Country diary: herring gulls vomit up their huge sea sound

Garron Point, Aberdeenshire: The wailing of the birds created a wraparound atmosphere of such density and chaos that I was almost unbalanced by it

Beyond Sandend village and the slow white waves running into its sunlit bay, there was this wilderness of guano-nourished grass and three northward-facing ribs of metamorphosed sedimentary rock. The latter were tilted on end and weathered along their joints, and the gulls on the raised slabs of ancient stone were spaced in heraldic assembly.

Through the luxuriant hummocks by the cliff edge I manoeuvred with caution that was more than just fear of falling. The wailing of the birds created a wraparound atmosphere of such density and chaos that I was almost unbalanced by it.