About RSPB Islay – Gruinart and the Oa:
Get closer to Islay’s wildlife at the two RSPB nature reserves on the island – The Oa and Loch Gruinart
The Oa
The Oa reserve has wild sea-cliffs and open moorland, the perfect home for magnificent golden eagles.
Take a walk around the coastal trail and up to the American monument for stunning views of the sea-cliffs and across to Northern Ireland. Scan the shore to spot the wild goats munching on seaweed or maybe even an otter fishing in the shallows.
Look for golden eagles soaring over the cliffs, peregrines hunting and chough feeding by the highland cattle. Off the coast, watch gannets diving for fish while grey seals sunbathe on the rocks below.
Find out more on the website here
Loch Gruinart
Loch Gruinart is home to one of the UK’s best wildlife spectacles, every winter tens of thousands of geese from Greenland flock to the green fields of Loch Gruinart. As they depart north in the spring waders and corncrakes return to breed.
A walk along the trails will immerse you in the sights and sounds of Islay; from the white cotton-grass on the moor and the carpets of bluebells in the woods to the melodic skylark or “pee-wit” cry of the lapwings in the summer. Be sure to make some time to simply sit and let the world go by. Your patience may be rewarded with the sight of a shy deer or a hen harrier drifting by.
Seek out the elusive corncrake in the summer and watch the lapwing chicks grow through the year before the crowds of barnacle geese descend. Take advantage of the hides to observe the wide variety of birds and animals throughout the seasons.
Find out more on the website here
Both reserves are on working farms and we ask walkers to adhere to the Scottish Outdoor Access code by keeping dogs under close control (preferably on a lead) and keep to paths.