Scotland Holiday Day 11: Bass Rock 8th June 2016
After we left St Andrews, we drove to Musselburgh, our next family destination, but we were early enough that we decided to drive down to the Scottish Seabird Centre at North Berwick. Totally out of the blue Inoticed that there was a boat trip out to the Bass Rock in about an hour. Anne was not much bothered and wanted a shopping opportunity, so I sorted all my gear out and got a regular boat (not a RIB) out to the Bass Rock. This was the one thing I had missed getting the boat to the Isle of May from Anstruther as this omits Bass Rock, wheras the boat trips to May out of North Berwick take the rock in. Accordingly I was very pleased, on another lovely sunny day, to have a chance to get my full quota of Gannets for the holiday.
I also wanted to try my new Nikon D500 and 200-500mm lens combination. I had had a try out on the Isle of May but the boat trip there was so foggy that I could not get any decent pictures from the boat. Of course, the Bass Rock is usually not a landing trip so all my photos were taken from the boat. Thi time, however, it was not a RIB so it was a bit more stable if a bit more difficult due to the overhead rigging. In a RIB there is nothing above or around you except open air – and other passengers.
As usual it was a wonderful experience with plenty of Puffins and Guillemots and Razorbills on the water to add to the Gannet city, now estimated to be the biggest Gannetry in the world at 170,000 birds !
Bird Sightings : Bass Rock
| Species | Count |
|---|---|
| Northern Gannet | 170000 |
| European Shag | 20 |
| Common Guillemot | 500 |
| Razorbill | 40 |
| Atlantic Puffin | 60 |
| Herring Gull | 100 |
| Lesser Black-backed Gull | 50 |