Taexalia

wild.life

Romancing The Stone


Can you tell the difference between these two pictures?

They are both pictures of the Bass Rock, an extinct volcanic plug, which rises from the Firth of Forth just off the coast of North Berwick. Regular viewers may recognise it :)

But can you tell the difference between the pictures??

Well the top one was taken on a beautiful day in December and the bottom one was taken today. The difference is that in the second one there are Gannets!!! Yay! We are proud to present the beginnings of this year's exciting action, first reported by the Scottish Seabird Centre on the 20th - the return of the 150,000 Gannets who use the Bass Rock as a breeding ground each year.

We took a trip to the Seabird Centre today to see the birds up close via their live cams and telescopes, and we could see some of the birds had already returned to their nesting places (same place every year), whilst others are still circling the Bass waiting for their mate to arrive (they pair for life and can live for around 37 years).

Here are a couple of pics from 2007 to let you see just what 150,000 Gannets on the Bass Rock look like:

Can you see the white coating and the birds in the air?

This is how the whole rock looks up close... it's very crowded...
You might notice some of the birds Billing - Gannet kisses strengthen the bonds between mates, which is understandable in such a large colony.

And this is a baby Gannet :)

I am now looking forward to watching this year's Gannet season unfold!

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Posted on February 26, 2008 in Uncategorized.

One Response to “Romancing The Stone”

  1. Anonymous says:
    February 27, 2008 at 10:24 am

    Hi – lovely to see your gannet photos. I’m looking out of my window from the Seabird Centre at the moment on the most stunning stormy, sunny day and watching a small group of gannets diving into the sea. It’s great to see them back, hopefully we should see lots more arriving every day. We’re adding a guest book to our website this week, so would be delighted to receive lots of comments.
    Best wishes
    Lynda Dalgleish, Marketing Manager, the Scottish Seabird Centre

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