Kittiwakes at the Baltic

Kittiwakes at the Baltic  modern art gallery in Gateshead, just across the river  from Newcastle upon Tyne

Kittiwake Tower

Traditionally kittiwakes, which spend most of their life out at sea,  breed on steep sided sea cliffs, but in the 1960s a small number of birds began to nest on  riverside buildings in Newcastle and Gateshead, 10 mile inland.By the 1990s the Baltic Flours Mills building had become the main focus of kittiwake breeding activity on the Tyne, supporting a colony of around 200 pairs. The redevelopment of the Baltic as an international centre for contemporary art resulted in the loss of this  breeding site for kittiwakes. 

Alternative nesting opportunities were provided for the birds with the construction of the kittiwake tower shown here, a breeding platform whih was originally located in Baltic Square near the Baltic before being moved to its permanent location on the south bank of the River Tyne at Saltmeadows.

Tyne Kittiwakes

The  kittiwake colony in Newcastle upon Tyne  is believed to be the most inland one of its kind anywhere in the world.

Kittiwakes are  a type of gull, which usually nest on cliffs but they now have a large annual nesting colony on the Tyne Bridge and surrounding buildings. The first record of kittiwakes breeding on man-made structures on Tyneside was on a North Shields building in 1949.

Once the young have fledged the colony spends the rest of the time far out to sea. They are a fascinating sight and sound above the Quayside but the problem is they leave an awful mess of guano as can be seen from this picture taken from a pavement under the Tyne Bridge. 

The City Council is considering ways of deterring the colony from returning in future because of this mess and the perceived threat it poses to Quayside business.
 

Tyne Kittiwakes

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Kittiwakes are a species of gull which normally nest on high cliffs above the sea. They spend most of their lives out at sea, but every Spring a large number of kittiwakes arrive in the heart of Newcastle upon Tyne and build nests high up on the Tyne Bridge and surrounding buildings. The Tyne Bridge is believed to be home to the most inland breeding site of Kittiwakes in the world, and one of the few urban breeding sites in the world. The towers of the Tyne Bridge provide a perfect substitute for cliffs for these city-dwelling kittiwakes. Some of the birds born in nests on the Tyne Bridge last year will have wandered as far away as Canada and Greenland during the winter. This pictures shows some kittiwakes who are currently nesting on the Guildhall which is adjacent to the bridge.

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