Exceptional gale force winds buffeted northern Spain on the 24th and 25th January, causing an unprecedented influx of Kittiwakes to inland Catalonia. In most countries that I know inland Kittiwakes are a rare event (persoanlly I’ve only seen them inland once before in Kent, England, in the late 1980s).
Well, in the last week more than 300 Kittiwakes have been observed on the rivers, lakes and reservoirs of inland Catalonia. Many of these birds are fatigued and end up dying. Some of them have been picked up by concerned people and taken to local wildlife recovery centres.
Sant Llorenç de Montgai – not well known for its Kittiwake population
One local birder reported an interesting event concerning one of those wind-driven Kittiwakes: one of a flock totalling 28 was caught and eaten by a Golden Eagle (one of the few Golden Eagles in Spain with a taste for seafood it seems).
Are you sure it was a Kittiwake you saw sitting with the sandgrouse?
One Response to “Kittiwake wreck in wake of storm”
Very interesting info. The Force 12 storms on 22-23rd Jan were severe enough to rip containers off the deck of a vessel on its way south to Barbados that I examined here. As a direct result I believe, in mid-Feb we had our first ever records of Kittiwake in Barbados, three birds – one seen on a seawatch and two picked up off beaches. Also in Guadeloupe five on beaches dead or dying and one in Dominica. Unprecedented! Never thought I would see one here.
Eddie – Barbados
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