We went to Bow Fiddle Rock...
... and then headed along to Findochty.
By then it had warmed up considerably, so we sat outside and enjoyed the view.
Wednesday, 10 July 2013
A day on the coast
A couple of weeks ago we went for a day out on the Moray coast. It was pretty cold, but I still went for a paddle in the sea at Cullen - to see if the salt water would help my heel. I only lasted a minute or so as it was so cold I already couldn't feel my feet by then!
We went to Bow Fiddle Rock...
We went to Bow Fiddle Rock...
Saturday, 29 June 2013
Aberdeen Harbour
We've been to Aberdeen Harbour to see the dolphins a few times now. As well as viewing the harbour from Torry ...
... it's interesting to walk the end of the harbour near Fittie where the marine operations centre is.
The new Marine Operations Centre was opened in 2006. There they manage over 17,000 vessel arrivals and departures each year - so it's a busy place!
The pilots often escort boats in and out.
The old harbour operations building is the "Roundhouse" - it was the Navigation Control Centre and was in operation 24 hours a day for more than two centuries until it was superceded by the new Marine Operations Centre in 2006.
Some bonnie sunsets around the harbour...
Walking back along the prom looking out to sea we can sometimes now see dolphins - now that we know where to look! Having said that, they are definitely much easier to spot from the higher vantage point afforded by the Torry Battery. But still, they're there...
I even managed to catch a kayaker (or body boarder?) and 2 dolphins in this one. I wonder if he spotted the dolphins too?
(The black dot/ dolphin like shape towards the left has a yellow board under it - it can clearly be seen to be a person on a board in the large version of this photo.)
... it's interesting to walk the end of the harbour near Fittie where the marine operations centre is.
The new Marine Operations Centre was opened in 2006. There they manage over 17,000 vessel arrivals and departures each year - so it's a busy place!
The pilots often escort boats in and out.
The old harbour operations building is the "Roundhouse" - it was the Navigation Control Centre and was in operation 24 hours a day for more than two centuries until it was superceded by the new Marine Operations Centre in 2006.
Some bonnie sunsets around the harbour...
Walking back along the prom looking out to sea we can sometimes now see dolphins - now that we know where to look! Having said that, they are definitely much easier to spot from the higher vantage point afforded by the Torry Battery. But still, they're there...
I even managed to catch a kayaker (or body boarder?) and 2 dolphins in this one. I wonder if he spotted the dolphins too?
(The black dot/ dolphin like shape towards the left has a yellow board under it - it can clearly be seen to be a person on a board in the large version of this photo.)
Friday, 28 June 2013
A walk round Fittie
We've visited Fittie a few times - or Footdee to give it it's "Sunday name".
It's a lovely wee village just by the harbour in Aberdeen, and was in the news a while back as it got covered in sea foam during stormy weather.
I loved the chimneys...
The new harbour building can be seen across the rooftops.
Fittie is full of character...
Well worth a visit if you're in Aberdeen.
It's a lovely wee village just by the harbour in Aberdeen, and was in the news a while back as it got covered in sea foam during stormy weather.
I loved the chimneys...
The new harbour building can be seen across the rooftops.
Fittie is full of character...
Well worth a visit if you're in Aberdeen.
Saturday, 15 June 2013
The dolphins of Aberdeen
I've been to see the bottlenose dolphins at Aberdeen Harbour a few times over the last month, and today they really put on a show.
I've heard about the dolphins there before, and know lots of people who regularly see them from the Northlink (now Serco unfortunately) ferry, but I've never seen them there, despite travelling on that boat many times.
Recently I heard that the RSPB were encouraging people to go dolphin spotting there, and it's one of their "Date with Nature" sites for the summer, being manned a few days a week, where you can learn more about the work of the RSPB and borrow binoculars and spotting scopes.
We first went there when my parents came up to visit, and spotted our first dolphin within seconds. We've now been back another 3 times, and - apart from the visit where it was totally mosty and we could barely see the large boats going in and out of the harbour, let alone dolphins - on each visit we've seen dolphins within seconds of arriving!
They've not always been as active as they were today, but on each occasion we have seen at least one jumping out of the water.
Here's some photos to set the scene...
More to follow later...
I've heard about the dolphins there before, and know lots of people who regularly see them from the Northlink (now Serco unfortunately) ferry, but I've never seen them there, despite travelling on that boat many times.
Recently I heard that the RSPB were encouraging people to go dolphin spotting there, and it's one of their "Date with Nature" sites for the summer, being manned a few days a week, where you can learn more about the work of the RSPB and borrow binoculars and spotting scopes.
We first went there when my parents came up to visit, and spotted our first dolphin within seconds. We've now been back another 3 times, and - apart from the visit where it was totally mosty and we could barely see the large boats going in and out of the harbour, let alone dolphins - on each visit we've seen dolphins within seconds of arriving!
They've not always been as active as they were today, but on each occasion we have seen at least one jumping out of the water.
Here's some photos to set the scene...
More to follow later...
Saturday, 20 April 2013
Late spring
With all of the bad weather, spring is so late this year. I was in Wales recently, and hardly saw any seabirds - even where I'd expected to see them based on friends' experiences. Places where I know there's lots of nesting birds had none, yet I was sure there had been some fulmars, guillemots, etc at Bullers of Buchan in Aberdeenshire a few weeks ago, so the birds had certainly been starting to reinhabit the cliffs then.
Last weekend we set off for Troup Head, one of our regular visiting spots, to see if the gannets had started nesting yet. There were some - but not many yet. I'd have expected a few more for this time of year, but given teh late spring the numbers probably weren't too bad. At least they were there, and not washing in dead on beaches as has been happening with puffins at places like Balmedie.
There were big rafts of fulmars just offshore. These ones were forming ever-changing patterns as they were carried on the swells.
It was sunny, but extremely windy on top of the cliffs, and we couldn't sit at our favourite 'viewing spot' as it wouldn't have been safe.
Instead we moved further along the coast and found some shelter behind some gorse, where we could both enjoy the coconut smell of the gorse, and the clear views along the coast towards Pennan and Fraserburgh.
Last weekend we set off for Troup Head, one of our regular visiting spots, to see if the gannets had started nesting yet. There were some - but not many yet. I'd have expected a few more for this time of year, but given teh late spring the numbers probably weren't too bad. At least they were there, and not washing in dead on beaches as has been happening with puffins at places like Balmedie.
There were big rafts of fulmars just offshore. These ones were forming ever-changing patterns as they were carried on the swells.
It was sunny, but extremely windy on top of the cliffs, and we couldn't sit at our favourite 'viewing spot' as it wouldn't have been safe.
Instead we moved further along the coast and found some shelter behind some gorse, where we could both enjoy the coconut smell of the gorse, and the clear views along the coast towards Pennan and Fraserburgh.
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