Kittiwakes Upon The Tyne

The furthest inland breeding colony of Kittiwakes anywhere in the world

Photography by @wildintrigue

Kittiwakes are gentle-looking, medium-sized gulls with a small yellow bill and dark eyes. Adults are silvery-grey above and white below, with a white head and black wingtips.

They are very much coastal Gulls, and to find one inland is very rare indeed. These birds spend most of their lives at sea and usually breed along our coastline, most often on steep cliff edges. The Farne Islands in North Northumberland, for example, hosts substantial colonies of nesting Kittiwakes.

For some unknown reason, where the River Tyne passes the quaysides between Newcastle and Gateshead you can find the furthest inland breeding colony of Kittiwakes anywhere in the World.

Why these gulls chose this urban location remains a mystery, but every Summer the Tyne Kittiwakes return to build their nests and raise the next generation.

The iconic Tyne Bridge continues to be a favourite location for nesting Kittiwakes during the warmer months. Since establishing a modest 134 pairs of nesting Kittiwakes back in 2001, the total amount of nests on the Tyne Bridge has grown to over 700 pairs!

These incredible images are courtesy of Wild Intrigue, a small ecotourism social enterprise who run informative sunset Kittiwake safaris along the banks of the Tyne.