MY visit to Burghead, east of Inverness, that was mentioned in this Country Diary last week was primarily after seaducks, to be more specific the scoters.
I was informed about them by the Weekly Newsletter from Birdguides and if you want to see their free newsletter online then visit www.birdguides.com. The newsletter told me that not only were there common and velvet scoters there but also two adult male surf scoters. As if this was not enough there was also a first winter king eider, in itself worth going for.
The surf scoter is a species I have never knowingly seen so it was with full anticipation that I approached the coast. I scanned the sea on all sides around the peninsular and saw not a single scoter. I can only think they were off elsewhere along this huge section of the Moray Firth to feed.
As some consolation there were a few drake eiders flying past and the occasional long-tailed duck but what stole the show for me were the gannets.
Gannets, one of my favourite seabirds, always remind me of the times I used to visit the great gannetries of St Kilda and Sula Sgeir. The latter's name of Sula is the same as the generic name of the gannet, Sula bassana and we named one of our dachsunds after this very remote island. Kilda was also the name we gave to the only dachshund dog, as opposed to bitches, we ever had.
The photograph shows a very small part of the gannetry on Sula Sgeir and there are a few chicks in the nests with some adults brooding theirs.
This island and the gannets are the setting for one of the biggest and most emotive aspects of birds in the UK. Every year, including 2011, under a strict licence from the Scottish Executive, local men from Ness, on the Isle of Lewis, go out and kill 2,000 young gannets, called "gugas" for food and they sell them back on Lewis. Some people say this is a tradition that goes back centuries and should be able to continue especially as the gannet numbers on Sula Sgeir are stable. Others say that it is one of the most barbaric of events and should be stopped.
There are pros and cons on both sides but the situation is reviewed every year by the various bodies concerned including Scottish Natural Heritage whose headquarters is in Inverness at Great Glen House.
Gannets are impressive birds by any standards and for me their size was put into perspective at Burghead by the gulls that were flying around them.
The old name of gannet is "solan goose" which perhaps gives an idea of their sheer size.
For me they always look like torpedoes when they flick sideways in the air before plunging headlong into the sea after fish. At Burghead these feeding birds were a long way out to start with but gradually moved in towards the shore during the time we were there.
There seemed to be as many young birds, birds of the year, as adults and it looked as though the adults were teaching the juveniles just how the fishing was done.
The young gannets take four years before they achieve their adult plumage and breed. During those years they show varying amounts of brown feathers starting with the very dark looking juveniles birds of the year that look black from a distance.
The best book, by far, on gannets is "The Atlantic Gannet" by Bryan Nelson second edition 2002.
Aquarium was a sight to behold
THE highlight of the week came from when I have persuaded myself to watch all the Autumn Watch programmes on BBC TV this time around.
Last week I was fascinated by the large marine aquarium they had in the studio. It reminded me of when I lived in Inverness some years ago and we had one room just filled with aquariums. There was also a very long aquarium in the lounge where we had brown trout and I used to like to watch them rise for the flies. The aquariums in the room were both cold water and tropical but my favourite by far was the large marine aquarium.
It was not strictly speaking a marine tank but what we called a rock pool aquarium. This was easier to keep as the variations in salinity content is not as critical as a full marine one. Imagine what variations from the tide and rainwater a rock pool along the coast has almost each day.
In that aquarium we had anemones, how I loved to see their tentacles as they were feeding. Then there were various crabs and a small fish, one of the blennies. This fish used to spend most of its time against the front glass as if it was posing.
However, by far the most impressive inhabitant was a single 15-spined stickleback. The fish was about 15 centimetres long and was by far the most impressive fish I have ever seen being so streamlined in appearance. I just wish I had taken up underwater photography.
Interestingly there are not very many places along the coast around the Highlands where there are suitable rock pools to see the wide variety of wildlife they support. One place is at Rosemarkie north-east of Inverness. The ideal time to go is at very low tides when the best rock pools are revealed.
These are ideal places to introduce children to wildlife and many of the inhabitants are easy to see from starfish to anemones and shrimps to crabs.
