Monday 24 August 2015

Ailsa Craig Island (Part 7) - Gannets

Ailsa Craig lies about 10 miles off the Scottish coast and now the uninhabited site is colloquially known as "Paddy's milestone".  It was given the nickname because it is situated about half-way between Glasgow and Belfast, as the crow flies.  Now if anyone is interested, it is up for sale and the price has been reduced from £2.5m to £1.5m however I 'heard' a government trust may be buying it.  It is currently owned by the Scottish peer Archibald Angus Charles Kennedy, the 8th Marquess of Ailsa. 


                                                       Gannet 


PLEASE REMEMBER - ALL stills and video taken from moving boat in mist!





At last, after nearly 2 hour, Ailsa Craig appears out of the mist.

The dome-shaped land mass in the Firth of Clyde rises to 1100 ft above sea-level.  Geologists believe the island is a "plug" left behind from an extinct volcano.


The 220 acre site boasts a ruined castle, a small cottage, a lighthouse and a granite quarry which I will show you later in the week


Ailsa Craig is also home to one of the largest Gannet colonies in the world, with about 70,000 that breed on the island.


The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) looks after the colony, which it describes as a "bustling seabird city, with Gannets, Puffins, Black Guillemots, Common Guillemots, Razorbills, Shags, Kittiwakes, Gulls and Peregrines are some of the special residents".



CLICK HERE if the video does not appear below.  



Thank you for stopping by and I hope no one is sea sick as there are lots more to come this week.  I did my best to take photogrpahs in this small moving rib.

I am linking this post with THROUGH MY LENS. NR 4

Many thanks for all who leave comments.

22 comments:

  1. What an absolutely magical place.
    If I had the necesssary 'small change' I would certainly consider the purchase. A girl can dream. A girl should dream...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Really gorgeous scenery and the birds are such a stunning sight.

    Mersad
    Mersad Donko Photography

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow, Margaret, your still are beautiful, given the circumstances in which you took them. And it was great to hear the gannets. What a lot of birds together! Thanks for "missing" me and your kind words while I was off-sick!. Ambrose, of course doesn't know how to turn on my notebook (LOL) so didn't post either! I seem to be back on track now again and catching up.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I hope there are many restrictions in place with regard to the sale of the island so that it remains such an important breeding place. Your stills were excellent amazed they were from a moving boat.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great series of images especially since taken in less then favourable conditions. The flight shots are amazing but I also like the colony images

    ReplyDelete
  6. They are so graceful in flight! Tom The Backroads Traveller

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hello Margaret, awesome post. I love the Gannets and would love to see this colony. I hope the island is kept as a reserve for the Gannets. Have a happy day and new week ahead!

    ReplyDelete
  8. how thrilling...i think the anticipation was worth the wait!! the gannets are so very beautiful, with their perfectly painted faces!!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi! The gannet photo is very beautiful.The bustling seabird city photos are very stunning. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Amazing what a camera in the hands of someone who knows what they are doing can capture! Thanks for the ride along and looking forward to the next post. No need for pills this time! Blessings.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Wow - that's a lot of birds! Nice shots of them flying through the air.

    ReplyDelete
  12. The mist is what gives the pictures such atmosphere

    ReplyDelete
  13. How enchanting this place is.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Great post and photos Margaret - I love gannets and I love tiny islands :) Super photo of the island looming out of the mist - it looks like something out of a Famous Five book!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I have never seen this bird before and I enjoyed so much looking at your pictures. This bird is beautiful in her flight! Amazing photographs! I came to look at these birds from Lens My Lens.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Oh what a delightful post! Your gannets are wonderful on that rocky sliffside. You have sure stirred my imagination, thinking of somehow owning that incredible piece of rock with its ruined castle. sigh.

    ReplyDelete
  17. What a magical island. Did you get to land?

    ReplyDelete
  18. Amazing to see so many birds Margaret. Love the one in flight.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I'd like to buy it and proclaim my self king. Your pictures are exquisite!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Oh, my, I love these...but that last shot...it is something else. I don't know if it is zoomed in or if you just cropped a shot...whatever you did yielded excellent results.

    ReplyDelete
  21. You did a wonderful job of capturing these splendid shots. Love the video!

    ReplyDelete