Wednesday 3 September 2014

Wild Bird Wednesday 112 - Kittiwake (Black-Legged Kittiwake)

This is the last of my series of bird post from the cliffs of the Farne Islands.

In the UK this bird is known as (just) the Kittiwake - elsewhere  the Black-Legged part is added to the front of the name.  This is a nice example of why the scientific name is useful, because whatever its local name, its formal name is always Rissa tridactyla.

This is a rather gentle looking birds - and although its in the same general group as most gulls, it is not in the classic gull genus - Larus.

It name seems to be an onomatopoeic rendering of its call on the nesting site - described in BWP as "kitti-wa-a-k"!  However, for most of the time this bird is rather less noisy than most other gulls.

As you can see it nests on sheer cliffs and rock faces.  I can only assume that the chicks are born with a head for heights!


with razorbills and guillemot 




photo-bombed by a puffin!
 Now it's over to you - click away and link up!




38 comments:

  1. such a pretty nesting colony! love the soft look of their plumage.

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  2. Awesome!!!! You have shared some fantastic birds with us.

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  3. Fantastic birds! Love how they nest on the rock ledges, and their chicks are so cute! Do they fall into the water learning to fly, I wonder! I am so impressed that you used the word onomatopoeia in a post! :-) That isn't something one often sees! :-)

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  4. That nesting colony is certainly busy. The kittiwakes are more delicate-looking than other gulls. I saw both Black-legged and Red-legged Kittiwakes in Alaska.

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  5. They are beautiful birds. It's really neat to see the colony up close.
    Love the little photobomber!

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  6. Kittiwakes certainly do build their nests in precarious places!

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  7. The fluffy chicks against the rock face are great shots!

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  8. I wouldn't mind a Puffin photo bombing any of my pictures. From Findlay

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  9. Oh those are sheer cliffs! And what stunning photos of the birds and chicks on the nests. thanks for sharing. I'll add my link tomorrow when my post appears. Greetings, Jo

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  10. walking down the memory lane :)
    So nice to see your images and remember my own trip to Scotland 2 years ago.

    And now, I´m off to Australia. :) Will be birding in Queensland for three weeks.

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  11. Your first picture depicts the sheer beauty of a Kittiwake Stewart. Unfortunately here on the west coast of Lancashire the only real time we see them is a fly bys after a South Westerly gale.

    Thanks for hosting Wednesday's birds again.

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  12. I love the little, fluffy baby!

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  13. Looks like a fascinating place for birding.

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  14. A beautiful bird with cute chicks. The nesting colony looks busy and dangerous. There's not much room on the ledges.

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  15. The Kittiwake is a lovely bird and your first picture of it does it proud.

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  16. beautiful birds. We can forget that since they are so ubiquitous.

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  17. What an amazing nesting colony. The advantage to building nests in those places is that it makes it hard for predators to reach!

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  18. Great photos and it would be wonderful to see so many birds like that.

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  19. You're on a roll with the shorebirds! I like how you showed them in their cliff environment, too. Beautiful photos!

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  20. Excellent images Stewart.

    A definite rarity for me in a land-locked County but its call will give it away if one ever flies over.

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  21. I'm amazed at their nesting location...that's living on the edge, no doubt. Wonderful series of photos and beautiful birds, Stewart.

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  22. Yes you wonder why the chicks don't just roll off. MB

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  23. Incredible sights!
    I have never seen so many nesting together.

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  24. Most excellent rock face with a great bird! How do you get such wonderful pics of these incredibly hard birds??!!! Nice work!

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  25. Beautiful pictures, Stewart,
    So many birds nest on the rock together.
    Cute young birds.
    Best regards, Irma

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  26. Sweet looking gull the Kittiwake, and great pictures ot them Stewart.The cliff face looks like a precarious place for them to raise their young, it's just amazing how they do it.

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  27. Brilliant post Stewart. Amazing bird, amazing behaviours, amazing pictures! Thank-you for sharing.

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  28. Awwww, how cute! Love the shots of their nesting area--and the Puffin! Thanks, Stewart!

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  29. Great photos Stewart, loved seeing these nesting birds.

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  30. That little Puffin snuck right in there, Stewart! How wonderful these pix are!!!...:)JP

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  31. Love, love these photos. Great header photo!!

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  32. Ahhhh... seabirds. Wish I saw more of them. Your photos are wonderful. You seem to have captured a softness to their heads - just lovely, Stewart!

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  33. Great pics and of course my favorite is the one photo bombed by the Puffin...SWEET timing~

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  34. Stewart, the textures you have captured in these photos are outstanding, and I adore this photo ofthe adults tending to their fuzzy chicks. Well done.

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  35. Gorgeous photos Stewart!
    I don't know how you got those great shots, but they are fantastic...

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  36. Wonderful -- you definitely don't need to go to Alaska.... same birds again.

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