I made my first trip of the year to the Farne Islands last week. I was with friends so I didn't take a big camera, which was liberating as I already have more than enough puffin photos, etc. However, I did put the little Panasonic TZ90 in my pocket in case we saw anything unusual and it came in handy when we saw this.
The kittiwake was standing staring at the egg as if unsure what to do.
The mystery was explained by a National Trust warden. The egg was laid by a razorbill in the kittiwake's nest in error. The razorbill wasn't allowed back to the egg and the standoff had been going on for two days. By then the egg was probably non-viable but the kittiwake hadn't worked out how to get rid of it so it could lay its own (two) eggs.
Kittiwakes spend most of their lives at sea but come to land to raise their young. Last week I went to have a look at the famous colony nesting on and around the Tyne Bridge. These birds were under threat from a planning application by a nearby hotel but fortunately Newcastle City Council rejected the application. Let's hope their future is now secure.
The kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla) is also known as the black-legged kittiwake but, unlike the Geordie birds above, these birds I saw at Dunstanburgh Castle this week were definitely wearing brown boots (I ask yer... brahn boots!).
Kittiwakes are the most numerous gulls in the world and occur in great numbers in their colonies around the UK, with around a third of a million pairs here each summer.
Kittiwake numbers are not collected by BirdTrends but the population is monitored by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Their numbers are declining and they are on the Red List of Birds of Conservation Concern.
Thomas Bewick included the kittiwake in his History of British Birds vol. II published in 1832.
You can watch kittiwakes on the Baltic in Gateshead live on the Durham Wildlife Trust's Webcam here. And watch a BTO video on identification of kittiwakes and other small gulls here. Listen to the BBC Radio 4 Tweet of the Day on kittiwake here and to a recording of a kittiwake calling its name on the British Library website here.
This is my final posting of favourites from 2015. It was a good year for watching owls. I saw both barn owl and short-eared owls flying in daylight but my only tawny owl shot isn't worth sharing. Long-eared and little owls are on my wish list for 2016.
I saw more yellowhammers than ever before. This one was at Branton in Northumberland.
Then a couple of LBJs (little brown jobs) - reed warbler and reed bunting.
And a little white job, a leucistic chaffinch.
Next a few fish-eaters from Gosforth Park.
This is the most endangered bird in Newcastle - a kittiwake. There is a proposal to put up netting to stop the birds nesting on the Tyne Bridge, which would be a tragedy. You can lodge an objection through a link here.
And finally a few favourites from the Farne Islands.
So, not a bad year. I'm looking forward to better photos and new species in 2016.
The kittiwakes on the the Tyne Bridge were my bird of the week recently but most kittiwakes nest on cliffs. There are over 4,000 pairs on the Farne Islands where these photos were taken.
Kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla) normally nest on cliffs and rock faces but one famous colony has been nesting on and around the Tyne Bridge in Newcastle upon Tyne for more than 50 years. It has around 700 nesting pairs in the farthest inland kittiwake colony in the world, being around 10 miles from the sea.
The nests are made of seaweed and mud. Some of the nest have obviously been reused and added to over many years.
Some birds are still collecting nesting material, some are sitting on eggs and others already have chicks.
The kittiwake is a beautiful bird with a striking eye.
Most have black legs and feet.
But this one has brown.
Of course all the posh birds are on the Newcastle end of the bridge while the others are in Gateshead!
Watch the live feed from the kittiwake cam on the Baltic here. Listen to the BBC Radio 4 Tweet of the Day on kittiwakes here. Watch the BTO video on identification of kittiwakes and other small gulls here. Read more about kittiwakes here.
