The rugged cliffs of Northumberland stretch far north, over the border and into Scotland. St Abb's is a series of towering cliffs rising from the sea, and are protected for their sea bird colonies, as well as the surrounding marine environment. The sea bird colonies that reside here are smaller than those at the Farnes, and combined with a lateness in the season, it was fairly quiet. I pretty much thoroughly explored the area, taking a boat trip around the cliffs, and then later on in the day walking them.
I booked a boat trip for the morning, one that went from Eyemouth Harbour, out to sea and all the way to ST Abb's cliffs. It was for an hour and a half with on board commentary, and space to move. While waiting for the tour to start, hanging out in the harbour, I sported the distinctive shape of an OTTER, which promptly disappeared. While looking round the boats, a head broke from the depths of the green water, and suddenly an otter poked out, right below where I was standing. I managed to get a few photos, before he disappeared, I didn't have to zoom in to catch a picture of his face. Not a bad start, and considering it was a busy harbour, with lots of people and boats around, pretty magical.
The boat headed out of Eyemouth, and to begin with the landscape was nothing particularly interesting, as we passed the created "fishing" village of St Abb's. It was only after this point that the landscape began to change, as the cliffs force themselves out of the sea, to create some truly breathtaking scenery. The cliffs go high, stained white by the bird's droppings, with many numerous stacks and outlying islets. Created from volcanoes bursting forth from the molten layers below the Earth's crust, they were truly grand. The sea around these cliffs are now declared a marine reserve, meaning the seas the birds live on is now protected, and maybe fish stocks will recover enough to be able to support them again.
Bird-wise things were fairly quite with just a few GUILLEMOTS and RAZORBILLS about. Around June time they pile into these cliffs in their thousands, but today, at the tail end of the season, only a few birds were about. All the usual supporting cast were also seen. They were mainly KITTIWAKES flying around. These are our true "sea" gulls, coming to land only to raise young on our sea cliffs, before disappearing out to sea for the rest of the year. They are a truly understated bird, their clean, lack of distinctive plumage makes them easy to identify. SHAGS have a long nesting season, and there were still a lot of birds about, usually hanging round on the rocks on the water's edge. FULMARS are like gulls, but aren't related. They fly with stiff, unbent wings, and were less common. And finally there were plenty of GANNETS, a few birds have started to nest at St Abb's, having turned up last year, but there were still plenty of birds coming here from further up the coast. When flying together, they fly in a squadron, one bird flying after another in formation, making quite a sight.
After taking us around the cliffs, the boat headed back to Eyemouth. On the way back a HARBOUR PORPOISE broke through the water, giving us a brief glimpse of its fin. As we headed into the harbour, a GREY SEAL followed in our slipstream, thinking we were a fishing vessel, hoping we would throw a fish out to him. It looked an old boy, head full of scars, so was maybe to infirm to catch his own fish. We disembarked at Eyemouth, and I headed north to walk the cliffs that make up St Abbs' National Nature Reserve.
The cliff top path that makes its way over the undulating landscape of St Abb's is truly breathtaking. Its a moderate walk, I mean its steep, and there is a lot of walking uphill, but its not far, only an hour to the furthest part of the walk, the lighthouse. The path takes you high before making its way down to a small beach, before heading up again. Being advertised as the warmest day on record, the number of people walking was low, which suited me fine. Despite the heat, there was an offshore breeze and walking was fairly comfortable.
As I have stated before the number of birds on the cliffs was negligible, with just the usual rabble of late nesters hanging around. A tiny loch, long and thin, hemmed in on all sides by high ground, called Mire Loch, held a small number of TUFTED DUCK and LITTLE GREBE, while the COOT family there were either a second or third brood at this time of year. It was strange to think I saw a lesser scaup here last year. The loch is surrounded by a thick growth of reeds, where I saw a few BUNTINGS and WARBLERS. From the furthest point you can either walk back inland or head back down the coast path again, I chose the latter, because the views inspired me so much and I wanted to experience them again.
Maybe its something we take for granted but there are some truly breathtaking areas of our country. Add in with this breathtaking scenery an area bursting with life, areas that are truly fertile grounds for nature. And although being the end of the season things were fairly quiet, it still made up a truly grand day. If you're sitting there reading this blog, then make the effort to visit some place wild soon. It will do you the world of good.
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