About “A Northerly Breeze”

“A Northerly breeze” is a painting of gannets (Morus bassanus) wheeling on the wind. These distinctive large seabirds nest in huge colonies on offshore islands with cliffs. The cliffs enable them to get airborne more easily. “A Northerly breeze” shows the birds at Bass Rock, in the Firth of Forth, Scotland. It’s the largest gannet colony in the world attracting tens of thousands of birds every spring. They have a wingspan of nearly two metres on which they drift effortlessly on the northerly breezes. From up there, they seeking out shoals of fish for which they dive at incredible speed. And I think they’re immensely beautiful!

They get their latin name Morus bassanus – from Bass Rock. Morus comes from the Ancient Greek moros, which means “foolish”. Of course, they are not foolish. But it does refer to their lack of fear when approached which enables them to be easily killed.

Gannets at Bass Rock

We first visited Bass Rock in 2022. And despite the colony being hit badly by avian flu, there were still lots of birds to enjoy, wheeling around above our heads. It was so impressive 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 had a fabulous stay at the very beautiful Seaholm B&B in North Berwick, from where you can see Bass Rock, just three miles offshore. Lorena took great pride in not only providing superb rooms with comfy beds, but also serving exquisite breakfasts. Highly recommended!

The original painting in watercolour on 600gsm paper size 371 x 371 mm is now sold.

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