August Sea Watching

I have snatched the odd half hour to gaze out to sea through my telescope.  Other bird watchers in the area were seeing all sorts of birds that I could add to my list, some of them would be 'lifers' for me.   Shearwaters, Skuas and Petrels were the targets.  Any of the Shearwaters and any of the Petrels would have been additions to the list as it was I have only been able to add Pomarine Skua

Pomarine Skua 15/8/2017

 There were quite a few other sea birds passing across the 'scopes lens.  I was able to capture some of them through the camera lens as well.

Fulmar

Gannets

Great Skua

Great Black-backed Gull

Gannet Fishing

There was even the occasional Grey Heron.....

Grey Heron

 ....and quite frequently a fishing boat

FR249 'Grateful', a new addition to the fleet

 

 Total on list 201

Troup Head

I make a point of going to Troup Head at least once a year.  It is the only mainland Gannetry in Scotland and it is right on our door step. Just15 miles away.  So on 28th June I went for the first time this year.

The views are amazing

Looking across Pennan Bay

 That cliff face is full of sea birds nesting.  Kittiwakes, Guillemots and Razorbills

Rosehearty and Fraserburgh

Kinnaird Head Lighthouse is on the horizon.

The bird life is even more spectacular.  I didn't go for the year list, but to get photos.  The first bird I saw was a Yellow/Black Duck

Yellow/Black Duck

Two years ago when I was chair of Fraserburgh Tourism Group we had a campaign all about yellow plastic ducks.  To find out more visit the Facebook page we set up.  The campaign got people going round some of the tourist attractions in the area and it raised over £300 for the Willows Animal Sanctuary.  People were able to bur a yellow duck for a £1 which was donated to the sanctuary.  You can still see some of these ducks around the area.  Coloured ducks were placed at visitor attractions in the area and people were encouraged to find them.  A sort of 'coloured duck trail'.  The one at Troup Head was black and I was surprised to see that it was still there albeit in a rather sorry state.  A special thanks goes to Malcolm Stewart from St Combs who started the whole thing off.  A spin off was Fraser the big Duck.  He has his own facebook page and like the yellow ducks dose quite a lot of travelling.

But enough of that.  This blog is about Troup Head.  Of course Gannets are the birds to photograph at Troup Head.  So that is what I did. 

It is not possible to get an idea of the size of the colony from the cliff top.  The photos above show only a fraction of the birds there.  In 2014 there were 6.500 nesting pairs.  In addition non breeding birds are present as well.  The best way to get a sense of the size of the colony by boat.  There are a couple of boats that do Troup Head trips from Macduff.  The one I have been on is Puffin Cruises.  The colony is growing.  every year there are new nest sites being occupied.  If you go on a boat trip try to get the skipper to go a little further than Troup Head and across Pennan Bay.  Although you might see Puffins at Troup Head (I saw one on this visit) there is a big colony of them on the other side of the bay.

There was a fairly strong North Easterly wind on this visit This created a problem that birds going from right to left went quickly.  The photos were fairly boring

But some had added interest.  Nest building was an ongoing activity

The problem was far outweighed by the benefit of seeing them land into the wind. They had to hang in the air while they picked the landing site.

Add caption

 This grassy area on the cliff top was a favourite place for collecting grass

Getting a photo of a bird feet dangling and wings up in isolation was a challenge but with trial and error, finding the right place and patience it could be done.

There were other shots to take.

More nest material collection

Courtship displays

Young Gannets

And  classic poses that didn't quite come off

Pity about the pole!

Four Feet

Not All in the Frame

Gannets did not have the cliffs to themselves.

Fulmars were equally at home in the air

Razorbills and Guillemots clung to the cliff ledges

Rock Pipits and Humans teetered on the edge

There are two birds I have not mentioned.  One, a Great Skua I  saw as I was on my way back to the car.  Something made me turn round and look towards the sea.  I managed to get on the camera but only just.

The other was an Arctic Skua which I didn't get on camera.  I watched it out at sea through binoculars harassing a guillemot returning from a fishing trip. Both were twisting an turning like fighter pilots in a dog fight.  But Arctic Skua as a year tick.

Total on list 193

10th January Fraserburgh Harbour

I didn't go far today or stay out for long.  Domestic chores got in the way.

Fraserburgh Harbour is a fishing port.  There are small inshore boats that do line fishing and lobster and crab creels on the season.  There are bigger sea going boats that trawl for white fish and shellfish.  Then there are the big ones, the pelagic fleet that hunt for mackerel
and herring.  It is a busy fishing port second only in the UK to Peterhead a few miles down the coast.  As a result it is full of seabirds.  At this time of year Herring Gulls and Great Black-backed Gulls predominate.  There are a few Black-headed Gulls and occasionally, especially in the winter some arctic gulls.  But not today.  There is only one bird to add to the year list, Gannet.  They don't come into the harbour but can often be seen out at sea rounding Kinnaird Head.

Gannet

The harbour also has its resident Grey Seals.  Each with its own territory which it has to fight to maintain.

 Grey Seal

 Here are a couple of photos the other birds of the harbour

Turnstone

Black-headed Gull

Total on list 81