HANDA ISLAND

Handa is an island surrounded by high sea-cliffs lying a short distance from the west coast of Sutherland in Scotland. Located on the western coastline of Highland Council Area, Handa Island sits across the Sound of Handa from the village of Scourie. The departure point for Handa Island is at Tarbert - 6 miles north of Scourie. Passenger ferries sail from Tarbet and the island is now in the care of the Scottish Wildlife Trust. The island is owned by Dr. Jean Balfour and managed for its wildlife by the Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT). On landing on the island a SWT warden will point you in the direction of the footpath which encircles the island.  The complete trail is 6 km and takes at least 2 hours, it is best to allow 3 to 4 hours or more to fully appreciate the sights and sounds of Handa. The terrain is rough, the cliffs are steep and the weather can change quickly.

"In 1848 Evander Maciver cleared Handa Island and Sheigra.  He took Handa as part of his own lease for sheep and turned Sheigra into a sheepwalk too"

P74 M. Bangor-Jones

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Covering an area of 309 ha (764 acres), This small island was once inhabited by 12 families until1846 when the famine forced them to leave because of the potato crop failure. They lived mainly on fish potatoes and seabirds. The residents of this island used to appoint their own parliament and the oldest widow in the community was made their queen.  society similar to that on St Kilda in fact. Since then it has become a haven for bird-life; puffins, razorbills, kittiwakes and guillemots all breed here.  It provides a strategic nesting locality for seabirds that feed in the productive waters of the northern Minch, outside the SPA. Most of the island is vegetated with sub-maritime grasslands and heaths. The SPA’s principal ornithological importance is for its breeding seabirds. The only inhabitant know is a Scottish Wildlife Trust warden Handa Island is a dedicated bird reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest  at. Over 170 bird species have been recorded here and the island hosts the largest guillemot colony in Britain - about 100,000 birds. Probably the most unusual bird - an albino oystercatcher with a twisted bill - now resides, stuffed, in an Edinburgh museum having died on Handa in 1967. 216 species of plant have been recorded and over 100 types of moss. Thousands of rabbits reside here and whales are seen fairly frequently.

Handa Island is internationally famous for its sea-bird colonies, including the largest breeding colony of guillemots in Britain and there are estimated to be around 120,000 pairs of breeding on Handa! There are also puffin, fulmar, shag, razorbill, skuas (both arctic and great), kittiwake, gulls and terns. Handa is renowned for its magnificent Torridonian Sandstone cliffs, which rise to a height of 400 feet along the dramatic northern edge of the island. Thousands of years of weathering of the sandstone has formed horizontal layers which provide ideal disturbance free places for seabirds to breed. Many of Handa’s seabirds, which can live for 20 years or more, return to exactly the same spot on the cliff year after year. In these sea-bird ‘cities’ each pair holds a territory of a few square feet, which is essential for breeding. From mid-July onwards the seabirds begin to leave the cliffs to spend the winter out at sea. The moorland of the interior is home to arctic and great skuas. It is worth pausing for a moment to watch their spectacular flying displays. The great skua, or bonxie, is a powerful bird which will often bully other seabirds and make them disgorge their fish. They also rob kittiwake eggs and chicks and will regularly kill other species. Great Skua will attack and sometimes drown a bird as large as a gannet. They can be aggressive in defence of their eggs and young, and may swoop low enough to strike an intruder’s head with their feet. The arctic skua is noisy and demonstrative. During their graceful flying displays they show a complete mastery of the air. Much of their food is obtained by chasing other seabirds and forcing them to drop or disgorge their catch. On the breeding ground this species can be even more aggressive than the great skua, dive-bombing at human or animal intruders as well as other skuas. The Great Stack is the best place to experience the excitement and clamour of Handa’s 180,000 seabirds.

Over 9,000 guillemots alone breed on the ledges on the stack’s east face. Puffins nest in burrows on top of the stack where they probably retreated to avoid predation by the introduced brown rats. Following the successful eradication of rats in 1997, puffins are just beginning to recolonise the main island.As you walk along the cliff watch the graceful fulmars in flight. They are superb flyers and can hang almost motionless as they ride the air currents on straight narrow wings. Fulmars nest on narrow ledges near the top of the cliffs. For about eight weeks male and female take turn to brood the single egg, usually for spells of two to five days. Guillemots and razorbill are generally found below the fulmars. Razorbill lay their single egg in crevices. Guillemots nest in packed communities and often share eggs, chicks and mates. Kittiwakes build their nests even lower down on narrow ledges. Their nests are made of grass cemented together by droppings. Kittiwake are true ocean gulls and only come ashore to breed, spending the long winter months at sea.