I took a trip out round the Bass Rock a few weeks ago so I thought I'd share a few photos with you. It’s been two or three years since I last done this and this time around I decided to take the trip on the wee wooden boat called the Sula. I have to say that I picked a fantastic day for it as the wind was calm and the sun was shining. The boat may look quite small in the photo but I really can’t recommend it enough if you ever get the chance to take a trip out to the rock; great value as well at only £14 for a trip of around an hour and a quarter.
The Sula in harbour at North Berwick.
The main reason for going to the Bass Rock is to see the Gannets here. I think the numbers peak at over 150,000 birds, making it the largest Northern Gannet colony in the world. The rock is actually brown but looks white in summer due to the number of birds nesting here.
A view of the Bass Rock in the distance.
As you get a bit closer in, you start to see the vast numbers of birds on and over the rock.
A bit closer still.
Looking over towards the coast of Fife, there were plenty more birds to be seen.
I have to admit to a growing feeling of excitement as we got nearer to the rock and to the birds. Gannets are really quite large birds, and to see so many so close is a fantastic experience.
Another view as we neared the rock itself.
Looking inwards now, you start to get an idea of why the rock looks white from a distance.
The younger birds spook a bit easier than the adults do. They're used to seeing the boat coming round every day, but they still want to keep a bit of distance from you. This youngster with it's 'piano key' plumage makes a dash for safety.
Up above, the birds were nesting all the way to the top.
I don't fancy falling in from up there.!!
By this time there were birds everywhere. From a photographic point of view, it was becoming a bit confusing as to which bird to try to focus on.
I got lucky with this next shot though; I was actually aiming for the nearest bird.!! :-)
As I've already said, it was a fantastic experience, with birds everywhere you looked.
Flying this way...
And that way.
This bird had been out gathering nesting materials, in the form of a bit of seaweed and a feather.
As you can see, there were plenty of Gannets around although I didn't see any of them fishing. I was told that they've been travelling up to sixty miles away to fish, but I don't know if the reason is lack of prey around the Forth Estuary or perhaps some other reason? There were more birds around though, not only Gannets. On the rocks we also have Guillemots.
Flying around...
And generally posing.!!
This next heavily cropped shot shows what I'm led to believe is a 'Bridled' Guillemot. Note the white markings at the eye, this is seemingly more common the further north you go.
There were also some Shag around.
Also with youngsters.
There were Razorbill around as well but I didn't get any decent shots of them so I'll sneak in a Razorbill shot taken on the Isle of May a few days earlier. (I'll tell you all about that another time).
Isle of May Razorbill.
Back at the Bass Rock, we have a final shot of the Gannets before heading back to shore.
A few Gulls were spotted as we sailed back.
A grumpy looking Herring Gull flying past...
Another Herring Gull coming in to land.
Nearly there now, just a few shots to go. I love seeing these next birds; Great Black-backed Gull. It never ceases to impress me when I see the size of these Gulls. Fantastic big lumps of birds.!!
A final shot of a Great Black-backed, showing its impressive wingspan.
I hope you've enjoyed taking a trip around the Bass Rock. Thanks for looking.
Paul
My bird photos HERE
Many thanks for a beautiful set of pictures, Paul - brought back memories of an RIB trip out to the Grassholm gannetry a few years ago - it looks like an iced bun from a distance, until you realise that the icing on the cake is 100% gannets! A beautiful day, flat calm and the water so clear that we watched jellyfish swimming by under the boat. This year's trip to West Wales didn't include Grassholm, but Skomer provided guillemots, razorbills, kittiwakes and puffins, and my first ever choughs at St. David's Head.
Thanks Greenlady, your kind comments are very much appreciated. I'm glad that you've had the chance to experience a Gannet colony first hand, an experience which I'm sure will stay with you for a very long time.
No luck finding Avocets so had to content myself with vid footage of a couple of Curlews, Little Egret & Oystercatchers! Was good but blowing a south westerly 'hooley' that nearly took my head off!!
2013 photos & vids here
eff37 on Flickr
Sorry that you never got to see your Avocets, Wendy, perhaps another day. I wouldn’t be too disappointed with Curlews, Oystercatchers and a Little Egret though, especially the Little Egret. Maybe your ‘Hooley’ will blow the Little Egret up my way, which would be nice; I’ve never seen one before. Curlews are starting to re-appear in numbers over at Loch Leven now. A few weeks back a decent sized flock of them were being spooked into the air by a pair of Peregrines and their youngster. I didn't see any successful attacks and I only managed to get a few heavily cropped shots of the Peregrines in action. Still, I can’t complain, it was fantastic (and quite difficult) to see them swooping down from the hillside in their attempts at getting lunch. My point is….any and all birds are much better than no birds at all.!! :-)
Peregrine Falcon retreating after an unsuccessful attack.
Great image of Peregrine PA, blows up really well!
Am very lucky to have a herd of Curlews at Pegwell Bay & multiple Little Egrets too but they can be quite far away & difficult to capture clearly in the exposed & often windy conditions ... but it's fun trying!!
Edit: Couple of vids just uploaded to YT which I will post on here for you to see
Curlews
Oystercatcher
Little Egret
Was pleased to be able to get clearer views from the balcony of the local hostelry on the clifftop overlooking the bay ... & I only had a pot of tea - honest!!
Am sure you will empathise PA ... definitely not the continued success of yesterday!
Skipper of Grove Ferry river boat reported sightings of Kingfisher & Marsh Harriers on Stodmarsh NNR reserve so, after depositing incapacitated OH at the local Inn, I went walkabout with small cam (20x) & saw something promising flying then landing on a five-bar gate well into distance ... got all excited thinking must be MH ------ this is what I got
Even a vid
Well .... it might have been!!!
Fantastic videos Wendy. I’m still a wee bit envious of the Egret but I especially liked the Curlews, it’s fascinating to watch them using those curved bills to probe for food. I have a decent set of reasonably large speakers linked to my PC (which I had accidently turned the volume up on) so when the music started at the beginning of the Curlew video it gave me quite a fright. Thanks you so very much for that.!! I do sympathise with you in your search for the Marsh Harriers, you just can’t win ‘em all. There was a Bean Goose over at Loch Leven at the weekend. I got the briefest of glimpses of it from the scopes in the visitor centre but when I walked back down to the hides…..nothing.!! Anyway, perhaps this will cheer you up a bit. :-)
Paul A said:Anyway, perhaps this will cheer you up a bit. :-)
Dickered for a minute about sending you link for Pete Seeger ' The Old Grey Goose' but too sad!
Sorry about music fright ... had to cover up even worse soundtrack!!