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Fowlsheugh is a coastal nature reserve in Kincardineshire, northeast Scotland, known for its seventy metre high cliff formations and habitat supporting prolific seabird nesting colonies. Designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) by Scottish Natural Heritage, the property is owned by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.〔()〕 Fowlsheugh can be accessed by a public clifftop trail, or by boats which usually emanate from the nearby harbour at the town of Stonehaven. Tens of thousands of pelagic birds return to the site every spring to breed, after wintering at sea or in more southern climates, principal species being puffins, razorbills, kittiwakes, fulmars and guillemots. Due to global warming, the planktonic species previously present that prefer cold water are not available in the quantity required to support the historically large sandeel population.〔Rob Hume, ''Fowlsheugh'', Royal Society for Protection of Birds, summer 2006, vol 21, no. 2〕 Added to the problem has been overfishing of the Scottish sandeel, further reducing the numbers of this dietary staple for Puffins and other local seabirds.〔C.Michael Hogan, ''Aberdeenshire Coastline'', Lumina Press, Aberdeen, March, 2006〕 ==Geology and topography== The sheer cliffs of Fowlsheugh are actually undercut in some places by erosive force of the North Sea wave action and associated strong marine winds, giving rise to cliff overhangs in numerous stretches of the blufftop trail. (Off shore winds commonly attain mean velocities of 80 kilometres per hour here, especially in winter months.) The underlying rock formation is known as Old Red Sandstone, which occurs from Dunnottar Castle five kilometres north to the town of Catterline seven kilometres south. This sandstone formation may be as thick as 2700 metres. In places the fissured red and green coloured sandstone is replaced by picturesque conglomerate with roundish stones varying in diameter from two to thirty centimetres (historically known as pudding stone in this region of Kincardineshire).〔Archibald Watt, ‘’Highways and Byways Round Kincardineshire’’, Gourdas House Publishers, Aberdeen, (1985)〕 In other places more greenish volcanic extrusions are evident as harder veins within the sandstone bluffs. Where the rock faces meet the North Sea, there are several sea caves accessible only by small boat. The deepest cave known locally as the “Gallery” intrudes a full hundred metres westward beneath the fertile barley fields high above. In the northern extremity of the Fowlsheugh is an offshore skerry named Craiglethy, and slightly further a skerry called Gull Craig. These lower lying rocky outcrops are an integral part of the Fowlsheugh Preserve, hosting seabird nests as well as a few harbour seals on Craiglethy, who can be seen hauling out or sunbathing on summer afternoons. Craiglethy is composed only of sandstone and volcanic material, any original overlying conglomerate material having been long eroded. There are also some volcanic sea stacks along the shoreline, vestiges of the harder rock formations surviving the erosion of surrounding softer rocks by millennia of wave action and salt spray. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Fowlsheugh」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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