Birds eye view of life at Hartlepool RNLI
Hartlepool RNLI lifeboat station has once again played host to a colony of Kittiwakes that have nested below the gangway that leads to the all-weather lifeboat at the Ferry Road lifeboat station.
The noisy visitors have once again had a successful breeding season with dozens of chicks hatching and being fed and watched over by their parents along the narrow five inch steel ledge which acts as their nesting place and home for around 8-10 weeks during the summer.
Hartlepool RNLI station mechanic Garry Waugh said: ‘Despite going to and fro along the gangway every day and occasionally during the night to the all-weather lifeboat and being just a few feet from the Kittiwakes they don’t seem too bothered.
‘They are very noisy during the breeding season but some of the sounds they create are quite unique and amusing at times.
‘Even on a shout when myself and volunteer crewmembers are rushing across the gangway to get to the all-weather lifeboat they just watch us cross, oblivious to what’s going on before we head out to sea.'
In a few weeks’ time the young chicks will have flown their nests along with the adult birds until next spring when the Kittiwakes return again to claim their nests at the lifeboat station and share the gangway with the volunteer RNLI lifeboat crewmembers.
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The RNLI charity saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts. The RNLI operates 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and more than 240 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK and Channel Islands. The RNLI is independent of Coastguard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 146,000 lives.
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