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.