Stephen Dean

We met our guide, Ian Barthorpe from the RSPB, at the car park and he explained that we would spend some time watching the kittiwakes before exploring the shingle ridge and the dunes a little to the north to look for the plants and insects that live in these habitats.

The kittiwakes that are nesting on the nearer of the two offshore rigs can be seen clearly from the car park, even without binoculars, their evenly-spaced nests occupied by adult birds and good numbers of well-grown young at this time of year.  When we took the short walk down to the beach, the birds’ characteristic "Kitt-I-Wake" calls could be heard clearly, too.

Kittiwake: Chris Gomersall, RSPB

Ian explained that, as a breeding bird, the kittiwake is found commonly in the north of the British Isles nesting on steep cliffs, but this colony, and the nearby one at Lowestoft, are the only ones on the east coast between Yorkshire and Kent.  Kittiwakes have been nesting in Lowestoft since 1958 and here at Sizewell, where the offshore rigs act as "artificial cliffs", since 1994.

We watched the adult birds tending the young at the nests as well as in flight, so we were able to see all the salient features: white head, body and tail; mid-grey back and wings with black "dipped-in-ink" wing tips; greenish-yellow bill; and short, black legs.  Some of the young had already fledged and they too were seen flying around the rig, exercising their wings and looking for food.  They are quite different from the adults in their appearance as they have black bills and a blackish-brown "W" pattern across their wings and tip to the tail and a dark collar and smudge behind the eye.

The kittiwake is a gentle-looking graceful gull and the conditions were perfect for watching them.

Also around the rig we saw black-headed, herring and lesser black-backed gulls, common terns and cormorants.

Having enjoyed watching the hustle and bustle of the kittiwake colony we continued north along the beach and Ian was able to point out several of the characteristic plants of this wind-blown, salty and nutrient-poor environment, including sea kale (the ancestor of our edible cabbage) and ladies' bedstraw (which was once used to fill quilts).

The predominant floral colours were yellow, which is very attractive to pollen beetles, and pink (rest harrow, centuary and sea pea).  This was true also of the plants we found in the dunes as we made our way back to the car park (harebell, mallow, bird’s-foot trefoil and weld).  The one notable exception was the spectacular white bryony, which has amazingly long runners, along which are strung red berries.

The dunes were alive with grasshoppers and ladybirds and we saw several species of grassland butterflies including gatekeepers and small skippers as well as cinnabar moth and the impressive southern hawker dragonfly.

Arriving back at the car park two hours after we had set off we were all able to reflect on having had a really enjoyable afternoon and, thanks to Ian, we had all learnt quite a lot in the process.

Speaking to Alan, from Barham, I was particularly impressed that as an avid "Town" fan, he'd foregone the pre-season friendly at Portman Road to take part in this event!

So there you are: "Kittiwakes are just as much fun as football - official!"

Don't just take my word for it, go and have a look for yourself.  If you have binoculars you'll get a "closer" view of the birds, but even without you can watch their comings and goings as they go about their daily lives, just offshore, right here in Suffolk.