Wild at Hull: Up the River Hull. 3. Sutton Bridge to Kingswood

Saturday 21 January 2017

Up the River Hull. 3. Sutton Bridge to Kingswood

There was no wind today, the wind turbine at Croda was still, and it was overcast, but mild. Today's stage was quite short, almost a stroll (2 km each way), starting at Sutton Bridge. It is the last stage inside the City of Hull, and there is a long distance to the next bridge at Weel, near Beverley. The river bank is mainly clay covered on grass, with some sections supported by wooden beams, some in need of repair. The river was quite high, almost high tide.
The river natural meandering is preserved in this section and most of the right bank is fringed by reedbed, with some long gaps on the left bank. A few willow trees grow on the banks too. This is an area of housing estates with a few playing fields in the floodplain, one of them was being developed today, just north of Ennerdale Sports Centre. Near a small plantation, I watched a Great Tit almost dive to the brambles from a tree. This made sense when I saw a Sparrowhawk patrolling over the trees. The reservoir at Bransholme had many gulls, Black-headed, Common and Herring, some Shoveler and Mallard, a few Coots and one Pochard.
The first Great Woodpecker of the year drummed near Haworth Hall, a stately home build on the right bank on wooded grounds. A rabbit hid on the long grass at the side of the bank. I walked to the blue twin bridge on Kingswood and turned round to walk back to Sutton Bridge. A man was kayaking on the calm river (top).