Book Review ... The Kittiwake

Having been inspired by the spectacle of Kittiwakes on the River Tyne, I wanted to learn more about this charismatic and delightful species ...

Searching the available literature, the combination of the Poyser brand and the author John Coulson left me in no doubt that this was the book to read ...

Although I was aware that John Coulson was a significant name in ornithology I had no idea that his interest in Kittiwakes began as early as 1949 ...

For me, the book had a particular lure because his research was based primarily on Kittiwakes on the River Tyne.  The scope of the work is global and includes some information about the other kittiwake species - Red-legged Kittiwake.

After the introduction there is a fascinating section on feeding methods and food of the species and an equally riveting discussion about winter oceanic distribution and movements ...

The following sections relate to their breeding biology and draw on research that the author conducted over more than a 50 year period ...  I have to admit that I found much of this rather heavy going and graphs were abundant ...

... after this rather low point in the middle of the book there was more enlightening material, this time about colony structure and recruitment ... the author conducted extensive ringing studies and revealed the fluid nature of the breeding colonies - many birds do not go on to breed in their natal colony and many breeders move to other colonies, sometimes hundreds of miles away in subsequent seasons ...

... The name 'Tarrock' was not familiar to me - this refers to birds in their distinctive first-year plumage ... it is of Scottish derivation and is used to describe Arctic and Common Terns also ...

... The later parts of the work have interesting sections on 'Kittiwakes and humans' and Appendix 1 describes the history and methods used at the North Shields colony - this provided welcome answers to questions that had been in my mind throughout the book ... how do you catch a Kittiwake ? ...

The lovely illustrations are by Robert Greenhalf ...

... this monochrome painting shows a Red-legged Kittiwake behind and Black-legged Kittiwake in the foreground ...

Overall a very good read and wonderful in-depth study.

Tyne Kittiwakes ... Globally significant ... and they're back

Following my visit to North Shields in search of gulls I went up the Tyne to see if any Kittiwakes were around their breeding sites on buildings in the Baltic Flour Mills / Tyne Bridge area ...

... approaching the Baltic the characteristic calls became audible ...

... not a great deal of space left on those ledges ... in 2004 there were 2 pairs on this building - in 2016 there were 90 pairs ...

... one flew by exhibiting those legs that determine its IOC name - Black-legged Kittiwake ...

... then in the Tyne Bridge area there were already occupied nests on the bridge itself, despite their egg-laying date of mid-May ...

... and at much lower level on some of the old buildings beneath the bridge ...

... they really are pretty special birds and this is a pretty special place where they breed ... the most inland breeding colony of the species in the world ...

... their specialness goes on and on ... the most common gull species in the world ... the most common species of gull in Britain with 370,000 breeding pairs ... the most pelagic of all the gulls in the world  ... in taxonomic terms they share their genus Rissa with only one other species - Red-legged Kittiwake ...

... they leave their breeding colonies in August and spend the winter in the North Sea and North Atlantic as far west as the eastern seaboard of North America and probably mingle with populations from elsewhere in their northern hemisphere circumpolar breeding range ...

... with these birds already on their breeding territories I thought back to the flocks of Kittiwakes I had seen just a few days earlier going east into the Solway Estuary ...

... were these birds returning perhaps from the North Atlantic to breeding colonies in Scandinavia or Arctic Russia where their nest ledges would still be ice-bound ?  did some fly overland to the North Sea rather than going round the north of Scotland ?  maybe satellite telemetry will provide the answers ...

Northumberland Gulls ... three ages of Mediterraneans and a Glaucous

First-winter Mediterranean Gull is always a striking bird and this one on the beach at Newbiggin was no exception ...

... the tide was out and a small group of gulls fed along the water's edge ...

... along with the first-winter was a second-winter and an adult in almost complete summer plumage ...

... another similar adult was present along with some Black-headed Gulls in various states of plumage between winter and summer ... the first-winter showed well as it lingered around the surf line in the brisk easterly breeze ...

... the second-winter bird was equally obliging ...

... the adult with the more complete black hood joined the first-winter in the melee and the fine black line running along the outer primary was visible ...

... there was no sign of any rings on any of the birds on this occasion - previously I have recorded ringed birds here from the same breeding colony near Hamburg that birds visiting Workington have come from ... along with the gulls a mixed flock of Sanderling and Turnstones fed ...

Part of the magic of this time of year is the mix of arrivals and departures ... at Cresswell Whooper Swans headed north just off shore ...

... while fairly recently arrived Avocets were by the pool along with Wigeon ...

...and so to North Shields in search of more gulls ... the Fish Quay had a quiet feel with little fishing boat activity but some large gulls rested on the roof, among which was a juvenile Glaucous Gull ...

... some potential food appeared up river ...

... a lone male Eider swam along side the moored fishing boats ...

... among the rooftop gulls was a first-winter bird with rather pale primaries and delicate barring on the mantle and scapulars ...

... presumably a Herring Gull but why the pale primaries ?  not pale enough for Kumlien's and leg colour rules out Slaty-backed ... not the first bird I have seen with this appearance but they remain enigmatic ... it flew off  while I watched  the Glaucous Gull ...

With gulls still in mind I headed upstream to see if any Kittiwakes were around ...

... but more on that later ...

Local birds recently ... Hen Harrier, Ruff, Brambling ... more geese

It often seems to happen that searching for one species results in finding another unexpected species ...  While seeking Ring Ouzel I found Long-eared Owl ... while looking for Goshawk I located a Great Grey Shrike ...

And so it was that today while searching for geese around the Solway marshes, this lovely male Hen Harrier flew by ...

There were thousands of Pinkfeet which today were frequenting the saltmarsh areas rather than the peripheral farmland locations where they were a couple of weeks ago ...

... these two posed nicely on Whitrigg Marsh ... how variable that bill pattern is ...

... more were on the side of the Wampool at Anthorn along with Barnacle Geese ...

... constantly on the move and easily flushed by aircraft ...

... this flock of Barnacle Geese included one of the small number of leucistic birds which are been regular in recent years ...

... flocks of Whooper Swans have been more site-faithful with this group near Easton lingering still ...

... and at Walby forty-seven have been present ...

... the low fields at Walby have survived attempts to drain them and Ruff have been present intermittently through the winter ...

... this male fed along with fifty Lapwings and some Black-headed Gulls ...

... a scarce winter visitor in Cumbria and close to their northern wintering limit for western Britain, numbers of up to ten at Walby make this an important site...

... the scapulars blowing up in the wind in typical Ruff fashion ...

Curlew numbers on the Solway are still significant and with our breeding birds now back on territory these are perhaps Continental migrants ...

... some very smart adult male Goldeneye were at Port Carlisle ...

... and a single first-winter transitioning into adult male bird was in the harbour ...

... a rather distant flock of about thirty Kittiwakes well out over the channel off Port Carlisle represents part of a seasonal movement of birds back to their breeding colonies following their wintering at sea off Europe ...

... while at home Bramblings are still using the feeders ...