Kittiwakes

Yesterday, I went round to Mumbles Pier at the western end of Swansea Bay; to check on how the Kittiwake colony was getting on, and to see if my newly-purchased Canon 40D would fare any better on birds-in-flight than my previous efforts with the 7D. I certainly got more sharp flight shots than with the 7D (using a Canon 70-200mm f/4 lens), but I'm still not entirely happy with the percentage of sharp shots. Anyway, here are a few of the pictures:

This bird was bringing seaweed to its nest-site:

The town of Swansea can be seen in the background here:

Almost every possible nesting site seems to be occupied:

So much so, that this pair seem to have started a nest-site in isolation on the probably less-than-ideal sloping edge of the lifeboat station that adjoins the pier:

Perhaps one of this pioneering pair flying in front of the lifeboat station:

The following two shots show the potential dangers of the birds sharing their world with careless fishermen, who don't dispose of their used hooks and line responsibly (in previous years, I've seen birds with hooks stuck in their beaks):

Here's a shot of a bird tending to its eggs on the nest:

Finally, here are a couple of videos of the colony:

I hope to return to the colony later in the year, and document the chicks as they grow.