Kittiwake - Rissa tridactyla at Bempton Ckliffs

[rolf]

Adult Kittiwake at Bempton Cliffs, not too may left there, as they have headed out to open sea for the Winter.

You can see here that they actually build a nest, as opposed to many of the other sea birds, who simply lay eggs on the bare rock.

[ladylouise62]

The 'productive ant' to the other birds' 'lazy grasshopper' eh? I'm always amazed that the ones that don't make some sort of nest don't have their eggs roll away

That's a nice shot - always interesting to see a nest in use as it's usually so difficult to find or get into a position to see.

[joe]

Louise, I seem to remember watching a nature program that explained that birds that did not make a nest layed eggs that were elliptical and larger at one end so they only rolled in circles.

[ladylouise62]

Ah, good point, that makes some sense. Nest building is obviously rather impractical for a lot of places either due to lack of materials or space or just the likely damage from the elements - so just produce wonky eggs
Ain't nature wonderful?