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  • Fowlsheugh

Fowlsheugh

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Address
RSPB Fowlsheugh, Crawton, Stonehaven AB39 2TP
Grid ref
NO879808
What3Words
frightens.kiosk.strike

The spectacular cliffs at Fowlsheugh are packed with more than 130,000 breeding seabirds during the spring and summer months. These include guillemots, razorbills and kittiwakes, along with some puffins and fulmars too. If you're lucky, you might also spot grey seals and dolphins in the water here.

Plan your visit

Opening times

Please note parking is limited at the reserve. If the car park is full please come back on a different day and do not block local resident or emergency vehicle access by parking on the road sides.

Trails open at all times.

Entrance charges

Free entrance to RSPB members
Yes
Adults
Free, but donations are very welcome.
Children
Free, but donations are very welcome.

Facilities

  • Car park
  • Guided walks
  • Viewing point
  • Nature trails
  • Educational facilities

Accessibility

  • Full accessibility information (external website)

How to get here

By train

Nearest station is Stonehaven. From Stonehaven train station, take the A92 southbound for 3 miles (4.8 km), then take the turning on the left signed for Crawton. The reserve is at the end of this road.

By bus

Request bus stop at start of road to Crawton (Stonehaven to Johnshaven route) - just over a mile's walk to the reserve.

By bike

This reserve is one mile from Route 1 of the National Cycle Network.

By road

The reserve is 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Stonehaven. On the A92 heading south from Stonehaven, take the turning on the left signed for Crawton. The reserve car park is just before the end of this road; car parking facilities are limited, and unsuitable for coaches or caravans. Please do not park in the passing places.

Sat nav POI file: If you have a satellite navigation system that can accept POI files, please see our POI page for a download link and instructions.

Get directions from Google Maps
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Schools booking information

Any enquiries should be made to the East Scotland Regional Office. Tel: 01224 624824, email: esro@rspb.org.uk

Contact Fowlsheugh

  • RSPB, Loch of Strathbeg, Starnafin, Crimond, Fraserburgh. Aberdeenshire. AB43 8QN
  • strathbeg@rspb.org.uk
  • 01346 532017
  • Find us on facebook

What will you see?

Our star species

    Flying adult Fulmar illustration

    Fulmar

    Watch for their trademark stiff-winged flight around the cliffs.

    Guillemot illustration

    Guillemot

    Although ungainly above water, underwater they become agile and manoeuvrable.

    kittiwake adult

    Kittiwake

    Visit Fowlsheugh in spring and early summer and your ears will be filled with their unmistakable calls.

    Puffin, adult in summer plumage

    Puffin

    Enjoy the comical antics of puffins in spring and early summer from the viewing points on the cliffs.

    Razorbill, summer plumage

    Razorbill

    Razorbills spend most of their lives at sea in the Atlantic, only coming to land to breed between March and July.

Nature spectacles

The largest mainland seabird colony on the east coast of Scotland, this impressive seabird colony contains populations of some of Scotland’s most iconic and favourite birds including guillemots, razorbills, kittiwakes and a small numbers of puffins.  Offshore, seals, dolphins and other cetaceans contribute to the unique and stunning nature of Fowlsheugh.

Seasonal highlights

  • Spring
  • Summer
  • Autumn
  • Winter

Watch out for the returning seabirds as they find their nests on the ledges. Pick out a puffin near their clifftop burrows. Look out to sea for gannets and skuas. Spot a passing dolphin or even a minke whale!

Enjoy the sights and smells of the spectacular seabird city. Look for the small farmland birds, such as linnets and meadow pipits, on the clifftop. Listen to the thrilling song of the skylarks. Admire the colourful summer flowers.

Check the water off-shore for red-throated divers and sea ducks like scoters and eiders.

Spot the grey seals hauled out on Craiglethy Island. Look for the new seal pups on the beach at Trelung Ness. Watch out for the fulmars returning to the cliffs in February.

About Fowlsheugh

Habitat

A colourful coastal cliff top walk over grassland to view thousands of seabirds with a stunning backdrop of 30-metre sea cliffs should not be missed. Although the seabird experience is limited to May to early August, Fowlsheugh provides a great walk for all months of the year. A small shelter at the end of the trail overlooks the breeding ledges. The cliffs, mostly basalt and conglomerates of Old Red Sandstone, form a rock face with innumerable holes and ledges, providing ideal sites for cliff nesting seabirds.

Conservation

  • Counting seabirds - We aim to maintain the whole seabird colony at numbers around 123,000 individuals, including increased numbers of guillemots, razorbills, fulmars and kittiwakes. We are also working to boost the herring gull population and to maintain small numbers of puffins and shags.
  • Colony care - We are working to minimise disturbance to the colony during the breeding season, with cliff-top signposting for visitors and an agreed protocol for boats at the cliff face. We will also enhance visitor safety by maintaining steps and footpaths, installing trail markers, rerouting any hazardous sections of the cliff edge path, and providing clear warning signs.

Site information

Running for around three kilometres along the coast, Fowlsheugh is part of a wider SPA designated for its number of seabirds. It lies within two SSSIs – the main one, Fowlsheugh SSSI, is a 1.8km length of sheer 30 to 60-metre cliffs, with a narrow strip of clifftop grasslands. The second, a section of the cliff at the southern end, is included within Crawton Bay SSSI.

The site has been owned and managed as a reserve by The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) since 1976.

Please note there are livestock on neighbouring land and you may encounter them on your visit here.

RSPB Scotland welcomes responsible access, in line with the Scottish Outdoor Access Code.

Latest forum posts

  • Fowlsheugh 2017

    Hello all I've been quiet since last season but now started visiting Fowlsheugh again. Twice so far and rewarded with some nice images. Taken this morning

    Posted 11/06/2017 by Gary Watt
  • cliff top on 4 June 13

    An excellent evening stroll along the cliff top was rewarded with views of puffins and dolphins. Lots of the usual culprits too. Then the haar rolled in.

    Posted 06/06/2013 by davidnofish
  • Fowlesheugh trip last Saturday

    Weather was great. Dolphins out to sea and Great Skua feeding on auks corpse at the bottom of the cliff. Building up for a good summer season I hope.

    Posted 25/04/2013 by CasualBirder
  • Reserve Open As Normal

    The new footbridge is now in place and the reserve is open as normal. The new footbridge is slightly downstream from the old crossing so there is currently no boardwalk from the stream edge to the steps and that section of the path can be quite muddy...

    Posted 22/04/2013 by DianaS
READ OUR FORUM

Latest blog posts

  • The seabird season starts again!

    Over the summer months the cliffs at Fowlsheugh become home to thousands and thousands of seabirds. Having spent the winter out in the Atlantic the razorbills, guillemots, kittiwakes, fulmars and the odd puffin or two have returned to our shores to b...

    Posted 29/06/2018 by Lorna Dow
  • Woo hoo! Fowlsheugh's been awarded a Certificate of Excellence!

    We're excited to announce that Fowlsheugh has been awarded a Certificate of Excellence on TripAdvisor! We are really grateful to everyone who takes the time to give us feedback and really pleased to read all your nice comments. We can only take some ...

    Posted 09/07/2016 by Kirsty Nutt
  • A surprisingly good year for Fowlsheugh's seabirds

    Derren Fox and Kirsty Nutt describe the seabird breeding season success at both Fowlsheugh and Troup Head and why Scotland's seabirds are still struggling. On a day like this, summer feels a long time ago... but it’s nice to think back to those long,...

    Posted 13/11/2015 by Kirsty Nutt
  • June 13th

    Eleven "dancing walkers" (or is that "walking dancers"?) joined Mark on a calm, warm and eventually sunny evening on the cliffs. Before we started I was told that they really, really wanted to see Puffins - so no pressure!! We talked about the impact...

    Posted 14/06/2013 by Mark
read our blog

Activities and events

Leisure activities

Aberdeenshire Coastal Trail long-distance path runs inland of the reserve. Other ad hoc activities include scuba diving at Trollochy and Spurnell’s Cove.

For more information on events and to book tickets, please visit events.rspb.org.uk/fowlsheugh

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