6 August

6th August

Another day in Edinburgh.

Early-ish start for a drive to th Scottish Seabird Park (near North Berwick).

The weather was the usual mixed bag.  Moments of beautiful sunshine, intermingled with rain and overcast.  Whilst overcast, the temperature droppped to single figures.  Summer in Scotland!

We took a boat trip out onto the Firth of Forth.  We were looking for Puffins but had no success.  There were plenty of commorants, and gannets (maybe 150,000!).  It was not safe to look upward with your mouth open in awe!

From a distance the island looks like it is covered in snow when in fact it is home to an extremely large colony of gannets.

 There were birds everywhere. It was noisy, smelly and amazing. They are very good of using all spaces.

 The island is about 2 kilometres offshore and our New Zealand guide was very knowledgable.
When we returned to the centre we were able to look around at their many displays. They even have web - cameras set up on the island so you can view the activity from the comfort of home or in the centre.

We had a lovely lunch at Longniddry and a quiet afternoon.  We developed a cunning plan for our sojourn into the highlands.  Tomorrow, we're off.