Seabirds on the Farnes and the coast of South East Scotland

Visitors 40

The Farne Islands and Bamburgh Castle - Scottish Borders, Saint-Abbs - The Bass Rock, North Berwick - The Isle of May, Anstruther

The Farne islands are a group of islands off the coast of Northumbria. The islands have no permanent population.
In the warmer months the Farnes become an important wildlife habitat. Many Atlantic puffins can be seen, Arctic terns nest close to the walking trail and with no hesitation will attack visitors in defense of their breeding sites. On the Farnes, rabbit and puffin populations use the same burrows at different times, the "cute little puffins" being strong enough to chase the rabbits out of their burrows during the nesting season. Other breeding birds on the Farnes include fulmars, razorbills, shags, black-legged kittiwakes,...

Saint-Abbs in the Scottish Borders is a small fishing village on the southeastern coast of Scotland. The coastal waters of Saint-Abbs are unusually clear what makes it a popular site for scuba divers.

The Bass Rock is an island in the outer part of the Firth of Forth in the east of Scotland, approximately 2km offshore and 5km north-east of North Berwick. This steep-sided volcanic rock is home to a large colony of Northern gannets. When viewed from the mainland during the breeding season, large areas of the surface of Bass Rock appear white due to the sheer number of birds (and their droppings). Bass Rock gave the Northern gannet its scientific name, Morus Bassanus. The Bass is one of a string of small volcanic islands: to the west Craigleith, The Lamb and Fidra; to the north-east the Isle of May.

The Isle of May is situated in the north of the outer Firth of Forth, approximately 8km off the coast of mainland Scotland. During the breeding season over 200,000 seabirds nest on the island, including Atlantic puffins, black-legged kittiwakes, razorbills, guillemots, shags, fulmars, Arctic terns and lesser black-backed gulls.