TINY BIRD - BIG YAWN

Had an appointment at my building society regarding my will and other financial matters so I walked down to the village at around 11.30am. 

The weather was lovely so I decided to make the most of it and after the meeting I got the bus to Gateshead.  Walked down to the river and went up to the viewing platform on the 4th floor of The Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art. I wanted to see the Kittiwake babies.

Usually kittiwakes nest on narrow ledges on sea cliffs but in the 1950's a few birds started to nest on buildings along the River Tyne.  The colony grew and it is now the most inland breeding colony of kittiwakes anywhere in the world.  They do not feed from litter bins or dive bomb visitors etc like seagulls but pick up small fish and other marine creatures from the surface of the water. The female lays three eggs and the chicks are fed by their parents for 6 weeks until they leave the nest.  At the end of Summer the kittiwakes leave the Tyne and spend the winter at sea.

I took so many shots it was really hard to choose just one to blip.  I went with this one - the little chick looks as though its wanting food but it had just woken up and was having a sleepy yawn. In my extras I have added a shot of an adult bird.  I am guessing its a male as the males do not stay on the nest but fly round the area probably getting food and also protecting the nests from other birds. Also in my extras is a shot of the narrow ledge where all the nests have been built.  The shots are not as clear as I would like as you have to take your photos through a sheet of glass.

I have put another shot of a fluffy baby in Flickr. And also the view of  the River Tyne from the Baltic viewing platform.

Hopefully my blip shot will do for the Tiny Tuesday Challenge hosted by Waking Wombat

After getting my fill of cute fluffy baby birds I walked across the Millennium Bridge to the Newcastle side of the river and got the bus up to the centre of town.  Then I made my way to BHS - I thought I might find some bargains due to BHS going bust.  However most of the stock was only reduced by 20%.  Not enough to make me buy anything.  I mooched around the shops and got the bus home at around 6pm.

Had grilled salmon with salad for tea.  Watched the football - Spain v Croatia. 

Steps today - 12,800