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St Abb’s Head through the seasons: summer

Written by Laurie Campbell and Liza Cole
A white gannet comes in to land. Its wings are arched and its black webbed feet are stretched out in front.
Summer is when everything is in full swing. The headland is carpeted in wildflowers being visited by colourful butterflies, and there are chicks and young animals all over the reserve.

As part of our celebrations of the 40th anniversary of St Abb’s Head being in the Trust’s care, we asked award-winning nature photographer Laurie Campbell to put together four galleries of his photographs, one for each season. Laurie lives locally and has a lifetime of experience of taking nature photos at St Abb’s Head. It’s a joy to see things through his eyes.

An aerial view of the cliffs and rocks at St Abb’s Head, with the turquoise sea swirling around at the bottom. Birds cover much of the rock faces. A close-up of an individual sea thrift flower. It has delicate pinky-purple petals emerging from a green cup. A black and white guillemot sits on a cliff with its wings outstretched and its beak wide open, revealing a bright yellow mouth. This bird has a white outline around its eye. A cluster of bright yellow, star-shaped flowers burst out of crevices between rocks. The white heads of two kittiwakes peek out from behind a rock. An aerial view of a group of kittiwakes sitting in a row on their nests, balanced on a rocky ledge. Eggs can be seen in one. The sea crashes against the rocks far below. A large mound, covered in plants and yellow flowers, sits on a grassy slope beside a loch. A small deer looks directly at the camera, mostly hidden in green leafy trees. It has sturdy and very straight antlers and its ears are also pricked. A brown and furry-looking moth, with its wings tucked in, sits on bright yellow flowers. It has very long antennae that look to have an almost serrated edge. A red sea anemone clings to a limpet-covered rock. It has a jelly-ish base, with red tentacles waving above. A close-up of a flower head of a bird’s foot trefoil. It has three flowers coming out of one stem. The petals are yellow with a red-orange tinge to the outside. A bumblebee with a black body and an orange bottom flies out of a hole in the ground. A white gannet comes in to land. Its wings are arched and its black webbed feet are stretched out in front. Two gannets sit on a rock face, surrounded by many smaller guillemots. One gannet is stretching its wings, as if it is jostling for more space! A guillemot flies in the blue sky. Its round white tummy and black upper body look much larger than its wings – it resembles a swimming penguin! A close-up of a stalk of a reed-like plant. Lots of spiky heads sprout off from the main stalk, with a cluster of berry-shaped buds at the tip of each stalk. A rabbit sits side-on to the camera, among green grass. Its long ears are straight up. A black shag, with its distinctive feathery crest, pokes its head out from behind a rock on a cliff. A close-up of a white head of a fulmar, sitting down. Its beak has a yellowish lump at the end, with what looks like a tiny trunk lying on the top of the bill. A brown butterfly clings to a green stalk. Its wings appear to have an almost fuzzy texture, with black circles towards the edges.

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The coastline at St Abb’s Head, where steep rocky cliffs plunge towards the sea. The clifftops are covered in grass.
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St Abb’s Head

Breathtaking coastal headland with dramatic cliffs, famed for its seabird colonies

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