Wednesday 16 January 2019

Hooded Crow in East Park

The afternoon class had been going less than half an hour and when we had just reached the westernmost lake when I noticed a crow looked a little odd sitting in a small tree with the light behind it.  The other crows and many noisy gulls were snatching bread from someone with kids on the other side of the lake.  Our bird just sat there, but it did fly when we approached a little closer.  As it lunched into the air I could just discern patches of grey and realised it was a Hooded Crow.  I saw one as a child 40 years ago on the Burton Constable Estate, but this was the nearest to home I've ever seen one.  It flew around for a while, and then landed in a small tree on the first island.  Everyone on the class was able to have a good look at it before it was flew off towards the playing field area.  
Hooded Crow
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Leucsitic Carrion Crow for comparison purposes
The author of Birds of the Hull Area tweeted to say that this may be the first record in East Park for 33 years, and it counts as an East Park Mega!  It is possible that the bird has come down from Scotland, or it has been forced out of Central Europe by the unseasonal heavy snowfalls.

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