Landing on the Bass Rock

The real highlight of the course was to land on the Bass Rock and paint in the middle of Gannet colony! Many people would have been dreaming of the adventure after watching amazing clips from the Springwatch or the Earthflight. And I actually did it!



コースの一環としてフォース湾に浮かぶ島のひとつ、バス・ロックに上陸した。この島は全体が150,000羽というシロカツオドリのコロニーになっている。周辺にはたくさん小島があるが、陸地から飛び立つのが苦手なカツオドリが巣を作っているのは、風が強く、周囲が崖になっているこのバス・ロックのみだ。岩が突出しているので上陸は容易ではなく、聞いたところによれば、今年、上陸を果たしたのは、わたしたち以前には3組のみだという！　運良く天気に恵まれ、月曜の午後と火曜一日を島で過ごすことができた。



As we approached the island, we were surrounded by gannets' calling and the sounds of their wings flapping. We climbed up to the old chapel, where the main colony began. There was the sea of gannets in front of me and thousands of gannets flying against the blue sky above me. I was so happy. I was not only on the Bass Rock with millions of gannets but also with amazing wildlife artists, whose work I had been looking at in books and exhibitions.



色紙の上に描いてみた。このコースでは、すべてのスケッチ、絵をフィールドで制作、完成させる。



We spent whole day and an afternoon on the rock drawing and painting gannets and gannets. Sometimes my paintings got gannets' droppings but I didn't mind. That's part of my work!




Several of them were nesting on the pass up to the chapel and we had to walk right beside them.