Moray Firth coast

Gannets galore, part 2

Moray Firth coast: 19 January 2022 7 Comments

A pair of gannets on the cliff top at the RSPB’s Troup Head Reserve in July 2021.

When I visited the RSPB’s Troup Head Reserve in the middle of July in 2021, I was so impressed by the spectacle of mainland Scotland’s largest colony of gannets (Morus bassanus) that I returned for another visit with my wife a couple of weeks later, on 1st August. In the course of those two trips I was able to see and document a lot of the behaviour of the birds, as well as observing some of the other species that nest on the cliffs there, resulting in this blog extending to a second part.

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Gannets galore, part 1

Moray Firth coast: 13 January 2022 1 Comment

Gannets (Morus bassanus) in flight beside others with their chicks on a cliff at the RSPB’s Troup Head Reserve.

One of the highlights for me during the past year was the two visits I made in the summer to the RSPB’s Troup Head Reserve. Situated on the Aberdeenshire coast just east of Banff and about 60 miles from where I live at Findhorn, it is the site of mainland Scotland’s largest colony of gannets. Despite this relative proximity I’d not been there before so when a friend suggested a visit in the middle of July I was very happy to take him up on the invitation.

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