Kittiwake in winter

There’s a beautiful gull with a yellow beak in Brixham harbour. I can see it diving and fishing in the distance.

I get closer and can see it has a sooty mark behind its eye.

It’s a Kittiwake. Here’s what they look like in summer:

Kittiwake, Kittisleep

I love their sooty winter heads.

I also enjoy getting a good view of the black feet of the Kittiwake. There’s another species of Kittiwake in the sub-arctic Pacific which has red legs. Ours have black legs. Neither of them have a hallux:

Here Kitty Kitty – the birds without thumbs on their feet

I look forward to seeing their ‘dipped-in-ink’ wings again in summer on the cliffs in Orkney.

Until then, fly well!