 1999.
Lapwings can clearly be very common in the Hull area during winter and on passage. Flocks can pass over almost anywhere and virtually any farmland or patch of damp ground may attract many hundreds, if not thousands, of birds. The breeding population around Hull is nevertheless small and threatened. The handful of pairs that persevere in breeding within the city boundary are clinging on by a toehold and could very easily be lost. This would be a great shame as there are not many industrial cities in Britain that can still boast the tumbling display flight of Lapwings in spring.
Knot (Red Knot) Calidris canutus
The Knot is mainly an autumn passage migrant in the Hull area, being irregular in spring and rare in winter. Boylan (1967) mentions five passage or winter sightings along Hull's waterfront during the early 1960s, but all other records come from Saltend in the mid 1980s and late 1990s.
The only records for 1984 were two flocks, of 10 and 28 birds, flying upstream at Saltend in mid November. Monthly peaks in 1985 were three in August, 138 in September, 95 in October, 36 in November and one in December. Occasional Knots were seen throughout the winter during periods of hard weather, though 90 flew east on 28th December. The only spring record for 1986 was of three birds on 3rd May and, more recently, the only record for 1997 was just a single bird on 25th May. It is not clear whether this dearth was due to a lack of birds or a lack of birdwatchers.
1998 was perhaps more representative of the status of the Knot at Saltend. Spring passage peaked at seven birds in May and 84 were counted on 26th June, a rather late date. A flock of 62 were back in late September, with 34 in October, three in November and just one in December.
Sanderling Calidris alba
Sanderlings are lovely little birds that scamper along sandy beaches just ahead of the surf like clockwork toys. They are quite common on the Holderness coast in winter and, coming from the far north, they are often fairly tame and are a pleasure to watch as they chase the waves to pick up titbits. The lack of obviously sandy beaches in the Hull area means that there is not much to tempt Sanderlings away from the coast, though a handful are usually seen on passage each year at Saltend. Boylan (1967) gives just two winter records from Hull's waterfront between 1960 and 1966 but furnishes us with no dates or numbers. As for many of the waders, the only other records come from the two periods of regular observation and reporting from Saltend in the mid 1980s and late 1990s. Numbers changed little between the two periods and both indicate a light spring passage between the last week of April and first week of June, but especially the latter half of May, which peaks at 10 to 15 birds. Autumn passage may begin in early August and lasts until late October, the maximum count being 17 on 16th September 1998. Occasional birds may still pass through as late as November.
Little Stint Calidris minuta
The Little Stint is a regular passage migrant in the Hull area, overwhelmingly in autumn but in varying numbers. Almost all sightings have been at Saltend. Boylan (1967) gives one record for Hull's waterfront in the early 1960s and a maximum of 15 were recorded at Saltend on 28th September 1970. The peak count at Saltend the following year, however, was just five on 3rd September. Lack of observation meant that the Saltend records dried up until 1984, when one was seen in mid August, while 1985 gave the first detailed coverage at that site. The first of that year was one on 18th August and this or another was present until the end of the month, with another in the first week of September, two in the second and third weeks and an impressive 16 on 22nd. Seven could be found until the end of September and six until mid October. The last bird of the year was present until 2nd November. The following year, 1986, saw a spring record of two birds on 17th May, while up to three on and off between 25th July and 12th October showed just how much numbers can vary from year to year.
Lack of coverage and reporting meant records subsequently dried up until the late 1990s. Another spring bird occurred on 1st June 1997 but it was a poor autumn with just single birds on two dates in early September. The spring of 1998 was better than most and singles were present on four dates between 8th and 24th May. The maximum that autumn was 11, all juveniles, on 14th September.
Mid to late September is undoubtedly the best time to look for Little Stints at Saltend, although autumn passage is often protracted and can last from the last week of July to the first week of November. Dozens of birds pass through Saltend in a good autumn but spring passage is much more muted; one should not expect more than a handful of birds to pass through between early May and early June, with most occurring around mid May.
Temminck's Stint Calidris temminckii
A much rarer passage migrant than the Little Stint, the Temminck's Stint tends to occur in spring rather than autumn. While around half have occurred at Saltend there have also been several inland records.
The earliest record for a Temminck's Stint in the Hull area comes from William Yarrell's 1843 British Birds, which states that one had occurred near Hull. The next was not until 1985 when one was spotted at Saltend on 14th May and another turned up on 29th September, this being the only autumn record for the Hull area to this day. An amazing ten days in May 1988 brought no less than four individual Temminck's Stints to shallow floodwater pools on the large field south of Carlam Hill Farm, immediately east of North Bransholme. The first was present between 3rd and 5th May and the second bird, clearly different from the first due to differences in their stage of moult, was present between 8th and 10th. The next day a pair of totally different birds, in almost full summer plumage, were on the same pool, remaining until 12th May. Such a run of records on little more than a few large puddles on an inland field is quite amazing and, needless to say, a Temminck's Stint has not been seen there since.
Attention switched to Saltend again in 1998 when another concentration of sightings challenged the North Bransholme record. The first was one on 24th May, with another on 29th and then another between 1st and 2nd June, but it is not clear if all of these sightings involved different birds. In addition to the above, I have also received an undated record from East Park but I am unable to provide any more details.
May, then, is the prime month for finding a Temminck's Stint around Hull. While Saltend is probably the safest bet one may turn up on just about any flash of shallow water. As the above records indicate, however, they are rather rare and extremely unpredictable in occurrence.
Curlew Sandpiper Calidris ferruginea
The Curlew Sandpiper is a regular passage migrant in the Hull area and, although numbers vary from year to year, daily counts rarely exceed 10 birds. Autumn passage is usually much stronger than in spring, with September being the prime month to find them probing in the mud among the Dunlin. Most of the records come from the mudflats around Saltend and Paull.
There are no early records from the Hull area and this is probably indicative of a lack of observers in the early days. The first documented sighting was of 10 birds at Saltend on 28th September 1970. The next were in September 1978, a year that saw an influx of Curlew Sandpipers in Yorkshire, when 16 were at Saltend on 11th and 17 were at Paull on 14th. A single spring bird was seen at Saltend on 17th May 1985 and the following autumn saw unprecedented numbers recorded there, this being the best year on record. The first bird arrived on 20th August with a peak of 67 present by 12th September before numbers fell to 20 by the end of the month, though 42 were counted on 25th. Between one and 13 birds were present throughout October and the last ones were a very late couple on 18th November. There was a light spring passage again the following year and singles were seen on two dates in mid May. The autumn passage between 5th August and 13th October was very poor compared with 1985, the maximum count being just nine.
Things were pretty much the same at Saltend in the late 1990s. 1997 saw the first bird on 29th July with singles on three dates in mid to late August and up to seven in September, the last being on 24th. There was an unusually good spring passage in 1998; the first was on 8th May while 29th had eight and one or two were still around until 6th June. Autumn passage was also a little unusual that year with singles on 21st and 28th July being rather early. A peak of 17 on 16th September was a respectable count and five were still present on 2nd October. Numbers were a little down again in 1999, the latest year I have figures for, with a maximum of just five on 17th September and only one or two on a couple of other days that month. Elsewhere on the waterfront that year, four were on Hessle Foreshore on 11th September.
Prospective wader watchers should therefore head for Saltend or the Paull embankment around mid May to look for the handful of spring migrants passing through in their lovely summer plumage. However, autumn passage between late July and late October, but especially September, would seem to be the best time to find them. You should nevertheless consider yourself quite fortunate if your day count reached double figures.
Purple Sandpiper Calidris maritima
Bridlington Harbour is the nearest regular wintering site for Purple Sandpipers, birds that are tied to rocky coastlines. The closest thing to a rocky shore that the Hull area has to offer is the boulder base to the Saltend and Paull embankment and the concrete waterfront of the Hull docks. It is places such as these that have occasionally played host to a Purple Sandpiper or two, mostly on passage.
Up to three birds were found at Paull in the 1978/9 winter, although exact dates are not recorded. The next were singles at Saltend on 14th May and 26th September 1985. Two were at King George Dock on 20th January 1987 but, in common with most other Saltend and dockland specialities around Hull, lack of observation and reporting after that meant there were no more records until the late 1990s. On 25th April 1997 a Purple Sandpiper was found in the Victoria Dock area and the most recent report came from Saltend on 5th October 1998.
Reading between the lines, it is probable that Purple Sandpipers are annual visitors to the Hull area on both spring and autumn passage, even occasionally in winter, though numbers are unlikely to be more than half a dozen per year. While the Saltend and Paull areas have produced the lion's share of the records around Hull so far, probably due to greater coverage there, any hard shoreline is likely to prove equally attractive.
Dunlin Calidris alpina
The earliest allusion to Dunlins around Hull comes from the 1560 Wildfowl at Hull manuscript, which listed the price of "stintes" at fourpence per dozen. The Dunlin is a common winter visitor and passage migrant along the Humber shore of the Hull area, with this contingent being part of the 15,000 or so birds that winter on the estuary as a whole in most winters. Dunlins are most abundant during autumn passage from late July to December and the mudflats at Saltend attract important concentrations. Large flocks of 'stints', as Dunlin were still being called, were noted here as early as 1901. Up to 1,500 could be found at Saltend during autumn in the 1960s, decreasing to maybe 400 in the early months of the year, while over 1,500 were counted along the Humber between Hull and Brough in February 1967. There appears to be some movement between feeding sites within the estuary, with a first-winter bird ringed at Spurn in October 1974 being recaught at Hull five days later. Most birds have left for their breeding grounds in the uplands of Britain, Northern Europe and the Arctic Circle by mid May, though almost 600 were still on the Paull mudflats on 10th May 1984 and 3,026 were counted at Saltend on 8th May 1998. The mudflats remain very quiet during June and the first returning birds arrive around the middle of July. Saltend numbers peaked at 1,650 in July 1997 before increasing to over 2,000 during October and November. A total of 3,156 were counted on 16th November 1998, this being the highest count reported in the Hull area.
As the passage birds leave Saltend at the end of November numbers decrease and fluctuate until spring. Around 1,000 is a typical count between December and March, though as few as 150 or as many as 3,000 may be present on some days. A spring peak occurs in April as passage birds pass through, when 1,500 or more can again be encountered regularly. Numbers are much lower along the western waterfront, from St Andrew's Quay to the Humber Bridge, with several hundred being more likely than the thousands that frequent Saltend.
Small numbers of Dunlin sometimes visit inland sites in the Hull area, typically an open field with a floodwater pool. These birds are clearly attached to the wader flocks based on the Humber, often being in the company of Redshanks or Golden Plovers, and they have been seen arriving from and leaving in the direction of the estuary. Up to four were regularly seen on the Priory Road fields between January and March in the 1980s and one was seen in a Cottingham garden during very hard weather on 18th February 1985. In 1994 a flooded field at North Bransholme attracted some of the largest inland flocks of Dunlin seen in the Hull area. Up to 95 were present in February of that year, rising to 170 the following month but decreasing to just three in April. This flock was seen to arrive from the direction of Saltend on several occasions, usually around high tide, and seemed to have followed the Golden Plovers inland as the mudflats flooded. Cold weather rarely affects Dunlins as the mudflats usually remain ice-free, but in the big freeze of early 1963 starving Dunlins at the eastern docks were reduced to eating bread tossed to them by kind dockers.
Broad-billed Sandpiper Limicola falcinellus
With just a few sightings in Britain each year the Broad-billed Sandpiper is a very rare passage migrant, yet the Saltend mudflats saw a remarkable run of records in the mid 1980s. On 22nd May 1985 S. Griffiths was looking over the waders on the Saltend mud when two small "stint-like" birds flew in from the Lincolnshire side of the Humber and landed on the mud right in front of him. Griffiths immediately identified them as Broad-billed Sandpipers, almost in full breeding plumage, before telephoning S. L. James who confirmed the identification a short while later. Griffiths and James took detailed descriptions of the birds and watched them every day until their departure on 29th May. As if this wasn't enough, Griffiths and James found a third bird on 27th, a much greyer bird than the accompanying pair, though this was not seen again. What’s more, yet another Broad-billed Sandpiper was seen on 1st June though this may have been one of the previous birds. Nothing like this group of sightings, with a trio together and possibly four birds in all, has occurred before or since in Yorkshire. The only other record for the Hull area is of a single bird, again at Saltend, found by the fortuitous S. L. James on 17th May 1986, which was also present the next day.
Ruff Philomachus pugnax
The Ruff almost certainly bred on the carrs and marshes surrounding the old town of Hull, places that now make up the suburbs, and was also a common passage migrant until the extensive drainage works of the 18th and early 19th Centuries. Local Ruffs were once great delicacies and Pennant's British Zoology (1766) tells us that in the East Riding they were trapped in nets about 40 yards long and up to 8 feet high which were placed in shallow water or on dry ground at an angle of 45 degrees, close to reeds in which the fowler could conceal himself. A stuffed bird, known as a 'stale', attracted the Ruffs under the nets and then the fowler, waiting for his moment, could pull a string and the net would fall. The trapped birds were kept alive to be fattened on bread and milk, hempseed and boiled wheat. If the fowlers were in a hurry to serve up their Ruffs, however, they added sugar, which made the birds "in a fortnight's time a lump of fat". In that state they each sold for two shillings, sometimes two shillings and sixpence. Pennant says that they were summer migrants, coming into the fens at the end of April and leaving around Michaelmas (late September), saying that they laid four eggs in a tuft of grass at the beginning of May and sat for about a month.
Ruffs are now just regular passage migrants on the Humber and also shallow floodwater pools, though never in any great numbers. Spring passage lasts from late March to May, when the ruffed males can be seen. Autumn passage begins in July and lasts until mid October, with the majority of birds at this time tending to be juveniles. The odd wintering bird is very occasionally reported: one was on the Priory Road fields on 2nd February 1984, one was at Saltend from 15th to 20th January 1984 with two on 16th to 18th, and one was at Paull on 21st February 1988. High spring counts include six at Saltend on 27th April 1985 and 14 at North Bransholme on 28th April 1987, though gatherings or more than two or three birds are uncommon. The Saltend area sees similar numbers in autumn and occasional birds alight at West Wharf and Paull, but drainage at North Bransholme means Ruffs no longer stop off there.
Jack Snipe Lymnocryptes minimus
The Jack Snipe is a rather scarce winter visitor that nevertheless turns up somewhere around Hull in most years. The earliest record is of one at Hessle "in the early months" of 1947. Boylan (1967) gave just one record for Hull itself in the 1960s but suggested that the species "possibly occurs more often". There was a cluster of records in 1985 beginning with one at North Bransholme in late February, another on and off at Saltend Marsh between January and April and a late bird at North Bransholme again from 12th to 18th May. A singleton was picked out among a large party of Snipes on Willerby Carrs in mid November the same year and another was back on Saltend Marsh in December, remaining until New Year's Day 1986. The only other sighting in 1986 was at Saltend Marsh on 27th April, another latish date. 1987 saw yet more birds at Saltend Marsh and North Bransholme, mainly in December. The remainder of the records come solely from North Bransholme as coverage petered out at other likely sites. Singles were seen there on 11th March 1989, 3rd October 1993 (the earliest autumn date for the Hull area) and 22nd January 1994. All of these last few birds were flushed from a wet field of rough grassland next to the Great Culvert pumping station on the Holderness Drain, with this field also being guaranteed to produce Snipes in season.
Snipe (Common Snipe) Gallinago gallinago
Snipes were no doubt common breeding birds on the carrs and marshes of the Hull area before the land was drained, though the occasional pair still feel the lure of their ancestral breeding grounds and attempt to nest now and again. One such pair settled down to breed at Saltend Marsh in 1985 but without success, and I watched a male performing his 'drumming' display flight over the wet pasture behind the now demolished High Bransholme Farm, near the Holderness Drain in northeast Hull, on 5th May 1991. The outcome of any nest resulting from that occasion is unknown but sporadic breeding certainly occurred in the flooded fields around High Bransholme during the 1980s, until the council filled in most of the marshes around 1990.
Most Snipes occur in the Hull area between September and late April and autumn passage sees the largest numbers. Boylan (1967) states that they were scarce within the old Hull boundary during the 1960s but a flock of 75 were seen at the Bransholme Sewage Works in January 1978. Birds were regularly seen on the wet fields off Priory Road during the 1980s, usually in the early mornings when there was less disturbance, and over 100 were on Willerby Carrs on 20th January 1984 and 20th November 1985. Recent counts there have been poor in comparison, with 21 in December being the highest total for 1999.
Accounts from Saltend in the mid 1980s make interesting reading and provide a rough guide to the seasonal waxing and waning of Snipe numbers. Autumn birds arrived early in 1984, the first being in July, though only a handful were present until a build-up to over 20 in October. Up to 35 in early November grew to 74 by 20th before dropping to a maximum of 10 in December. In 1985, the year of the breeding attempt, birds were present in every month except July. Snipes could still be found at Saltend in 1998, with up to five between February and April and returning birds being seen again in September.
Snipes are frequent in the marshy fields southeast of North Bransholme, between Bransholme Road and Foredyke Stream. Numbers fluctuate with the water levels in the fields, while frosts see them off completely, but the wet grassland has been attracting relatively large numbers since the mid 1990s. A site record of 46 on 29th October 1993 was eclipsed by 65 on 6th December 1999, although 20 or more can regularly be flushed during autumn and winter. Snipes may occur on any boggy wet field around the Hull area, however, and a winter walk through the carrs would not be complete without seeing a flushed Snipe zigzagging off towards the horizon.
Long-billed Dowitcher Limnodromus scolopaceus
The Long-billed Dowitcher breeds in northwest North America through to northeast Siberia and just 215 had been recorded in Britain up until the year 2000. A summer plumaged bird claimed by S. L. James in the Earles Road/West Wharf area at the eastern docks on 9th August 1986 was deemed not proven by the British Birds Rarities Committee. Interestingly, an unidentified Dowitcher species was seen flying over Spurn Point just over two weeks later, so maybe there was a Long-billed Dowitcher hanging around the Humber after all?
Woodcock (Eurasian Woodcock) Scolopax rusticola
The strange Woodcock, the woodland wader with crepuscular habits and near all-round vision, is a regular passage migrant in small numbers in the Hull area as well as a scarce winter visitor. A pair nested on the outskirts of Hull in 1942 but this is the only breeding record.The first Woodcocks of the autumn usually arrive from the Continent around the beginning of October, with the peak occurrence from mid month through November. Lesser numbers of birds are seen throughout the winter until another increase in March before the last birds leave by mid April. Most Woodcock sightings in the Hull area are of birds flushed from a copse, hedgerow or bushy wasteground and they can turn up almost anywhere. A surprising number are also seen in gardens and parks throughout the Hull area, including a late bird over Queen's Gardens on 21st April 1966 and another on nearby Lowgate the following October. Three were seen together in a Kirk Ella garden in February 1988, three more were in the Avenues area of Hull in 1996, two were in East Park in October 1997 with another in November 1998 and one was seen on a garden lawn in James Reckitt Avenue (East Hull) in March 1998. The cemeteries in Hull's inner suburbs regularly attract passage Woodcocks, with records coming from Hedon Road Cemetery and Eastern Cemetery, on Preston Road, as well as Northern Cemetery and the ones off Spring Bank West. The railway lines and drain banks that pass through the city also host the occasional Woodcock or two each year. Most probably occur in the hedgerows and copses around the city margin, however, and it is not uncommon to flush two or three quite close together. Six at Saltend on 10th December 1998 is the largest day count recorded in the Hull area and one or two birds are regularly seen here in season. On 8th November 1998 an injured Woodcock was picked up at Bransholme and was seen by a vet before being released at Holmpton. Others are not so lucky, however, and the Woodcock is still a favourite quarry of the rough-shooter.
Black-tailed Godwit Limosa limosa
In the late 1970s the Black-tailed Godwit was a very scarce bird on the Humber and, despite being present in all months except May and June, the number of birds on the whole of the north bank of the Humber from Spurn to Blacktoft peaked at around half a dozen. Observation at Saltend in the mid 1980s revealed similar numbers, although concentrated at this one site, with up to seven birds on and off during spring passage (April to May) and autumn passage (August to November). In the 1990s, however, there was a phenomenal increase in passage Black-tailed Godwits at Saltend, which became one of the three main feeding areas on the Humber.
By 1998 the peak count at Saltend during April and May was 25 birds, while autumn numbers were going through the roof. On 29th July 1997 there were 155 Black-tailed Godwits on the Saltend mud, this being equivalent to about 10 years worth of records in the 1970s or 1980s! By 15th August, however, there were 274 birds, this growing to 427 on 5th September before dropping to 40 by mid October. Autumn passage was somewhat quieter in 1998, with a peak of around 30 birds between September and November though 73 were counted on 28th July 1998. The numbers kept rising and an impressive 305 were at Saltend on 10th August 2000. The spring flocks are mainly made up of birds of the Icelandic race, Limosa limosa islandica, which give way to birds of the nominate race, Limosa limosa limosa, in May. Some of these nominate birds have even recently begun to breed around the Humber, though nowhere near the Hull area.
As with the Bar-tailed Godwit, a visit Saltend must coincide with low tide if one wishes to see these birds, as they do not roost on the fields around Paull as do many other waders. Instead, the Saltend Black-tailed Godwits fly off to roost at North Killingholme, near Immingham, on the Lincolnshire side of the Humber.
Bar-tailed Godwit Limosa lapponica
The earliest mention of this species in Yorkshire comes from Pennant's British Zoology (1766), in which it is stated that the "Red Godwit" was known to have been shot near Hull. Mainly a passage migrant, it is usually possible to find Bar-tailed Godwits at Saltend in every month of the year, perhaps with the exception of June.
Numbers have remained relatively constant since at least the 1980s, with spring passage peaking at up to 100 birds in May and autumn passage at 200 or more sometime between late July and October, though numbers do vary year on year. The wintering population at Saltend is generally under 20 birds and often less than 10. The spring build up begins in April, but by June there are virtually none left. Birds return from the breeding grounds around mid July, often with a rapid build up through August and into September. Very large numbers can be found on the mudflats at this time, with 190 on 14th September 1985, 290 on 1st October 1996 and 427 on 5th September 1997. Numbers drop rapidly in October and fall back to the wintering levels by November.
During the late 1970s at least, the Saltend Bar-tailed Godwits usually preferred to roost at Cherry Cobb Sands rather than join the Curlews and other waders that make the short trip over the embankment to feed and roost on the fields around Paull. This is possibly still the case, as I have not seen Bar-tailed Godwits on the Paull fields. While Saltend is the prime site for the species around Hull, Bar-tailed Godwits are occasionally reported from elsewhere on the Humber and six were at Hessle on 8th October 1999, but they have never been reported inland.
Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus
A close relative of the Curlew, the Whimbrel is a scarce but regular passage migrant in the Hull area. Whimbrels are long-distance migrants and the birds that pass through the Hull area are on their way to breed on the bogs and tundra of the far north, including the Northern Isles, or winter on the coast of West Africa. The three passage records between 1960 and 1966 probably demonstrates a lack of observers rather than lack of birds, as small numbers can be found at Saltend, on inland pools or be seen flying overhead from mid April to mid May and mid July to early September.
Whimbrels may be encountered singly or in small groups and overhead flocks are often betrayed by their enigmatic call. Only small numbers pass through on spring passage, with maybe a bird or two on the mudflats at Saltend/Paull or on floodwater or pasture at North Bransholme or Priory Road fields. Occasionally a flock of a dozen or so may pass over anywhere in the Hull area or drop down to rest and feed at one of the aforementioned sites. Many more are seen on autumn passage, with peak numbers occurring in August, and gatherings of 20 or more can be found at Saltend at this time though few occur elsewhere.
Curlew (Eurasian Curlew) Numenius arquata
The Curlew has always been a regular passage migrant and winter visitor to the Hull area and can usually be found in all months of the year if one knows where to look for them. Over 100 were counted at Saltend on 15th April 1901 and in the 1960s Curlews were still fairly common off the eastern waterfront, despite the development, and were often heard calling over Hull on spring nights as they migrated overhead. By the late 1970s a small roost had developed on 'The Growths', reclaimed land to the east of King George Dock. Around 100 birds rested here during high tide when water covered their feeding grounds on the Saltend mud. This group represented the highest density of Curlew on the whole of the north bank of the Humber at that time. Counts at Saltend in 1985 were still around the 100 mark in January and February before passage birds inflated this to over 150 in March and April. The figure then dropped to below 40 from May to the end of July as the birds moved out to breed. Autumn passage swelled the ranks again to between 100 and 170 from August to October and then back to 100 or so until the year end.
Saltend is still the best place in the Hull area to find Curlews and numbers appear to have increased during the 1990s and a count of over 300 is now possible throughout autumn and winter, although 400 were present in January 1998. On 22nd October 2000 over 120 Curlews were feeding on the Paull side of the Saltend mudflats and, as the tide came in over the mud, the flock rose to roost in the fields on the other side of the embankment, showing a clear preference for stubble as opposed to the freshly ploughed soil nearby. These Curlews always prefer to roost in stubble fields if possible and they may also feed here as winter deepens. Numbers on the Humber tend to peak between September and March, the minima being between April and June. At this time numbers can fall below 10 birds although they soon pick up again and can be as high as 50 by late July.
It is not unusual to find the odd Curlew further inland in the Hull area, especially during spring and autumn passage. Ten were on the Priory Road fields on 9th September 1983, another flock of ten were just north of Cottingham on 11th November 1985 and 25 arrived from the direction of Saltend to feed on waterlogged stubble at North Bransholme on Christmas Day 2000. Single birds are the norm inland however, and wet fields at North Bransholme or Priory Road attract the odd feeding bird while others may be seen or heard almost anywhere as they fly over.
Curlews were mentioned in the Wildfowl at Hull manuscript of 1560 under the name of "Courlewe". The price set down in those days was sixpence each, this being more than for a Mallard, so they must have been either valued table birds, hard to come by or both.
Spotted Redshank Tringa erythropus
While it is a scarce but regular passage migrant in East Yorkshire, very few Spotted Redshanks are recorded in the Hull area and it remains quite a rare bird. Spring passage in the county, from late April to the end of May, usually involves only a handful of birds and hardly any are seen around the city. One was seen at Paull on 15th May 1965, this being the only one reported that decade, with another spring bird at Saltend on 1st May 1985 and one again on 22nd June 1986. Numbers along the whole of the north bank of the Humber usually reach double figures in autumn passage, which lasts from July to November and peaks in August, and a couple of birds may occur at Saltend each year at this time. In 1985 singles were at Saltend, on and off, from mid August to mid September, while 1986 saw singles from 2nd to 8th August and again on 13th October. Single figures also winter on the Humber so it is worth double-checking distant Redshanks at almost anytime of year. Lack of coverage is probably the reason for the absence of records and the few birds that do turn up are probably easy to miss among the many Common Redshanks out on the mudflats.
One or two Spotted Redshanks may very occasionally stop off at an inland site in the Hull area, with a floodwater pool on outlying farmland being the most likely scenario. One night in October 1990, just after 10pm, a party of Spotted Redshanks were heard calling as they flew over a house on the outskirts of Bransholme. It was estimated that at least three birds were involved, though it was impossible to be sure. The valley of the River Hull appears to be a migratory flyway for waders moving through East Yorkshire, so other Spotted Redshanks must surely pass unnoticed.
Redshank (Common Redshank) Tringa tetanus
The Redshank is a relatively common winter wader in the Hull area, where it occurs on the shores of the Humber, inland floodwater pools or damp fields and along the River Hull at low tide. Several writers remarked on the calling waders that could be heard passing over Hull during the night in the early part of the 20th Century and the Redshank was surely among them then as it is today. Redshanks were breeding on Saltend Common in the early 1900s, before it was industrialised, but the closure of the nearby East Hull shipyards at the end of the 19th Century was disastrous for them. The abandonment of the area meant people were now free to wander at will and pillage the nests, and up to six egg-hunters at once was a frequent sight here in the spring of 1901. Around the middle of the century the Redshank was a common passage migrant and winter visitor along Hull's east and west foreshores and up the River Hull. Redshanks were also resident all year round in the old Hull boundary at this time and breeding certainly occurred, probably on boggy wasteground along the Humber or in wet fields along the River Hull north of Stoneferry.
The Humber estuary holds important numbers of Redshank at various times of the year and counts in the late 1970s revealed a wintering population of up to 1,500 birds along the north bank between December and March. During this time a roost of up to 100 birds had become established on The Growths, reclaimed land between King George Dock and Saltend, with the birds feeding on the upper shore of the Saltend mud. This flock accounted for around 4% of the north bank population in 1978.
Autumn passage can swell numbers at Saltend to 300 or more from September to November as totals on the estuary reach 5,500 on the north bank alone. Spring passage is also well pronounced and large counts can again be made on the Saltend mudflats: 300 counted from Paull on 23rd April 1997 had fallen to 76 a week later, with 300 again in February 1999 and no less than 500 logged on the 23rd April 1998. These figures are significantly higher than those recorded during the mid 1980s when peak passage counts only occasionally topped 200. Fewer than 20 Redshanks are present at Saltend in May and June as birds move away to breed, but numbers build again from mid July and counts of up to 100 are possible by the end of the month. Numbers are somewhat lower on the western mudflats, from St Andrew's Quay to the Humber Bridge, with perhaps 50 being a typical count in autumn. Many of the Redshanks passing through and wintering in the Hull area are probably British birds, though many Icelandic Redshanks undoubtedly occur on passage. These northern birds are often tentatively identified by their larger size and darker colour but hard evidence comes in the form of three birds ringed as chicks in Iceland being recovered at Saltend.
Redshanks are frequent inland in the Hull area and any expanse of wet mud or flash of shallow water will attract them. In the mid 1980s up to 30 could be found on the Priory Road fields and Willerby Carrs between December and February, while up to 10 were attracted to flooded fields at North Bransholme in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Wet fields on the Sutton Fields Industrial Estate were drawing in very large numbers of Redshanks in the late 1990s, with the Oak Road playing fields on the west bank of the River Hull holding 155 on 26th February 1997, 91 on 9th February 1998 and 145 on 20th November. Small numbers feed along the River Hull at low tide and can often be seen anywhere from Victoria Pier to Wawne, with the odd bird moving on to the Bransholme Sewage Works as the tide rises. In February 1998 I found a dead Redshank in the carpark of ‘PC World’ on Clough Road. It had been killed by a car, probably while it roosted after feeding on the nearby River Hull.
Breeding is now a very rare occurrence in the Hull area. Open marshes or large areas of undisturbed floodwater may tempt the occasional pair if the water lasts until spring. One pair reared a single chick at Saltend Marsh (which developed on The Growths) in 1985 and breeding was proven at North Bransholme during the late 1980s. In 1991 a pair nested in marshy fields to the southeast of North Bransholme, but they were not successful.
Greenshank (Common Greenshank) Tringa nebularia
Boylan (1967) lists just three Greenshanks within the old Hull boundary between 1960 and 1966, all on passage on the Humber shore near the eastern docks. Counts from Saltend in the mid 1980s give a better indication of the species' status in the wider Hull area - a light spring passage of up to six birds at any one time occured between April and early June while the autumn passage lasted from the third week of July to the end of September. Despite 14 roosting at Saltend during high tide on 17th August 1984, the autumn counts rarely exceeded two birds at any one time and this state of affairs is still pretty much the case today. Predictably, Saltend appears to be the prime site for Greenshanks in Hull, although occasional birds can stop by at any freshwater pool or marsh.
Green Sandpiper Tringa ochropus
Annual but by no means common, a Green Sandpiper may be flushed from a ditch, drain bank or beside a boggy pond at almost anytime of year, though most birds occur on spring passage in April to May and particularly on autumn passage from July to September.
In contrast to most waders Green Sandpipers shun the mudflats at Saltend but may still be found in the tidal channels, as well as the ditches behind the embankments. Records from Saltend include singles in late July and August 1985, 8th August 1986, 28th May 1996 and 12th August 1997. Boggy fields and wide drainage channels on the outskirts of Bransholme and between Cottingham and Hull have attracted several birds over the years. These are possibly the best places to look away from the Humber, although one could turn up in literally any wet field or ditch outside of the built up areas. Three were on flooded fields at North Bransholme, on and off, between 23rd July and 7th August 1987, with four on 4th. The occasional bird may also be found beside one of the quieter stretches of open water, such as the Thwaite Hall Lake, while one was in the company of Common Sandpipers at the Bransholme Sewage Works reservoir in September 1991.
Green Sandpipers at North Bransholme on 31st March and 30th November 1988 may have been early and late migrants or perhaps some of the growing number of birds that are staying to winter in the East Riding, such as the birds present near Cottingham from October 1984 to February 1985.
Wood Sandpiper Tringa glareola
The Wood Sandpiper is one of the rarer and more irregular waders to occur in the Hull area on passage. Just one was recorded in Hull between 1960 and 1966 but no other details are available. Wader counts on the north shore of the Humber in the late 1970s revealed just one in May and up to three in July and August, though these were not necessarily in the Hull area. One was seen on floodwater pools on a large field south of Carlam Hill Farm, North Bransholme, on 12th and 13th May 1985 and another was at Saltend in late August 1985. One was back on the pools at Carlam Hill Farm on 19th August 1987 but the only other record to have reached me is of one at Saltend again on 8th September 1998.
Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos
This wader is a regular and fairly common passage migrant throughout the Hull area and occurs in a wide variety of wet habitats from the Humber to the parks. Birds may be seen from mid April to late May and mid July to October, though autumn passage is much stronger than spring with the ratio being in the region of five to one. Peak counts usually occur in late July or early August and the greatest concentrations have been recorded on the Saltend mudflats and adjoining areas of foreshore along King George Dock. A total of 20 were counted on the dock foreshore on 6th July 1978 and again on 16th August the following year, with 13 at Saltend on 25th July 1984 increasing to 23 on 22nd August and 28 on 28th. Peak counts there in 1985 were four in May and 15 in late July, with five in April 1986 and 12 the following August. Counts at Saltend in more recent years include maximums of 11 on 28th July 1998 and 15 on 4th August.
Away from the Humber, sightings are regular along the River Hull at low tide and beside the reservoir at the Bransholme Sewage Works, with up to four together at the latter on several occasions. Birds are also occasionally seen beside the Thwaite Hall Lake in Cottingham, the Holderness Drain and rainwater floods such as those on the Priory Road fields or east of North Bransholme. Common Sandpipers are also seen annually beside the larger park lakes and three were in East Park on 28th May 1997. I have seen and heard birds over the rooftops in the streets around East Park on several occasions as disturbance eventually moves them on.
Wintering in Africa, the earliest recorded spring Common Sandpiper in the Hull area appears to be one on the Holderness Drain at Bransholme on 18th April 1992, though I imagine there have been others a little earlier than this. The last one of autumn was a rather late bird at Saltend on 31st October 1970.
While the sight and sound of a piping Common Sandpiper skimming away over the water is a welcome sight, the birds are also night migrants and can occasionally be located by their call on calm nights as they pass overhead, either singly or in small parties.
Turnstone (Ruddy Turnstone) Arenaria interpres
Turnstones are present on the Humber virtually all year round but are most abundant during autumn passage. Surprisingly, Boylan (1967) reported only three records in the old Hull boundary in the first half of the 1960s but they have always been much more frequent along the city waterfront and beyond than this implies. The rocky Hessle foreshore, where the Humber cuts through the Wolds, is just the type of shoreline that Turnstones like and the building of the Humber Bridge did nothing to put them off, with 20 counted there in January 1981. Similar numbers were occurring on the other side of Hull too, and 16 were at Paull in August 1985 while birds were being seen in virtually every month around Saltend at that time. Peak monthly counts from Saltend between 1984 and 1986 revealed up to 20 being present up to early June before most birds left for their northern breeding grounds, with just a couple of birds being seen on and off in July until the autumn build up towards the end of that month. Around 30 could be found in August, this being the best month of the year at Saltend in those days, before numbers settled down to 20 or less from September to the end of the year. Counts in the late 1990s revealed a broadly similar pattern. Reports from 1998 and 1999 indicated an increase at Hessle foreshore since the early 1980s with Turnstones being common throughout the year, except June and July, and numbers occasionally reached 200 or more. This is a significant proportion, perhaps a quarter, of the Humber's Turnstones.
There are also important Turnstone roosts around Hull and up to 40 were roosting on Albert Dock on 26th January 1999 before climbing to 220 on 19th February. A total of 280 were counted there the following December, this being the largest gathering of Turnstones ever reported in the Hull area. In April of the same year around 50 were roosting on a buoy in the Humber, numbered 28A, near the Humber Bridge.
Turnstones are very rare away from the Humber, but on 5th February 1994 I saw one feeding on floodwater pools on a ploughed field at Carlam Hill Farm, North Bransholme. The bird was in the company of large numbers of Lapwings, Golden Plovers and Dunlins and had evidently followed them from Saltend as they moved inland to feed while high tide covered the mudflats; the other waders were frequently seen to arrive from and depart in that direction over the following weeks. What may have been the same individual was back on the Carlam Hill field on 6th March but I have received no other records of inland Turnstones.
The origin of the Turnstones visiting the Hull area is hinted at by an interesting ringing record from 1974 when a bird ringed as a chick at Vaasa, Finland, on 21st August was recaught at Hull just 53 days later.
Grey Phalarope Phalaropus fulicarius
The peculier little Grey Phalarope has been recorded just once in the Hull area, with one at Saltend from 5th to 6th September 1988 being seen by many observers.
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