July 20, 2014 - Iceland - Black-legged Kittiwakes - Part 2

This is a typical nesting area for the Black-legged Kittiwakes I showed you last week. They like steep, almost vertical, rocky cliffs along an ocean shoreline. This photo was taken near the town of Vik, on the southern coast of Iceland.

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We took a boat trip around Heimaey Island just off the southern coast of Iceland. The steep, rocky cliffs of the island provide many small ledges where the Kittiwakes make their nests. Good nest sites are used year after year. The amount of whitewash under each nest site is proof that the site has been used for a long time.

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Here’s a closer look at some Kittiwake nests. You can see they don’t need a very large space to build a nest. The moss and fungi that grow on the rocks make this a very colorful, scenic area.

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We also took a boat trip out of Stykkishólmur, Iceland. We traveled around the Breiðafjörður Islands. The captain of the ship was very good about identifying the birds that we were seeing. She was also able to get us very close to some of the Kittiwake nests. They are not very complicated; just some sea weeds piled on a small ledge. By locating their nests in such an inaccessible place, the Kittiwakes don’t have to worry about land predators.

KittiwakeBlackleggedpairnestBoatTripBreiðafjörðurIslandsStykkishólmurIceland20140515

I’m not sure if this interaction is friendly or not. I see some nesting material on the ledge under their feet. So, this might be a mated pair doing a courting ritual. On the other hand, it might be two rivals, each trying to claim this site for their own nest.

KittiwakeBlackleggedpairdisplayingBoatTripBreiðafjörðurIslandsStykkishólmurIceland20140515

This photo, taken on the Heimaey Island boat trip, just cries out for a clever caption.

KittiwakeBlackleggedrocksBoatTripWestmanIslandsIceland20140523