Bass Rock Blog

Want to know how the gannets are doing on the Bass Rock?

Keep up to date with what's happening at one of the largest Northern gannet colonies in the world in this live blog post. Most-recent updates will be posted at the top of the page.

Want to watch the Bass Rock gannet colony LIVE while you read?

You can also keep an eye on them via our 360 live camera below or book a boat trip in the summer months to see them up close and in person.

19.08.26 - Scattered clouds. A calm sea.

Hello! I'm Sue Lewis, a seabird ecologist and lecturer in ecology at Edinburgh Napier University. I watch the gannets every day using the Bass Rock webcams and will be sharing occasional observations.

I watch the same nests every day to check their progress and behaviour. During this morning's monitoring, I was initially puzzled to find several of the older gannet chicks missing. At around 7 to 9 weeks old, their first feathers are emerging through the white down, giving them a rather comical appearance as they begin their transformation into dark, speckled juveniles. It soon became clear that these adventurous youngsters were taking advantage of the extra space around the colony and had simply wandered out of camera view. However, whenever a neighbouring adult returned, any misplaced chick received a sharp prod and was quickly dispatched home, where its own parent generally seemed happy to welcome it back.

Update by Dr Sue Lewis, Seabird Ecologist and Lecturer in Ecology at Edinburgh Napier University

09.08.26 – Overcast. Specks of rain on a cool breeze.

Everything can change on a breath of wind. All it takes is a subtle shift in the strength of it, or direction.

All of a sudden, we were surrounded by gannets hanging in the air like cot mobiles; circling overhead, soaring slowly at eye level on gleaming wings before dropping onto their nests. It was like we were flying among them, gannets ourselves, the birds criss-crossing in slow motion around us. I was entranced by their delicate movements, the way they expertly splayed their webbed feet at just the right moment, their tail feathers dipping, fanning, wings constantly readjusting to capture the perfect angle – and beside me, the click of cameras capturing the perfect flight shots.

Update by Emma Marriott, Conservation Officer at the Scottish Seabird Centre

29.07.26 – Scattered showers and sunshine.

“This is when the season really starts”. Bass Rock Guide Maggie Sheddan told me this, and I agree. We see gannets return to the island in late February. By late April some are on eggs, but July is when the colony feels alive. The chicks of most other seabirds are preparing to fledge by mid-month but the gannets are just getting into full swing. Some birds are still on eggs. Others are nestled over small chicks with big heads and weak, wobbly necks, whilst many nests are overflowing with fluffy white bundles persistently peeping for a beak-full of regurgitated fish. There is still plenty of fighting and bonding (it’s sometimes hard to tell the difference), mating and bowing. July on the Bass Rock is a riot of sounds, smells, shapes, textures and movement. There’s a bit of everything.

Update by Emma Marriott, Conservation Officer at the Scottish Seabird Centre

27.07.26 – Bright. Breezy. Scattered cloud.

A white chick stood with head ratcheted back, beak agape. What seemed like half a mackerel protruded from its gullet. If I was to put human emotions to it, I would say it looked surprised - perhaps, regretful.

Its parents intermittently made gulping motions as if to say, ‘Like this! It’s easy! Now, you try’. The chick tried. And again. After each attempt it would nearly bring the fish up, and the parents would gently peck at the dead fish to encourage it down again. Eventually, the chick got the angle just right to swallow its oversized meal.

Update by Emma Marriott, Conservation Officer at the Scottish Seabird Centre

16.07.26 – Bright. Sunny. Mild.

Today, whilst conducting monitoring through our live 360 webcams, I saw a 2-week-old chick alone on a nest. Eggs and young chicks can be crushed, predated or succumb to the elements if the parents are absent or inattentive. As I watched, a territorial neighbour attacked the unprotected chick. It fell from the nest, tried to crawl back in, only to be struck again and tumble into another nest. It was immediately set upon by the occupier. This happened repeatedly. Even when the chick was out of view, I saw the beaks jabbing.

It seems a harsh fate, but these are wild birds and life and death are tightly intertwined. It's a privilege to witness their natural behaviours and the unfolding of their lives, even when it's painful to watch.

Update by Emma Marriott, Conservation Officer at the Scottish Seabird Centre

15.07.26 – Clever Gannets.

We're always excited to hear about new research around gannets, especially when it grants insight into our local colony.

A recent paper using tracking data from Bass Rock gannets suggests they use memory to return to general foraging areas but may refine their search for prey by using cues from other gannets.

You can read the paper here. Another article published earlier this month predicts it may take 20 years for the Bass population to recover from the impacts of Avian Flu in 2022, highlighting how crucial it is to understand these amazing birds so that we have all the knowledge we need to protect them.

Update by Emma Marriott, Conservation Officer at the Scottish Seabird Centre at the Scottish Seabird Centre

13.07.26 – Overcast. Calm.

The Bass is the gannet's kingdom, with few other species allowed a look-in. Even plants are sparse, growing opportunistically only in areas where the gannets haven't conquered.

After Avian Flu shrank the population, gaps have opened up in the colony. In some of these, opportunistic plants now grow. Where they crop up around footpaths, we do regular weeding to keep access routes clear.

Gannets will use all sorts of materials for their nests, from rotting seaweed to fishing rope. One bird clearly fancied a soft tree mallow mattress, made from the plant we had cut back from a nearby path. Only the best bed will do for its chick!

Update by Emma Marriott, Conservation Officer at the Scottish Seabird Centre

11.07.26 - Foggy. Cool. Atmospheric.

Somebody asked me about gannet eggs today. Within no time, I was comparing them to bananas. Was I dehydrated, you ask? Had I inhaled a hallucinogenic bug whilst shovelling guano off Bass Rock's footpaths? Perhaps, but hear me out.

The eggs are not yellow, or long. The shell isn't thick and rubbery, and they don't turn to mush after a few hours in the sun. They seem as comparable as mackerel are to sprouts, but have you ever seen a gannet egg? They begin pale and mainly unblemished but become browner over time with dirty splotches and stains... rather like a ripening banana.

Update by Emma Marriott, Conservation Officer at the Scottish Seabird Centre

26.06.26 – Overcast. Damp. Thundery skies.

Rain and lightning lash off white feathers but the gannets sit tight, even as their mounded nests are clawed by torrents of muddy water, loose seaweed and stones. I imagined the gannets on Bass Rock while watching white light fizzle through the window at night, thunder constant as a dog's growl.

A gannet isn't easily spooked by bad weather. These are true seabirds, adapted to withstand towering waves and whipping winds on long expeditions at sea. Indeed, when we visited the island with keen photographers the next morning, the thunderclouds were far to the west and the gannets sat unruffled, their tiny chicks peeping for food like nothing else mattered. Birds that had been on the nest all night were muddy, but it was just another day on the Bass.

Update by Emma Marriott, Conservation Officer at the Scottish Seabird Centre