Coll

We're working hard to make our nature reserves safe and ready for our staff, visitors and wildlife. Many have now re-opened in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, although some facilities are not yet available. Some reserves remain closed for now. See our COVID-19 updates page for the latest information (link below).

Address: RSPB Coll, An Sabhal, Isle of Coll PA78 6TB

Grid ref: NM167563

See our reserves Covid-19 updates page for which sites are open and other important details.

Well-known for its sandy beaches that rise to form large dunes, Coll is a spectacular Scottish island. It's remote, but a visit is worth it for the abundance of farmland birds, not to mention the peace and quiet. It's also one of the best places to see corncrake.

Plan your visit

Covid-19 update: The reserve is accessible in line with the Scottish Outdoor Access Code. The information centre remains closed at this time.

Open at all times.

Free entrance to RSPB members: Yes

Adults: Free, but donations are very welcome.

Children: Free, but donations are very welcome.

Facilities

Visitor centre is closed
Car park
Guided walks is closed
Viewing point
Nature trails

Accessibility

How to get here

By road

Coll is six miles (9.6 km) west of Arinagour, Isle of Coll, on the B8070.

Sat nav POI file: If you have a satellite navigation system that can accept POI files, please see our POI page for a download link and instructions.

Other ways to get there

Coll is reached by ferry from Oban, Landing at Arinagour on Coll. Contact Caledonian MacBrayne, tel: 08705 650000

Get directions from Google Maps

RSPB reserves on Google Earth

11 degrees, Cloudy

Downloads

Find your way around the Isle of Coll with these suggested well-worn routes. PDF, 756Kb.

Isle of Coll reserve guide

Contact Coll

RSPB Coll, An Sabhal, Isle of Coll PA78 6TB
01879 230301

What will you see?

Our star species

Barnacle goose

Large numbers of barnacle geese arrive on Coll in the autumn.

Corncrake

Listen in spring and summer for the repetitive, rasping call of the male corncrake.

Lapwing

Watch the nesting lapwings here chasing predators that may come too close to their nests.

Redshank

Keep an eye out for the redshanks' towering display flights over the wet meadows in spring.

White-fronted goose

White-fronted geese which breed in Greenland migrate to Coll for winter.

Corncrakes start arriving from their wintering grounds in south-east Africa in spring. Large numbers of breeding waders - lapwings, redshanks and snipe - start displaying and nesting. See the last of the barnacle and Greenland white-fronted geese as they leave for their summer breeding grounds in the Arctic.

In summer, corncrakes are in the hay/silage fields, with breeding waders on the machair. The reserve is full of breeding birds - seabirds can be seen offshore including razorbills, guillemots, puffins, Manx shearwaters and terns. This is also a good time to see large numbers of basking sharks and otters.

The first of our wintering population of barnacle and Greenland white-fronted geese start arriving back in October. The reserve is busy with passage birds - fieldfares and redwings are often seen with wading birds such as dunlins, black-tailed and bar-tailed godwits and golden plovers all migrating south.

Large numbers of barnacle and Greenland white-fronted geese can be seen on the fields. Divers and long-tailed ducks are offshore and flocks of twites, skylarks and rock doves can be seen feeding on the stubble fields. Hen harriers and merlins hunt over the moorland.

About Coll

Habitat

Coll is a remote and quiet island made up of a variety of habitats including farmland, wetland, sand dunes and machair.

The shallow sandy shore is a great place to see terns feeding on sand eels and in the winter you may come across an otter fishing for flat fish. In July the machair is a spectacular display of wild flowers which insects use to feed on, if you are very lucky you may come across the great yellow bumblebee. From late March the wading birds on the wetlands have started displaying and by late April they are in full swing, the best time to hear them is at dusk.

The farmland is working system where both agriculture and wildlife coexists. Skylarks are plentiful, swallows feed over the hay meadows and corncrakes are in every patch of rough grass.

Conservation

Coll’s corncrakes breed on in-bye fields. We have already more than quadrupled their population on the reserve to a maximum of 66 calling males. Small adjustments to farming practice made in partnership with local farmers are largely responsible for this success. Other birds of the in-bye fields which benefit from corncrake conservation include skylark, twite and reed bunting, while the fields host important wintering populations of barnacle and Greenland white-fronted geese. We use grazing to maintain feeding areas and undisturbed roost sites for the geese.

The sand dune habitats protect such notable species as sand lizard, belted beauty moth and the extremely rare short-necked oil beetle, Meloe brevicollis. We are working to maintain their condition, using low intensity grazing with cattle and sheep.

The reserve’s upland habitats include heather moorland, bog and unimproved grassland. We are working to maintain these for their plant life, raptors and passerines such as twite.

Site information

Coll is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), as well as a Natura 2000 site.

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