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The green fertile islands of Orkney , Shetland
and the Hebrides are ideal places to
truly get away from it all. The islands
provide a vivid contrast to the rugged
moorland of the Highlands, the landscape
rolling gently to merge with wide open skies
and azure blue seas.
Day 1: 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: 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 3: To the west of Shetland lies the
small island of Foula, home to the largest
colony of Great Skuas in the northern
hemisphere. There are small ponds with
Red-throated Divers and spectacular cliffs
(The Noup) crowded with nesting seabirds. We
visit Arctic Tern and Arctic Skua colonies as
well as calling on the islanders who number
only about 30.
Day 4: 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 Albatros
at this island.
Day 5: 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: 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: 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: 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.
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