BIRDWATCH at RSPB Pulborough Brooks with Peter Hughes

THE south east coast of England is not renowned for its large seabird population.The rocky coasts of north of England, Wales and Scotland conjure images of guillemots, puffins, fulmars, razorbills, terns and gulls crammed on to ledges and cliff tops in their thousands.

However, seabirds do nest in large numbers in a few nearby locations.

Significant numbers of gulls and terns nest at Pagham Harbour, Rye Harbour, Langstone and Chichester Harbours, and one of the few places that one can see cliff-nesting seabirds is at Seaford, East Sussex, where there is a colony of kittiwakes.

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Kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla) are one of our most beautiful gulls. I know that gulls, as a group, are not always the most popular birds due to their noisy abundance in town centres and their fondness of rubbish tips. These are usually herring gulls.

Kittiwakes, however, are a seagoing species, and feed on fish and invertebrates that they snatch from the surface, and will trail fishing vessels in large numbers. They come ashore only to breed- and spend most of the rest of their lives far from land.

For full feature see West Sussex Gazette July 4