Bass Rock gannets

The Bass Rock has a habit of creeping up and jumping out at you when you are walking along the East Lothian coast, as happened here. It lies north east of North Berwick. I was with my walking group doing the last part of the John Muir Way from East Linton to Dunbar and, at eight miles, it was the longest walk I've done since dislocating my hip for the second time. My hip and back protested afterwards but then settled down later that day, I'm pleased to report. As so often happens, the weather was better than forecast and we had some sunshine for the last part of the walk.

This isn't the clearest photo ever but you should be able to see white dots around the Bass Rock - these are Northern gannets, and the Bass Rock holds the world record for the largest breeding colony of these birds. The latest figures (taken in 2014) showed a 24% increase from the previous count in 2009. You can see the plumage of the gannets shining in the hazy sunshine, and it will shine brighter when more gannets have returned.