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These is a long story behind my gannet workshop to Bass Rock off the Scottish east coast, starting with one of our very first  first motorhome trips; during which we got as far as Sheffield before the van broke down. Instead of going to Scotland, we travelled back home on a recovery trailer. 

On the second attempt we managed to get the motorhome as far as Seahouses, only to be told the workshop was cancelled because of bad weather. 

The following year (2020), a photographer friend from the USA, Freddy, was planning to come over to visit us with his wife, so I booked TWO places for the gannet diving workshop. Of course Freddy never did come over, and the workshop was called off because of the Covid 19 pandemic.

After rebooking the workshop (again) this year (2021) for myself and Freddy, it becomes clear that visitors from the US are still not allowed to enter the UK, so our friend Paul from Scotland agrees to take over Freddy's place on the boat trip. A couple of weeks before the trip, Paul had a stroke so sadly will not be coming with me out on the boat (post note: Paul is recovering well). I suggest David takes his place instead, even if he is not really interested in photography.

Unfortunately the fishing boat we are supposed to be going out on, does not manage to get its certificate allowing it to carry passengers in time, so the workshop is yet again cancelled. I am now beginning to think we are jinxed.

Spending some time on the internet looking for a replacement boat trip, I come across BlueWild and arrange for them to take me - and David - out on a privately chartered trip to Isle of May and Bass Rock. 

The day before we are due to go out, their boat breaks down, so our trip is yet again cancelled (are the gods trying to tell us something?). Thankfully, they are able to get the repairs done in a day, and re-schedule us for a couple of days later.

On the sixth attempt, we finally manage to get out on a boat! All I will say at this point, is that it is so worth the wait!

This is the boat that will take us out, with skipper Alan, and crew Philip. It really does make a huge difference to have the boat to ourselves - we have given up group tours some time ago, as we prefer the flexibility of being just the two of us, so this is perfect from that point of view. Alan does everything he can to make sure we see what we want to see, and that I get the shots I want.

After a quick, but thorough safety briefing, we leave Dunbar Harbour and head straight across the Firth of Forth shipping channel to Isle of May.

Dunbar Harbour

BlueWild is one of the few companies that have a licence to land on Isle of May, and we are offered the opportunity to so so should we wish. As my main purpose of this trip is to see the gannets at Bass Rock, we decide to forego the landing on this occasion.

Isle of May

There seem to be plenty of people on the island on well defined paths

Until I spoke to Alan on the phone about this trip a few days ago, I had no idea that puffins make their home on the island. Alan explains that sometimes you see whole rafts of them on the surface of the water, but so far this year there have only be a few around.

The first birds we see, however, are kittiwakes - there is a colony of them roosting at the entrance to Dunbar harbour.

I get very excited when I see a small flock of gannets flying low over the water. Alan assures me that I will see plenty more later on. That has to be the understatement of the year!

I still get a bit carried away taking photos of them.

Alan does warn us that we are likely to get 'blessed' at some stage during this trip - he is right!

Being a great fan of puffins, I am delighted to just spot one single one.

They are so comical the way they run across the water when they take off!

We soon start seeing more and more of them floating in rafts too. Alan shuts the engine to an idle as we drift through them. Some take fright and fly off as soon as they spot us, others totally ignore us, and let us float right on by.

The experience of just sliding past a whole raft of puffins, is truly magical!

I get some really good close-up photos too!

Photography is challenging to say the very least. The birds are bobbing up and down on the swell, and so is the boat, but seemingly to a different rhythm. I manage focus on the puffin, but the next minute all I can see in the viewfinder is sky, followed by the bird being being 'swallowed up' by the waves.

My hit rate is appalling!

The area also has a great number of guillemots, and they remind me so much of penguins when they take off, the way they skim across the surface on their bellies, much like the stones we threw as kids!

Except, of course, penguins never do take off, unlike guillemots!

Guillemots create rafts too!

We continue to the craggy shores of Isle of May.

Steep cliffs and basalt pillars greet us, with thousands of guillemots crowding into every available space.

In many places, the rocks are white with guano.

This would make an amazing jigsaw. For someone you don't like.

As we make make our way around the island, the odd puffin appears on shore too.

A couple of seals bask on the rocks, and a few heads pop out of the water to see what is going on.

The Isle of May is home to an incredible array of wildlife, with up to 200,000 seabirds nesting here.

Kittiwakes

Razorbill

Shag

Cormorants and Herring Gulls

The steep cliffs hide beguiling grottos, with tales of smugglers and pirates.

In a secluded bay stands the solitary rock pillar, known as 'The Bishop'.

From Isle of May we make our way to Bass Rock, the home of 150,000 gannets. From a distance the flying gannets look like a swarm of mosquitoes around a light – they seem to be completely surrounding the rock.

We can hear them long before we can make out each bird clearly: the racket is quite simply unbelievable! As we get nearer we can clearly see that the white dots on the top of the rock are in fact birds on nests. Wow!

These large, striking-looking birds are everywhere: on the rocks, on the water and in the air.

Launching themselves off the rock, they hang on the thermals before diving into the depths of the sea to gather seaweed for their nest building.

The dots you see are not water droplets on my camera lens, they are in fact other flying birds!

I spend the rest of my time at sea shooting anything that moves. Only with my camera, of course. Here are a few of my favourite shots:

Can you believe that each one of those dots is in fact a gannet!

One of my favourite moments of the trip is just sitting in the boat, gazing up at thousands of gannets effortlessly hovering overhead.

One of my main photography aims of this excursion, is to capture a flying gannet with nesting materials in its beak. I take literally thousands of photographs to try and get a good one. As I said earlier, the extremely difficult conditions means my hit rate is dreadful! I do have some success, however.

Another Surprise appearance – an Eider Duck

We finally have to say goodbye to Bass Rock and return to shore. I glance back and sigh with contentment, delighted that I finally managed to see and experience this wildlife extravaganza.

The circling gannets appear to be following us for a while, although I am pretty sure they are more interested in what is under the water than they are in us.

On our way back to Dunbar Harbour, Alan points out the ruins of the 14th century Tantallon Castle.

By the time we get back to solid land, I am soaked to the skin, slightly sunburnt, very cold, and covered in white spots from bird dropping; but I feel like I am floating on air with blissful excitement at what I have just witnessed. In all our travels I have never seen or experienced anything like it!

Coffee is delivered to each room every morning, at a time of your choice. We have ours outside at 07:30 this morning, while watching the beautiful sunrise over the river.

We're not the only ones enjoying the sunrise.

The morning goes something like this:

Breakfast
Bird watching
Walk around the grounds
Bird watching
Back to room
Sit outside
Birdwatching
Snooze

Cheese and chilli omelette, sausage and beans = a great breakfast

Pied Kingfisher

Black Headed Heron

Another one of the fifteen cats at Mandina Lodges

Village Weavers and Red Eyed Dove in a plant pot on the island in the middle of the pool

Laughing Dove

Bats in the ceiling of the restaurant

The birds are fed every day

Lovely bougainvillea in the grounds

Village Weaver

Black Kite - it looks like he has caught something - a mouse maybe?

Black Necked Weaver

Beautiful water reflections in the river

Long Tailed Cormorants

David at the poolside

Lunch

We eat our lunch in the shady bar, while watching a Whimbrel trying to catch a crab on the mud flats. The crab gets away several times before the bird finally managed to grab it.

The crab has lost its claw.

He still managed to escape though.

But not for long.

A Grey Heron wants to get in on the action.

As well as a Western Plantain Eater.

Time for another siesta.

Marakissa River Camp

Abdoulie takes us to this delightful camp for refreshments and bird watching. The camp is set on the riverside (there is a hint in the name), and features many different species. We spend a couple of delightful hours here, nipping between the covered terrace overlooking man made water pools, and the river below.

Abyssinian Roller

Yellow Billed Shrike

Beautiful Sunbird, preening

Purple Glossy Starling

Yellow Throated Leaflove

Red Cheeked Cordon Bleu

Lesser Honeyguide

Piapiac (AKA Black Magpie)

Scruffy Looking Village Weaver

Western Plantain Eater

Black Crake

Giant Kingfisher

Kingfisher Diving

While we are down at the river's edge, I spot a Pied Kingfisher in the corner of my eye, just about to dive into the water. I swing my camera around and manage to grab a quick shot as he carries his lunch away.

Having devoured the fresh snack, he comes back, sitting on a nearby branch, contemplating his next move.

Feeling hungry again, he hovers over the river, hoping to spot a fish.

Bingo! Not only did he manage to catch one (just – he is barely holding on to it by the tip of its head), but he also speared a dead leaf.

Which is now stuck on his beak.

Speckled Pigeon

Palm Nut Vulture

Western Reef Heron

African Black Kite

Great White Egret

Back up at the terrace we are joined by the two Dutch ladies we met at Brufut and Tanji. It seems that we are all doing a very similar birding circuit.

African Thrush

Blue Bellied Roller

Beautiful Sunbird

The female sunbird is nowhere near as colourful as the male

Orange Cheeked Waxbill

Red Billed Firefinch

A squirrel joins in the fun

Having had our fill of birdies this morning, we head back to the lodge, getting stuck in a very hot car as we hit a traffic jam along the way.

Lunch

It is lovely to see lots of people have come for lunch here at Tanji today – a big birding party plus a few other couples. We get a very warm welcome from our favourite waitress Awa, who throws her arms out and shouts our names as soon as she sees us. She has drastically changed her appearance from yesterday by going from long, black hair to extremely short, pillarbox red! It suits her. Mind you, she is such a pretty girl she'd look good in anything.

Butter fish in a delicious spicy sauce, served with chips.

We are watched during lunch by a troupe of the local Green Vervet Monkeys, as well as a couple of birds

Red Billed Firefinch

Grey Backed Camaroptera

After a delightful siesta, we spend the rest of the afternoon chatting to Haddy, the owner of Tanji Eco Bird Lodge, hearing all about her plans for the property as well as solving all the world's problems. As you do.

Dinner

Dinner is a low key affair again as usual, with just the two of us and staff.

Chicken Yassa

After dinner we retire to our room to let the staff go home while David and I share a few drinks on the balcony, going over the delights of the day.

I have a restless night, more awake and distressed than I am sleep. After around 15 minutes sleep, I wake up and have to sit upright to cough and blow my nose before lying down again trying to get some more rest. This cycle is repeated time and time and time again. By 02:00 I feel absolutely dreadful. So much so that I want to go home. Right now. As soon as it is daylight I shall have to tell Malisa to take us back to Arusha so that we can arrange a flight to the UK at the earliest opportunity. Later, as I am gasping for breath in the middle of a particularly severe coughing fit, a thought strikes me... I wonder if I am actually fit enough to fly? I guess they will have oxygen on the aircraft if I collapse during the flight. The thought continues to worry me as the rest of the night goes by through a haze of nasty dreams, waking up unable to breathe, panicking, sitting bolt upright, then coughing for England. Or is that Tanzania? I feel so ill I am not even sure where I am.

By 05:00 when it is time to get up I feel a little more 'with it' and decide that perhaps I won't go home just yet after all. Perhaps I will see how I feel after another day out here – hopefully by then the antibiotics will have had time to work and I can function a bit better. I am grateful that at least no-one else was staying in this camp last night so that I didn't keep anyone else awake all night. David slept through most of it thankfully.

The day immediately seems better when the sun comes up, painting the sky a beautiful crimson.

The first animals we spot this morning are a couple of lions, and when they head off into the bush, we follow to see what they are up to. Unlike most other parks in Tanzania, here in the Ndutu area of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area off-road driving is permitted.

Meanwhile the sun has just made it above the horizon.

And there are more lions. Five in total.

They're on the move.

On the lookout for breakfast no doubt.

“I'm so hungry I could turn vegetarian!”

In the distance, behind the trees, we spot a giraffe. So do the lions.

“Let's go and investigate”

The giraffe is blissfully unaware as she enjoys her breakfast of acacia leaves.

Manoeuvring silently through the undergrowth, the lions move nearer their intended prey.

Continuing to be totally engrossed in her food, the giraffe is still completely oblivious to the dangerously close predators.

Go! Go! Go! Afraid that the giraffe is going to spot them before their backup arrives, the two lions abruptly launch into a chase, using the element of surprise to gain a second or two advantage.

Assessing the size of his opponent (it is extremely rare for lions to even attempt to take down a fully grown giraffe for that reason), the hungry lion looks to see which direction his leggy prey is going to be taking and tries to be one step ahead.

It is not just to see which way the giraffe is heading that the lion keeps a very close eye on the legs – those six feet long limbs have been known to cause some serious damage, with giraffes using high kicks to fight off predators.

Where they go, we follow, in hot pursuit.

“Hold on, watch out” shouts Malisa as we race underneath a prickly acacia tree. Too late. Unable to hold on and 'watch out' at the same time (I am holding on with one hand, having the camera in the other), the thorns catch my hand and arm. Nothing serious, but I am always concerned about such scratches after an incident in Kenya back in 1993 when a scratch turned into blood poisoning resulting a blister covering most of the top of my hand and down my fingers. After lancing the blister, the medical staff then had to cut my wedding ring off, and put me on antibiotics to stop the poison spreading. I could see it as a black line running up my arm, and it did rather scare me.

This time the injuries are very mild

Meanwhile, the giraffe is not doing too well.

Unfortunately, she cannot sustain a lengthy chase, something the lions are acutely aware of, and this becomes her downfall.

The giraffe has run out of steam and our two lions have caught up with her. A third comes in from the right to help out.

The lions momentarily let go of their grip and the giraffe makes a desperate attempt at escaping.

But to no avail. She doesn't get very far before a renewed onslaught has her well and truly fighting for her life.

The powerful jaws and claws of the big cats are too much for the weakened ungulate, and with an elegance and awkwardness that only a giraffe possesses (even in her death throes), she sinks to the ground.

We move nearer to get a better look as the lions tuck into fresh giraffe for breakfast. We haven't had ours yet!

One of them goes for the jugular to ensure the giraffe is dead before they start tearing the animal apart.

The hardest part is breaking through the skin. Usually the lions go for the soft options first and try to start with the internal organs.

Trying to turn the carcass over to get to the softer underbelly proves fruitless as the dead giraffe is too heavy and bulky for the lions to be able to manoeuvre.

Having not had anything to do with the actual kill, the fifth lion strolls in very late and sits down at the dining table. Typical male.

I do find it somewhat disconcerting when the lions look us straight in the eye, their chins dripping with blood.

Absurdly, other inquisitive giraffes appear from behind the trees, curious about what is going on. Can they not see from the sad state of their cousin, that this is most definitely not a good idea?

Thinking she might get an extra breakfast, one of the lionesses decides to check out the audience.

The giraffes decides that the show isn't worth hanging around for and saunters back into the bush. "Wise move Buster, wise move!"

Something else off to our left has caught the lions' attention and they all stare attentively in that direction.

We can't work out what has startled them, but we do spot the Ndutu Lodge behind the trees. Gosh, this kill really was mighty close to the accommodation – no more than around 100 metres! This time last year we were staying there, and I guess this reinforces why you don't venture out on your own.

Ndutu Lodge Restaurant seen through the trees

You really don't want to meet this young lady on your way to the bar!

This young male is being a little bit ambitious in thinking that his breakfast is a movable feast. “Give up son, you're fighting a losing battle”

LOOK AWAY NOW IF YOU ARE PRONE TO FEELING QUEASY

Meanwhile, back at the rear end, the lions have found the intestines. It is not a pretty sight.

As their sharp teeth break through the membrane, the content squirts out.

I told you to look away!

I think I will give my breakfast sausage a miss this morning.

Once they have had their fill of giraffe-meat, the lions cover any spilt blood with earth to stop the smell attracting scavengers, then leave the carcass to search for a drink and take a much needed siesta. It must be hard work to have to run after your food, then make sure that it doesn't attack you before trying to bite through tough leather to get to it. Make my complaints about Tesco's packaging seem rather feeble.

We continue on our way too.

If you still haven't had enough of blood and gore, check out David's video on youtube.

Thank you Calabash Adventures for bringing us this incredible experience.