Image of Bass Rock which home to over 150,000 gannets at the peak of the season. This was taken from vantage point of Dunbar.
Following information sourced from Scottish Seabird Centre, North Berwick
The Bass Rock is home to the world’s largest colony of Northern gannets. The gannets spend most of the year on the Bass, arriving in late February and departing at the end of October. Next, they set out on their long journey down to the west coast of Africa. The lower ledges of the Bass are home to shags, guillemots and razorbills, with seals hauling up on the rocks below.
Northern gannets are one of Britain’s largest seabirds with a wingspan of up to 2 metres. They are bright white with distinctive black wingtips and a yellow head. When flying, they alternate between flapping and gliding, swooping low over the water. They feed by circling high above the waves, before folding their wings back. then they dive into the water headfirst at speeds of up to 60 miles per hour.
Following information sourced from Wikipedia
The island is a volcanic plug of phonolitic trachyte rock of Carboniferous (Dinantian) age. The rock was first recognised as an igneous intrusion by James Hutton. Hugh Miller visited in 1847 and wrote about the rock’s geology in his book Edinburgh and its Neighbourhood, Geological and Historical: with The Geology of the Bass Rock. It is one of a small number of islands off the East Lothian coast including the Islands of the Forth. To the west are Craigleith, and the Lamb, Fidra and finally to the west of Fidra, the low-lying island of Eyebroughy. These are also mainly the result of volcanic activity. To the northeast can be seen the Isle of May off the coast of the East Neuk of Fife.
Bass Rock stands more than 100 m (330 ft) high in the Firth of Forth Islands Special Protection Area. This covers some but not all of the islands in the inner and outer Firth. The Bass Rock is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in its own right, due to its gannet colony. It is sometimes called “the Ailsa Craig of the East”] It is of a similar age (c.340 million years), geological form and petrology to nearby North Berwick Law There are related volcanic formations on the adjacent island of Craigleith. Also within nearby Edinburgh, namely Arthur’s Seat, Calton Hill and Castle Rock.
Visiting Bass Rock
Boat trips are available from North Berwick.
More information.
For more information on Scottish geology, history and sightseeing please refer to Visitors’ Guide to Scotland.The ISBN is: 978-1-9161332-0-4. Also available via Kindle.