DUNCANSBY HEAD
Enjoy one of the UK’S most dramatic seabird ‘cities’
This is one of the most dramatic sea cliffs around Caithness, with its stacks seen in many photo albums around the world. The road to the lighthouse gives easy access but it is a nice walk from John O’groats, with always plenty to see.
The lighthouse was built by David Stevenson in 1924, and the SSSI covers a four-mile stretch of coast south to Skirza Head. The seabird breeding season may seem the best time to visit, but recent migration records show that spring/autumn is also worth a walk, to look for what has flown over the North Sea. Breeding birds include Guillemot, Razorbill and Black Guillemot, but the lower
cliffs are better for this latter species down towards the Bay of Sannick. Fulmar and Kittiwake are here, with Puffin easy to find in the first geo heading south. Others are more likely to be fly-bys! Gulls are present in numbers while both Great and Arctic Skuas patrol the cliffs looking for prey. Passage seabirds include Manx and Sooty Shearwaters, with a rare record of Barolo Shearwater and even Fea’s Petrel. Storm Petrels are ringed here on passage with a ringed bird caught again in Portugal. Check the Kittiwakes for Sabine’s Gulls, especially in autumn. Both Crane and Spoonbill have flown past the cliffs while the Moltoni’s Warbler, found while watching for Killer Whales, was the bird that put the site on the map. Common Rosefinch, Yellowbrowed Warbler, Snow and Lapland Bunting add to the list in autumn, with Longtailed Skua in spring.