About “Bass Rock gannets rock”

Here’s a painting of Northern gannets (Morus bassanus) nesting on the steep ledges of Bass Rock, a volcanic outcrop in the Firth of Forth, Scotland. It’s the largest colony of Northern gannets in the world attracting tens of thousands of birds every spring.  Sir David Attenborough has described Bass Rock as “one of the 12 wildlife wonders of the world”. I would agree! The sheer numbers – the biomass, the squawking, the activity, and the graceful beauty of each bird is deeply impressive.

The gannets get their latin name Morus bassanus from the rock itself. Morus comes from the Ancient Greek moros, which means “foolish”. Of course, they are not foolish – they are incredible! As a sea bird, they lack fear when approached by humans which enables them to be easily captured.

Visiting the gannetry

We first visited Bass Rock in 2022. And despite the gannetry being hit badly by avian flu, there were still thousands of birds to watch, busy building their nests, reaffirming their bonds, taking off, landing, and wheeling about on the breeze overhead. It was such a wonderful experience, we returned in 2023 for another look! We took the 1.5 hour boat trip with Sula from North Berwick harbour, which also takes in the lively seabird colony of puffins, guillemots, razorbills and other species at Craigleith Island.

We stayed at the very comfortable and totally gorgeous Seaholm B&B in North Berwick, from where you can see Bass Rock, just three miles offshore. Lorena took great pride in providing superb rooms with every detail thought out, but also serving exquisite breakfasts. Highly recommended!

The original painting is in watercolour on 600gsm paper size 365 x 365 mm.

A digital image is available now for self-printing for one-off domestic or personal use only. Read more about this option.