Trip reports

Outdoor Meeting: TROUP HEAD

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Sunday, 5 July 2009

It was a gloriously sunny morning when around twelve of us assembled at Pennan village hall prior to our visit to Troup Head. Kenny Buchan our leader was very pleased with the weather, as were we all, this trip having been called off due to bad weather for the last couple of years.

On arriving at Troup Head we were greeted by the smell of hundreds of nesting birds; Gannet,Guillemot, Puffin, Razorbill, Fulmar and Kittiwake were all wheeling about the cliff colony. Singing Skylarks and bees and butterflies were everywhere. Out came the sun block as we settled down at the cliff edge for some excellent bird watching

It was then that we saw a pod of common porpoises not far off shore. Viewing was good as we were looking down on them. A dolphin was spotted briefly but at a distance. Then the call went up, minkie whale. As each person found the whale it became apparent that we were all looking in different directions. Yes we had more than one, probably three or four. I was amazed to see them logging, lying on the surface, as if doing a bit of sun bathing. I had never seen that before. We even had a sub-adult logging next to its mother.

After lunch the group split up, some going to the Portsoy Boat Fair and some heading off to Strathbeg to continue birding. All in all, an excellent day out and many thanks to Kenny for sorting out the weather. In all we saw fifty species of birds and three species of cetacean.
Dave Gill