The sea bird cliffs and Stacks at Sumburgh Head on the Shetland Isles SCO 7341

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Sumburgh Head, (HU407077), is the most southern tip of the Shetland mainland. The Old Norse name was Dunrøstar høfdi, it means "The Head onto the Thunderous Noise", refering to the noise of Sumburgh Roost. The cliffs are home to hundreds of seabirds and the area is a RSPB nature reserve. Robert Stevenson was the engineer in charge of building the Sumburgh Head Lighthouse. Work started on the building in 1819, and the light was first lit in 1821. As well as birds, Sumburgh Head has become a popular viewing point for Whales and Dolphins. Gilbert Goudie relates that in the 16th century the local noble Ola Sinclair of Brew being attacked by Lewismen "... fled to Soumburghhead, where being hotly pursued he leapt over, but eventually falling upon a bit of green in the clift of a rock, he escaped without more prejudice but the loss of an eye,...".

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Size: 5615px × 3736px
Location: Sea Cliffs at Sumburgh Head, Sheland Isle, Scotland, United Kingdom.
Photo credit: © David Gowans / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No

Keywords: accessible, ashore, auks, birds, cetaceans, cliffs, colony, easily, fulmars, guillemots, head, july., june, killer, kittiwakes, mid-august, months., place, puffins, razorbills, recognised, reserve, rspb, seabird, shags, shetland, spot, stacks, sumburgh, summer, views, whales, year., years