EVERY two years in June or July I give myself a treat - a drive into Scotland to visit a colony of gannets on the Bass Rock.

This is one of the most famous and accessible gannet colonies in Britain.

It can be reached by boat from North Berwick where the Firth of Forth meets the North Sea.

On a clear day the rock is visible from Edinburgh and the crossing takes about 40 minutes.

The island is small, being only 300 feet (90 metres) high and less than half a mile (812 metres) in circumference.

Despite this around 20,000 gannet breed along with puffins, common guillemots, black guillemots, razorbills, fulmars and kittiwakes.

At one time Bass Rock was a prison with a fearsome reputation but the gannets were present at least from 1516 when they were mentioned in a manuscript.

It is certain, however, these large seabirds have been present for longer than that. The scientific name for the gannet is Sula bassana and the bird thus takes its name from the rock.

The gannet is the largest European seabird with a wing span of more than two metres (six feet). It gets its fish food by diving from heights of around 60 feet head first into the water.

Examination of a gannet's neck vertebrae shows very clearly that these have been strengthened to withstand the pressure.

If you are planning a special birdwatchers weekend with a difference, I suggest that you look for a good weather forecast and head off to North Berwick and the gannets.

On the way home you could follow the A1 and take another organised boat trip to the Farne Islands where you will see seals, eiders, puffins and thousands of terns.