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North Highlands Highlight

Handa

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HANDA (ON, Sand-ey, Sandy isle) is a small island near Scourie famous for its birds and wild flowers, taking its name from its beaches. It is composed of Torridonian Sandstone which gives it a totally different character to much of the nearby mainland, and which weathers to make the ledges so liked by birds.

Although it is now uninhabited, over 60 people lived here until 1847, when they all emigrated to Nova Scotia. They were not cleared, but left as they had become over reliant on potatoes, and blight caused their crop to fail. This seems unlikely to be the entire reason as there is a wealth of birds and fish as well as fertile land to grow other crops.

Birds. In summer the island is home to over 180,000 nesting seabirds. The high cliffs (120m) and the Great Stack hold thousands of Guillemots, Razorbills, Puffins, Shags, Kittiwakes and Fulmars, while Great Skuas, Arctic Skuas and gulls nest on the hill. Handa is easily the best place in the area to see breeding seabirds in large numbers.

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