Scottish Islands

Day 1 Embark in Aberdeen

Arrive in Aberdeen, famed as the granite city and many times a winner of the Britain in Bloom competition, and embark for our trip. The lighthouse on Girdle Ness, to the south as the North Sea is reached, was designed by the grandfather of Robert Louis Stevenson.

Day 2 Copinsey

Copinsey is a lovely uninhabited nature reserve of the RSPB and rarely visited. More than 1,000 pairs of fulmars nest on Copinsay, which has nearly a mile of vertical cliffs up to 76 metres high. There is a vast seabird colony on the cliffs, with around 20,000 guillemots, 700 razorbills, 600 puffins and about 4,500 pairs of kittiwakes. Black guillemots and shags also nest here and there are great black-backed gull colonies.

Day 3 Shetland Islands

At Fair Isle, in the Shetlands, we are welcomed by the 70 or so inhabitants (famed for their knitwear, examples of which we will see) and walk to the bird observatory. Later, on Mousa, one of the smaller Shetland Islands, we visit one of the best preserved brochs in Scotland. Brochs are circular stone towers probably built by the Picts. During a night excursion we watch thousands of Storm Petrels return to their burrows or crevices. By day we view Grey Seals, Black Guillemots, Red-throated Divers, Arctic Skuas and a wonderful spring flora.

Day 4 North Rona and Sula Sgeir

Out in the Atlantic to the north-west of Scotland lie the tiny islands of North Rona and Sula Sgeir. We shall land on North Rona to see the seabird colonies and the Grey Seals. The island was inhabited in the 18th century and some remains are still visible: Leach's Petrels can be heard calling from their nesting burrows in the ruined walls of a small church in the ‘village'. Sula Sgeir is the last island in Britain on which Gannets are harvested annually. There will be spectacular views of its cliffs as we sail around. In 2006 we saw a Black-browed Albatross at this island.

Day 5 Callanish & Flannan Islands

We visit Lewis to see the prehistoric stone circle of Callanish, one of the finest in Britain with stones over 3m tall. There are several smaller stone circles and chambered cairns on the moorland near Callanish. Later there will be great opportunities to watch and photograph Guillemots, Razorbills and Puffins on the Flannan Islands, a group of small islands to the west of the Outer Hebrides.

Day 6 St Kilda

To the west of North Uist lie the St Kilda group of islands, built of volcanic rock and with cliffs rising to over 400m, the highest in Britain and home to the largest seabird colony in the country. St Kilda has its own sub-species of birds and mice, and of sheep, the Soay, probably brought here by Stone Age man over 5,000 years ago. Until 1930 St. Kilda was inhabited, but then the last of the islanders left leaving a handful of windswept ruins, though there is also a military base which may be visited.

Day 7 Mingulay, Berneray and Pabay

The small islands of Mingulay, Berneray and Pabay, to the south of South Uist, are a nature reserve with important breeding populations of RazorBills, Guillemots, Black Guillemots, Puffins, Fulmars and Shags. There are also five species of gull, all the seabirds being attracted by the cliffs and caves which offer safe nesting sites. The islands also have significant historical sites, including the old village on Mingulay which the last islanders left in 1912. The islanders were fishermen and collected the seabirds and eggs for food. They also traded the feathers. If the weather is poor we will sail to Canna, one of the 'Small Isles’ of the Inner Hebrides. It has a tiny agricultural and cattle-rearing population. From a walk along the cliff top we may see Golden Eagles, White-tailed Eagles and Peregrine Falcons. At the cliff edge the rare Loose-flowered Orchids grow.

Day 8 Disembark at Oban

We disembark at Oban, a small and cosy harbour town in west Scotland. From there it is a good option to take the train to Glasgow, a marvellous journey through one of the most scenic parts of Scotland, to join our homeward flights.

The channels between the Scottish islands offer excellent possibilities to spot Minke Whales (a small baleen whale), White-beaked Dolphins and Harbour Porpoises. Several other cetaceans, including Orcas (Killer Whales), are also native to these waters.