The Gannets are back.
Fishing in the harbour like mad things yesterday evening. I love their rocket dives. Like white cruise missiles hitting the water one after the other. Sometime successful. But not always. There must have been a big shoal of fish in one area not far from the harbour wall, because they were there for a long time.
These gannets are probably breeding on Ailsa Craig, the island that sticks out of the sea like a big fairy cake, about thirty miles away, past the south of Arran and towards the Ayrshire coast.
Gannets were hit particularly badly by the bird flu of a couple of years ago. But birds are resilient. They were around long before us. And hopefully that flock of gannets I saw is the sign of a bounce back. I hardly saw any last year.
They always bring a smile to my face when I do see them.