Boat Trip To Craigleith and Bass Rock : 15 Jul 2011
We went up to Scotland in the middle of July to visit relatives but I was also aware that there was only another week or so to go before the Puffins would leave the islands in the Firth of Forth off the east coast of Scotland and then they would be out in the open sea for another year. In order to get really good views of thousands of Puffins we would have to go to the Isle of May but the Bass Rock was the first place on our itinerary. The boat trips to both islands are run by the Scottish Seabird Centre.
Bass Rock is an amazing place itself and not to be missed. It is one of the largest Gannetries in Britain being home to around 150,000 Gannets each year. The Gannets arrive around late February to early March and those that bred last year on the Rock will pair up again and start nesting and producing their one egg. This will go on every year until one of them dies when the other bird may take up another partner. By October the juveniles will leave the Rock and set off for the western coast of Africa. For these juveniles it will be a couple of years before they return to the Bass Rock to start nesting and mating on their own account but the adults will return again the following January to start all over again.