Poor Visability

12th Mach 2017

Yesterday Lynn posted some great picture of Crossbills onto Facebook.  They were at Lenabo woods which isn't far away.  The other place I wanted to go to was the Bullers of Buchan to see what seabird had returned to nest on the cliffs.

Lenabo woods used to be an Airship base during the 1924 -18 war

Now it is huge conifer plantation but it has a fair number of deciduous trees as well.  Today it was rather damp and misty

 

It is a pity that historic and beautiful places like this are used as a dumping ground.  

 

Especially when there is a modern waste facility just a few miles away in Peterhead that takes all kinds of rubbish.

I didn't see any Crossbills but then it is a big forest and they do tend not to stay in the same place for long. I dad take a photo of a Chaffinch and as a sign of Spring some catkins

Chaffinch

Catkin

 The Bullers of Buchan are not far away but the closer you got to the sea the thicker the mist and fog became.

The Bullers of Buchan consists of nine fishing cottages in three rows.  The ones nearest to the sea are on the top of a cliff with only a footpath between them and a very long drop.

The cliffs are spectacular with many different rocky elements.  One, called 'The Pot' is a collapsed sea cave.  Today you could not see the bottom of it of the mouth of the 'cave'. through the fog.  To the South lies Slains Castle which was the inspiration for Bram Stokers 'Dracular'.  Samuel Johnson also visited the area.  Here is a link to his description of Slains Castle and the Bullers of Buchan.

Through the fog I could see that Guillemots and Razor bills had returned to the cliff face but not yet in great numbers.

Guillemots and Razorbills

Guillemots and Razorbills (clarified with the Lightroom Dehaze slider)

Guillemots and Razorbills

Kittiwakes were also present.

Kittiwake

Kittiwake

Herring Gulls had found nest sites towards the top of the cliffs where they are not so sheer and vegetation is taking hold.  I only saw one pair of Fulmars, again towards the top.  Shags nest low down near the waters edge and the fog was too thick to see any.

Herring Gulls

Fulmar

  The mist and fog was clearing as I drove home.  By the the afternoon when Jill and I went for a walk on Fraserburgh Esplanade the sky was blue and the sun was shining

Fraserburgh Harbour Beacon (the Golden Horn) and Two Paddle Surfers

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