Walking Hermaness National Nature Reserve, Shetland

In the far north of Shetland on the island of Unst is Hermaness Nature Reserve. This wild and remote location is home to gannets, bonxies and puffins who patrol the rugged cliffs during the summer months.

In the winter months, the cliffs are silent but the sheer scale of the cliffs and the wild North Atlantic ocean come into focus as storm after storm batters the cliffs and huge waves wash over the empty gannet cliffs.

The Shore Station and Visitors Hub are located in the sheltered inlet called Burrafirth where the parking area is located at the end of the road. From the Visitors Hub, a well-made boardwalk takes you through the nature reserve out to the old Muckle Flugga Signal Station where the lighthouse can be seen on Muckle Flugga rock across a short body of swirling water and rocks.

Unst is one of the best places for wildlife on Shetland and Hermaness has more than its fair share of birds and wildflowers.

Hermaness National Nature Reserve

Hermaness National Nature Reserve is an area patrolled by bonxies and the home to a large and thriving gannet colony.  Just off the coast on a small island is Muckle Flugga Lighthouse. The name “Muckle Flugga”  comes from the Old Norse name Mikla Flugey, meaning “large steep-sided island” and it certainly lives up to its name. 

The Hermaness National Nature Reserve has a number of habitats as well as the shore station for the lighthouse and a small but perfectly formed visitors centre. Whilst it is not possible to get to Muckle Flugga the Hermaness Nature Reserve overlooks the island providing views of the lighthouse.

From the new visitors hub in the parking area boardwalks head out over the moorland to the birdcliffs. The path follows a wide valley which is full of bog cotton and this gives a hint to the habitat. Stay on the path or you will quickly find yourself paddling in peaty bog water.

Boardwalk and the Bonxies

The trails out to the nature reserve follow a boardwalk, but on either side are wildflowers, grasses, crowberry, bog bilberry as well as bright pink sea thrift. White bog cotton sways in the breeze that is ever-present as sheep and rabbits graze the short herb-filled grass.

Along the boardwalk area in the sheltered moorland valley, you will enter the world of the bonxie or great skua (Stercorarius skua). These are large predatory birds, similar to some of the larger gulls and known as the ‘Pirates of the Seas’. They are large, dramatic and aggressive.

Hermaness has the world’s third-largest colony of great skuas with almost 1000 breeding pairs, but the population hasn’t always been this size. In 1831, there were just three pairs, but a programme set up has seen numbers increase year on year ever since.

As you walk across the valley you will become aware of the lone birds standing on the tussocks of grass marking their territory. They are not afraid to attack humans on the path and will not be adverse to extremely close fly-bys (similar to the gulls on Steep Holm in the Bristol Channel) if they see you as a threat.

Their displays include extending their wings to demonstrate their size and extremely noisy calling as well as dive bombing. They will mug other birds for their food, kill smaller birds and animals like puffins and rabbits and raid nests for eggs if the opportunity presents itself.

Despite their aggressive nature, the bonxies make good parents. They nest in dimples within the grass meadows surrounding the boardwalks. The first you know about a nest is when you are shouted at aggressively by an irate parent.

Hermaness Gannet Colony

Located at a small cleft in the cliffs called Neap on the Saito trail, the gannet colony is a frenetic and mad location with a never-ending bustle during the summer months. The cliffs drop 170 metres straight down to the turbulent ocean below and perched on the sheer cliffs are over 30,000 pairs of gannets. The neap is the largest of the colonies at Hermaness but all along the cliffs, you will see nesting gannets riding the thermals.

Turning the corner the wind hits your face. The most northerly part of the United Kingdom is buffeted by winds that can take your breath away in a moment. The smell of guano, the legacy of generations of gannets wafts in the air. Waves of this unique fragrance hit your nostrils, pungent but earthy in equal measure.

White feathers move upwards, caught in the updrafts that circulate the cliff face, a frost-like dusting of white along the sheep-grazed cliff top. The noise, the movement and the sheer scale of the colony make the mind buzz. Thousands of lives are lived out during the summer months on this remote cliff face. 

Designed and built by the male he makes a 2-metre nest which is ‘home’ for the 30 weeks it takes to incubate and raise their young. Gradually expanding and rising as excrement is removed from the nest some can be 2 metres above the rock they are perched on as the years pass.

Ocean debris in the gannet colony

Looking closer the modern reality of life comes into focus.  The nests of these huge birds are usually made from seaweed, twigs and mud used to contain small amounts of debris collected from the sea.   This is changing and a close look at the white dots of each nest shows the change in materials.

Appearing blue and green encased in mud and twigs and then topped with a layer of excrement, these nests are more man-made than natural.  Built from discarded fishing nets and plastic debris the sad reality of our destruction of the planet is apparent even here, 400 miles from the Arctic Circle on the cliffs of Hermaness on the island of Unst in the Shetland archipelago.

Puffins at Hermaness

The puffins at Hermaness are almost the forgotten species here. They nest in the soft tops of the cliffs, perched precariously on the cliffs. Digging out burrows or reusing rabbit burrows they lay just one egg each year. They have a hard life as the bonxies are constantly patrolling, stealing their sand eels and taking the weak and young as a meal when

Whale Watching at Hermaness

Hermaness is the perfect vantage point for scanning the coastline for whales and dolphins. Orcas can be seen cruising around the base of the cliffs in search of seals. Take binoculars and spend some time just scanning the water as you take a break from the busy seabird cliffs.

GETTING TO Hermaness National Nature Reserve

Unst is two ferries and a two-hour drive from Lerwick, the capital of the Shetland Islands.  

From the second ferry from Yell to Unst take the A968 onto the B9086 at Haroldswick.  At the end of the road, there is a car park and the Visitor’s Hub.

The path to the cliff top is a boardwalk making it a fairly easy walk. The path undulates through rough grass and some boggy areas out to the cliff top. The boardwalk and cliff tops meet at a place called Toolie. Following the path to the left toward Saito and the gannet colony at the Neap.

Returning back to Toolie and then heading east will follow the cliffs to Looss Wick where the lighthouse can be seen on the rocks swirling with gannets.

This is a circular walk that takes about 3 hours.

• Hermaness Nature Reserve, Haroldswick, Shetland ZE2 9EQ
• Find on Google Maps
• Visit the Hermaness Nature Reserve Website