Tim writes: This photograph looks more like a painting. The colours in the water are reflections from Newcastle’s swing bridge and the surface of the River Tyne was just lightly rippled creating a wobbly mirror effect. The juvenile Kittiwake is almost incidental. Kittiwakes began nesting in Newcastle in the 1960s which was quite a thing at the time as before that they only nested on sea cliffs (imagine if Guillemots started nesting on buildings!). The Tyne Kittiwake population built up and there are now around 700 pairs nesting on buildings in the area. These are the furthest inland nesting Kittiwakes anywhere in the world, being about 10 miles from the sea, though the river is tidal here.
Taken with Nikon D500 and Nikkor 300mm f4 lens with 1.4 converter 1/1250 f8 ISO 1400
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Thanks. An interesting pic:
Wow, Kittiwakes breeding in Newcastle – the wonders of animal adaptation and the choices of chocolate icing on the cake.