kittiwake

Mouette tridactyle - Rissa tridactyla - Kittiwake

Black-legged Kittiwake

Spotted on the pier at Whitby. Thanks to Steve Lister for confirming the ID.

Whilst watching the impressive acrobatic skills of the Kittiwakes at Bempton, I spotted these two birds involved in an aerial tussle. They seemed to be having a disagreement about a particular nest site. Here they have locked beaks and are spinning wildly round in circles whilst being buffeted...

Two of these birds, the nearest and farthest, were engaged in a bout of allopreening when a third bird landed between them, starting a furious fight that lasted several minutes. Eventually the intruder gave up and flew off which resulted in another long bout of allopreening between the original...

Found this pair resting in the sun. Amazing how little space they acually need to bring up a young.

Have a great weekend y'all.

We then clambered down the longish flight of steps to the Foghorn viewpoint. There were a few Kittiwakes below on the rocky cliff-side, with some boats going round, presumably with sightseers aboard. I love Kitiwakes, my favourite 'gull' species and obviously another year tick.

Shot from the Quayside, Newcastle.

Not sure what to do with my camera. Auto focus just not fast enough for an in flight shot. Hence was pleasantly surprised by this. (Guess I sound like a cook blaming his spoons).

It was as if they took to the air to see us off. They appear to be all/mostly sub-adult Kittiwakes that I can find in the horrendously blown up image, so they must have been the previous year birds, as the current crop would still be in the egg in May LOL. A year and trip tick for me.

Juv Kittiwake testing the wings.

Kittiwake, ad near its colony. Cap Frehel ( Brittany). June 2015.

I don't usually do very well at fligh shots with my Panasonic, but occasionally they turn out ok. This one didn't turn out too badly. Kittiwake doing some passes in front of the cliffs before heading for the nest. Question: Would it be ok if I post a shot of the colony on the building ledges in...

Several bridges and buildings in Newcastle have been totally taken over as a Kittiwake colony. Coming along the path by the river, you hear them from around a bend before you see them. Many were on the nest, so I had to be careful where I pointed my camera. This one was off the nest taking a...

On Farne Islands taken with 1Ds Mk II