Fowlsheugh

15/05/09

Fowlsheugh

6th May 2009. There's not a lot I can say about today's expedition. Anyone who is familiar with Fowlsheugh will know all the superlatives that can be applied to the place. The giddy heights, the flowers on the cliff top, the stench, the birds. The cliff face is composed of red sandstone and conglomerate, affectionately known as pudding stone. There is a myriad of ledges, and round holes where boulders have dropped out, and every one is occupied by a nesting Guillemot or Razorbill. The more grassy shelves are the homes of Fulmars and Kittiwakes. All told, it is a spectacle that never fails to impress. Apart from the birds on the cliff, thousands more patrol up and down the mile long face, and yet more rest, mere dots, on the sea two hundred feet below.


It is a marvellous spot for the bird photographer. I would have spent more time there but the weather was going rapidly downhill. The cloudless sky at breakfast time soon gave way to grey scudding clouds and a rising wind. The cliff top is not a good place to be in a big wind. Then the rain arrived, just as I was at the furthest point from the car, looking in vain for one of the few Puffins that nest in their burrows there. But I had seen two Great Skuas, or Bonxies to use their Shetlandic name. They would have been hoping to bully the auks into handing over their lunch. Sadly for them, there were no fish being landed today, so they had to go away empty bellied.


The rest of the day was spent dodging the worst of the rain. I was looking for my first Common Whitethroat of the year, and looked at St. Cyrus, Montrose Basin and Usan, all without success. When the rain did eventually clear, I went back to St. Cyrus and had a walk through the reserve, but the wind was so strong that hardly any birds were showing. I might just as well have gone home early.