Puffin Cruise

On Sunday, Alette and I went on a Puffin Cruise. It was from 9am till noon, leaving from South Queensferry, and was put on by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). Faithful blog readers will know doubt recall our previous adventures in South Queensferry, but despite packing for cold, damp weather, it was a beautiful, sunny day; perfect for a boat ride on the Firth of Forth.

Click on the picture above to see our photos. Our digital camera is reasonably good for taking scenic shots, but not necessarily for capturing the wildlife along the water. Suffice to say we saw herring gulls, lesser black-backed gulls, great black-backed gulls, fulmars, gannets, Arctic terns, guillemots, razorbills, cormorants, shags, eiders, oystercatchers, common scoter ducks, and of course, puffins (which are smaller, and cuter, than you might imagine). We also saw grey seals and common seals. (Don't worry, we didn't mention we were Canadian when conversations shifted to seals.)

The islands that we cruised past were interesting for historic as well as ecological reasons. As you can see in the photos, there are ruins perched on a number of the islands. While most of the structures date from the second world war, the Abbey on Inchcolm Island dates from the medieval period. The islands we visited were Inchgarvie (formerly tied to the Forth Rail Bridge), Inchcolm (with a history of religious inhabitation dating back to the 9th century), Inchkeith (which has been used for military purposes since at least the 14th century), and Inchmickery (which was made into a boat decoy during WWII).