The Viking gulls

A flock of about 100 common gulls winters in the park, they arrive at the end of September/October and are around most of the time until the end of March. They are very excitable and their squeals provide the background noise of the park in winter, especially when visitors empty their bags of bread by the side of the pond. A cacophony of calls and chases ensues while the gulls pick the bounty fast, before the ducks and geese have the chance to react.
 Is not only bread though for the park gulls, there are very quiet times, especially during the middle of the week, and the gulls will move onto the grass, looking for worms and other invertebrates, watching the ground intently as they walk.

 In wet days they can be seen 'dancing' (foot-paddling) to entice the worm to the surface of the soil. Like so.

Then they spend some time just flying in circles over the park, in a flock, I am not sure if in preparation to roost, although I am not sure where they spend the night.

A quiet moment in the flock, with preening, snoozing and yawning by the pond.

This is an adult one on winter plumage. Note the yellow bill with faint dark ring near the tip and the yellow legs, and spotty head.

on the 3rd of February this adult looked very nice on the snow, still in winter plumage.

On the 20th of February this adult had an almost white head and a thin red eye ring.

A close up of an adult's head showing mainly yellow bill, red ring. Note the scruffy back of the head, showing the ongoing moult towards a completely white head plumage.

I find them endlessly fascinating and can't stop myself from photographing them, and they are often co-operative, as they are so used to people. When I noted that the flock disappeared each year, one day in March or April I wondered where they would go in the summer, to breed. I need wonder no longer, these gulls come from Bergen, in Norway.
While watching them one day in January I found a couple of Common Gulls with plastic colour rings. I spent some time looking at the legs of many gulls since that day, but I didn't spot any other ringed ones. I managed to get photos where I could read the code and submitted the samples to Euring. I got an e-mail the same day from Morten Helberg with details of their ringing and recoveries. Since then, I have seen the ringed gulls a few times, and managed to get their portraits.

This is J2EX, sex unknown ringed its first autumn (1st calendar year in 2013) which means now should be in its 3rd calendar year (almost adult), although the bill and legs are still grey/bluish and doesn't have a red eye ring or prominent wing 'mirrors'. This is its ringing/recovery history:

15.09 2013 Byparken, Bergen, Hordaland, Norway
17.09 2013 Tveitevannet, Bergen, Hordaland, Norway
20.09 2013 Tveitevannet, Bergen, Hordaland, Norway
21.09 2013 Byparken, Bergen, Hordaland, Norway
14.06 2014 Kilnsea, Humberside, Great Britain
14.01 2015 Pearson park Hull, Humberside, Great Britain (the photo above is from yesterday, also observed 22/01/2015)

This is JV47, Sex male age, 1 cy when ringed last October, so it's in his first winter. He still called like a gull chick when feeding, and adopted this hunched chick posture. Legs and bill base pinkish.

This is it's ringing/recovering history:
05.10 2014 Tveitevannet, Bergen, Hordaland, Norway
(in the month after it was ringed the flock came back to Pearson Park)
14.01 2015 Pearson park Hull, Humberside, Great Britain 

Looking at photos yesterday, I found another ringed common gull, from the 20th of February. It looks like a first winter bird. The code reads JR20. I will update the post when I hear back from Euring.

It is very nice to know where these gulls spend the summer, but something equally rewarding is to know them as individuals. The rings have allowed me to recognised them in my visits to the park. I will look forward to them coming back in years to come, as gulls can be long lived. A typical Common Gull lives for 10 years (the record is 27).

Great spotted woodpecker chiselling nest

I heard the 'chip!' call of the woodpecker while walking by the park today. A female flew to the top of a horse chestnut and then flew into the large trees by the side of the pond. When I relocated her she was on the trunk of a large ash, and, as woodpeckers do she climbed behind the trunk out of sight. I moved to a better location, with the sun on my back and there she was, maybe 8-10 m high on the trunk just under the main branches, expanding a hole in what appeared to be healthy wood, pulling woodchips away.
 Woodpeckers will dig a new nest every year, which provides suitable nesting holes for other hole birds. Both male and female work together in this hard task, that might take them three or four weeks to complete.
She worked away while I took photos, and filmed her, and she was still working when I left.

The female on the high branches of a horse chestnut, with buds about to burst

most of the shots I took of chiselling are blurry, but this one captured the moment of impact, and the closed eyes of the woodpecker at this point.

A short clip follows.

Stock doves courting

I was lucky this morning to watch a pair of Stock Doves courting from a good vantage point. They usually stick to high branches in the trees in the park, only rarely coming to the ground. Today I heard a male's booming call from the trees opposite the pond, and I climbed to a small hill on the other side. My new camera is heavy and I still need to get used to its weight, so I eventually leaned against a tree trunk to steady myself. The male crouched on a branch bowing parsimoniously at the same time that fanned its tail - very similar to woodpigeon's courtship -, facing the female. Its neck, inflated with air showed while cooing showed its green iridescent neck patch, which looks much larger than when the dove is at rest (bottom photo).

A side view of the male singing

The male looks at the female about to land

She greets her with this lovely display

She eventually lands next to him. This photo is not brilliant, but I like how the neck patch is actually ruffed, something I had not seen before.

More male bowing, fanning tail, showing its iridescent neck patch.

A stock dove at rest, from 27th Feb. Compare the size of the neck path.

The Greenfinch song

Few sounds are more evocative to me than the song of the Greenfinch. It brings back memories of trying to work out bird songs from scratch when, as a young teenager I started to watch birds in my local park. The Greenfinch's loud, distinctive cicada-like song carries longer than the beautiful, canary-like warbling notes that alternate with it. It took me attempts to finally find the source of the song, high on the canopy of a pine trees they used as song post. Later I also watched their display flight, with slow-motion butterfly-like wingbeats high over the trees, as they sing.
 Greenfinches have started to sing in the last couple of weeks and as I realised there is no Greenfinch post in the blog, today is the first step to amend that. I took the top shot today on my way to work, as I heard the finch calling. Listen to its song in this Xenocanto recording.

Aerial song

From a Hawthorn

A pair in an Ash tree with male singing.

Busking Mute swans

In a visit to a local fishing lake, we find the swan family, the pair and a young from last year. The male kept his wings arched high over his body, staying between the shore, where several dogs were running around, and the other two swans. This behaviour is a mild form of threat display called busking (yes, another type of street performance if you like). Swans not only use it to deter potential predators, but also as a threat against intruding swans, before lunging or chasing them out of their territory. In its highest intensity, the display involves the swan arching its neck, and keeping its head low under his wings, while they lunge forward to the intruder swimming fast, propelling themselves with both feet at the same time. It is a most impressive sight.

Male swan busking a juvenile, note the front wave he is creating! (North Cave wetlands, 3/3/14).

The young one has a pink, instead of orange bill, and will probably stay around until the pair start nesting in the spring.

Today, at some point the dogs got too close to the shore and the female approached...

...also displayed. 

The male, or cob, swan.

Four calling pigeons

I had this little project in my mind for a long time, to get photos of all four local pigeon species as they call. What I had not anticipated was that I would do in in a single day in the space of 15 minutes, all in a very small area. All pigeons are now in full blown song and courtship. When I spotted the Woodpigeon above, he wasn't calling, it appeared to be just enjoying the sun, but as I walked away, I heard it calling and I turned back. The noise of the roadworks didn't stop it calling.

It is unusual to see a Collared Dove calling in the park.

Not much further away, a Stock Dove started calling. This ash is their favourite tree, and most of the time there are two or three there. Stock doves are quite timid, and they call from high vantage points.

To end the series, it wasn't too hard to find the courting Feral Pigeons, there were plenty around. This male and watchful female were on the roof of the cafe at Pearson Park. 

Pinkfeet together

At East Park this morning we came across a Greylag flock by the cafe lawns. I spotted the Pinkfoot, and then another, which surprised me. There has been a resident Pink-footed goose in East Park for a year now, a young bird flocking with Greylags. In November, I had spotted a different bird (and blogged about it, see here), also with Greylags at Pearson Park. Could these be these two birds that had got together?
 I looked carefully at my photos and saw that they have distinct bill markings, one with a very small mark close to the nail, the other with a larger U shape mark. The older bird, with the U shape mark (I'll call her Stripe) appears to the the East Park resident. The younger bird, still with tiny body feathers has a small bill patch and matches the bill marks - and tiny white feathers around its bill - of the one that was at Pearson Park. Despite being younger, this bird was bigger and has a larger head, with a Roman profile and a thicker neck and a heavier head, so it might be well a male. Since last saw both birds I was impressed how much more grown up they look. Their neck stripes are better delineated, their head shapes less gentle, and they have a more silvery backs as they have moulted their juvenile feathers. The Pinkfeet stayed near each other in the flock, but one lunged at the other when it got too close. At some point the flock got wary of a radio controlled car, and after a crescendo of cackles, they flew off.

'Dot' Pearson Park 20/11/2014

East Park, today. A male?

'Stripe' East Park 14/2/2014

East Park, today, a female?

Dot's juvenile feathers very noticeable in the flanks, with some adult feathers, darker and silvery just over his legs.

Stripe seems to have a full adult plumage now.