I did not know it was you Mike till you had gone. I was with John tymon. Very nice to almost meet you.


Ps

We was joking about in the near future all the factory ledges being full of kittiwake nests. And remembering with nostalgia the time when people actually came to twitch the first kittiwake

Barbara and I were pleased to catch up with the kittiwake on the canal early on Saturday afternoon (March 8th). It did seem at first a bit surreal seeing it quite confiding and seemingly at home there, (it's almost certainly the furthest inland I can recall seeing a live one).
However I can see a parallel with the situation I encountered on Tyneside when I first moved to the NE to work in 1990.
I recall hearing to my surprise kittiwakes calling as I was walking towards the quayside by the R. Tyne one lunch hour, and noted kittiwakes nesting on window ledges of very high derelict buildings, some on the Baltic Flour Mill on the south side, and more on a derelict warehouse on the north side. These I learned were recognised as the furthest inland nesting kittiwakes in the country, being some 12 kms from the sea.
What struck me about the Leigh situation was the proximity of the large derelict factories astride the canal section favoured by the kittiwake on Saturday and over a few days prior to that. The bird possibly saw the buildings as "inland cliffs" and had a certain affinity with that particular "mini habitat"?

Just a thought, anyway.

Regards,
Mike P.