Leven Canal

Another long, hot sunny day with a clear blue sky here on Yorkshire's East coast last Sunday. I figured a walk along the disused Leven Canal to the River Hull would be nice. I could also try and see the Common Crane that has been seen over the last fortnight. It is a quiet place to wander. Well, it is when you get away from the dog walkers that are quite numerous at the town end of the canal.

The last time I walked along the canal was last year as Spring was turning to Summer, so I wanted to see what would be different now everything was fully grown.

As I approached the canal path I could see that the reeds were very high - so high that seeing the canal itself was impossible for long stretches. Although this was a little tedious at first I soon realised that there was plenty to see and it wasn't really necessary to see the water itself. Flowers, dragonflies, damselflies, birds and butterflies were in abundance 😊

Tall vegetation along the canal

The first bird I heard was a Sedge Warbler, and they accompanied my walk along the whole length of the canal. I never seemed to be far from a singing Sedge Warbler. Reed Warblers were quite numerous too but as usual they didn't show themselves very often. The second most numerous bird seemed to be Yellowhammer - I counted 12 along the canal and adjoining fields.

Yellowhammer

Dragonflies were also everywhere. My id skills aren't up to scratch on these beasts unless they settle for a reasonable amount of time but those I did get included Emporer, Southern Hawker, 4 Spotted Chaser and Brown Hawker.

4 Spotted Chaser dragonfly

I saw at least 3 small family groups of Whitethroat and heard just one Lesser Whitethroat. Blackcaps were dotted along the canal too - 4 of them I reckon.

Whitethroat

The canal was covered with water lilies, both white and yellow:

water lilies growing well on Leven Canal

About halfway along my way to the river I stopped to watch a Grey Heron as it landed in a hawthorn bush. While I was taking photos I heard the distinctive sound of a Kingfisher and just saw the flash of electric blue as it zoomed past low over the water.

Grey Heron landing

Grey Heron off elsewhere

A flower that I don't come across very often is Purple Loosetrife. It is found in wet ground, so usually near water. It's a lovely plant but apparently it is an invasive species in North America and is quite difficult to eradicate.

Purple Loosetrife

Purple Loosetrife

Purple Loosetrife

Purple Loosetrife and Meadow Sweet

I stopped for a drink at the Far Fox Aqueduct where you get a decent view along the canal.

bridge over the Holderness Drain

looking east down Leven Canal

looking west down Leven Canal

On my way back into Leven I was stopped by a farmer who asked if I'd been birdwatching. I said yes and he described a bird to me that he'd seen in his sugar beet field and that had raised 3 chicks there. He'd never seen one like it before and could I help him put a name to it. It was about plover sized (though whether that was a Ringed Plover size or a Golden Plover size he didn't say) with a very pale underside and uniform brown on top, with white just about visible down the back of the wings as it flies away, and it had a longish bill like a wader. He couldn't tell me if it called or sang. He asked me if I had time to walk down into his fields and have a look and I said yes of course so he gave me instructions and off I went, feeling quite priviledged as he said he doesn't normally let people into his fields.

I followed his very detailed directions and eventually came to the muck heap he told me about. I looked for Yellow Wagtails but none were about. On past his wheat field and his barley field to the first sugar beet field, then along the edge of his second beet field to a pond by the ditch. The beet field was massive and although I could have gone in to wander along the rows of crop in the hope of flushing the bird(s) I didn't rate my chances. So I stayed for a while shouting and clapping my hands but nothing flushed.

I was amazed by how many Cornflowers there were down there in his fields - very beautiful.

Cornflower

Cornflower

lots of Cornflowers

Of course you can't go on a walk around these parts without coming across the almost ubiquitous Roe Deer and this morning was no exception.

Roe Deer in sugar beet field

I walked back and met the farmer on my way so I told him I couldn't see the bird in question. He said OK thanks for looking and then continued his conversation with his mate. I ended up staying there for about 20 minutes talking about all sorts of stuff including the price of heifers, beer, health, his fields and his neighbour's fields. We were interrupted by a mustelid crossing the track behind me, and it scuttled off sharpish when it saw us.

poor image of possible stoat beating a retreat

All in all a grand morning's walk of around 8 miles in the blazing sun.