 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.Historically there has been human recognition of Fowlsheugh as a unique bird area for at least five centuries, culminating in its present-day designations of Important Bird Area (IBA), Special Protection Area (SPA) and SSSI (as noted above).This historic interest has also translated into reasonably good bird counts over at least the last century.