Photo 1  our FIRST kittiwake (magnifying glass out, can you spot it?) taking up residence on 24th February.

There will be hundreds on Dunbar Castle during spring and summer! The Kittiwake is a delicate and dainty seabird whose name resembles its calls. Can you hear them squawking “Ki-i-i-ti-wa-a-ke”? 

• Food: Small fish, especially sandeels; the kittiwakes follow our fishing boats.
• Nest site: On our castle walls or over-hanging rock faces. Their nests are mud, grass or seaweed, on impossibly-small ledges.
• Breeding: Mid May to mid June, 2 eggs. The young birds depart in August to live off Greenland Coast then return to Dunbar after 2 years.
• Wintering: Adults spend winter over the North Atlantic, as far as Canada, however some fly south.

An old Dunbar saying: Kittiwakes should return by the 16th March for Dunbar's ‘happy and prosperous summer’.

Photo above by Quentin Dimmer 

Click <<READ MORE>> for photo #2 (by Kenny Maule, during breeding, last summer)