A combination of fish and white guano spattered on rocks produces a heady aroma. Closer to the cliffs, smell blends to sound and squawking grows louder with each step. Six gannets appear just a few metres away and I raise my camera to take a photo. My friend Steve Truluck, whose favourite bird is the gannet, stops me: “That’s nothing. Wait for it.” I follow him towards the cliff edge and when we peer below I see what he means. The sheer wall is crammed with thousands of gannets. Dozens more swirl overhead, nearly brushing our heads with their dangling feet as they glide into land.

With a two-metre wingspan, gannets are the largest seabird in Britain. The specific type found here is the northern gannet (Morus bassanus), which arrives from January to breed and migrates south for winter from August to October. Gannets gather on cliffs in vast colonies to raise their chicks. Scotland is a particular hotspot for them, with approximately 180,000 pairs in 14 colonies.

Whenever gannets are mentioned, the usual places that spring to mind in the UK are Bempton Cliffs on the Yorkshire coast and Bass Rock in the Firth of Forth, which is home to the largest gannet colony on Earth. However, another great gannet spot is RSPB Troup Head, situated about an hour’s drive from Aberdeen. Troup Head is the largest mainland gannet colony in Scotland and provides excellent views without the need for a boat trip.