Fury as kittiwake appears to get trapped and dies in controversial netting on Newcastle Quayside

The endangered birds nest around the Tyne Bridge but some people claim they are getting stuck in the netting

Hannah Graham

14:15, 20 APR 2018

Bird lovers have been tweeting their fury after an endangered seabird was apparently trapped in controversial nets on Newcastle’s Quayside.

Wildlife photographer Alan Hewitt claims he spotted a dead kittiwake stuck in netting designed to discourage the birds from nesting on the front of Quayside buildings.

The Quayside’s famous kittiwake flock is unique, as the gulls usually nest and breed on the coast.

The roughly 800 breeding pairs, which inhabit the Tyne Bridge during the summer, are thought to be the only ones in the world which set up home as far as 13km away from the sea, feeding as far away as the Farne Islands.

But while they’re popular with bird watchers, many of the Quayside’s businesses seek to discourage kittiwakes from nesting on their property because of the mess and disruption they can cause.

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Rare bird in residence as Newcastle nature reserve opens to public

Jul 11, 2014 15:16

By Tony Henderson

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Gosforth Park nature reserve holds an open day on Saturday, just in time for visitors to get a glimpse of a rare bird

A rare bird has taken up residence at a nature reserve - just in time for its public open day.

Gosforth Park nature reserve in Newcastle opens tomorrow (Saturday) from 10.30am-3.30pm.

The reserve is run by the Natural History Society of Northumbria, where members have been boosted by the appearance of three rare bitterns at the site over the winter.

The reserve has extensive reed beds, which are the bittern’s favoured habitat. The bird will stand erect and stretch its neck upwards to merge with the reeds around it.

The “booming” call of the male bittern seeking a mate in the spring is the giveaway to the presence of what is an elusive bird.

“We are trying to manage the reserve habitat to encourage bitterns to stay on and breed,” said a society spokesman.

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Newcastle falconer faces animal cruelty charges against birds of prey

A young falconer from High Heaton, Newcastle, who helped save a North East bird of prey centre is facing animal cruelty charges.

A young falconer who helped save a North East bird of prey centre is facing a string of animal cruelty charges.

Thomas Burford took over the reins at the centre at Barn at Beal, in north Northumberland, when it was threatened with closure earlier this year.

But, less than a year later, the 22-year-old is facing 12 animal cruelty and neglect charges relating to birds he kept at the centre and at his home in Benton Road, High Heaton, Newcastle.

The charges involve numerous birds of prey, including various breeds of falcons, Harris hawks, runner ducks, baby barn owls, European eagle owls, American kestrels, chaco and African spotted owls, red-trailed buzzards, a merlin hybrid, a bengal owl and a showy owl.

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Museum's rare treasures revealed

Stashed away underground beneath a popular museum in Northumberland lies a vast collection of rare and precious items.

From hippo skulls to extinct birds, stuffed lions to poison spears, the Natural History Society of Northumbria's collection is one of the best in the world.

With more than half a million items kept in storage under the Discovery Museum in Newcastle, cataloguing the huge assortment is a lifetime's work.

The collection dates back to the mid-18th century and includes some items that are seen as priceless because of their rarity.

Dan Gordon, Keeper of Biology at Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums, said: "The oldest parts of the collection date from the 18th century and were the private collection of a local aristocrat called Marmaduke Tunstall.

"Over the years it was passed on and came into the possession of a local society and it's important for a number of reasons, one being the very old and valuable items.

"We have records for half a million objects but there may well be more, and cataloguing them all is a lifetime's work. We are still discovering new things in the collection."

One of the rarest items is a juvenile Great Auk, a flightless bird that is now extinct but which was once commonplace in Great Britain.

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