RSPB - giving nature a home
Search
Close
Skip to content
Shop | Community
Log in | Sign up
  • About the RSPB
      About us
    • Our History
    • What we do
    • How the RSPB is run
    • RSPB Media Centre
    • RSPB job vacancies
    • At home & abroad
    • International
    • England
    • Northern Ireland
    • Scotland
    • Wales
    • Get in touch
    • Contact us
    • RSPB offices
    • Connect with us your way
      Our activities
    • Gardening for wildlife

      Gardening for wildlife

      See our ideas to keep you connected to nature during coronavirus

    • Connect with us your way

      Connect with us your way

      From our regular emails to your favourite social media, there’s more than one way to keep in touch with nature

    • Our History

      Our History

      Discover how a campaign against feathers in fashion sparked a global force to save nature with more than a million members

  • Our work
      Nature conservation
    • Conservation and sustainability
    • Projects
    • Landscape scale conservation
    • Centre for Conservation Science
    • Satellite tracking birds
    • RSPB News
    • RSPB News
    • 'Our work' blog
    • Policy and Insight
    • Policy and Insight: England and Westminster
    • Casework
      Featured news
    • Mindful mornings

      Mindful mornings

      If you can’t get outside, why not bring the outside in by downloading our bird song radio app?

    • How nature can help protect our homes

      How nature can help protect our homes

      Following the floods this winter, watch how one area is using nature as a natural protector.

    • Casework

      Casework

      Catch up with the RSPB’s own nature detectives on the case as they look to save some very special places.

  • Birds and wildlife
      Wildlife guides
    • Identify a bird
    • Bird A-Z
    • Other garden wildlife
    • Guide to birdwatching
    • What is the Red List for UK birds?
    • Nature's Calendar
    • Nature's Home magazine
    • About Nature's Home magazine
    • Birds and wildlife articles
    • RSPB Podcasts
    • Nature's Home blog
    • Birds and Wildlife Advice
    • How you can help birds
    • Gardening for wildlife
    • Ask an expert
    • Wildlife and the law
    • How to report crimes against wild birds
    • Bird songs
    • Which bird song is that?
    • Most popular bird guides this month
    • Bird migration

      Bird migration

      Migrating birds have travelled thousands of miles just to get here. Find out why.

    • Who to contact if you spot an injured or baby bird

      Who to contact if you spot an injured or baby bird

      Read more advice about what to do if you find a bird that needs help

    • In for a duck

      In for a duck

      It’s nesting season for our waterfowl too but what are the rules you need to follow for ducks, geese or swans?

  • Get Involved
      Activities
    • Big Garden Birdwatch
    • Nature on Your Doorstep
    • RSPB Competitions
    • Dolphinwatch
    • #MyClimateAction
    • Community & advice
    • Join our local groups
    • How green are you?
    • RSPB Community
    • Get involved blog
    • Volunteering & fundraising
    • Volunteer
    • Fundraise
    • Help nature thrive as a corporate partner
    • Our grant funders
    • Campaigning
    • Campaigning in Scotland
    • Campaigning in Wales
    • Campaigning in England
    • Campaigning in Northern Ireland
    • The nature and climate emergency
    • Protecting wildlife sites
    • Campaign with us
    • Top activities to do
    • Nature on Your Doorstep

      Nature on Your Doorstep

      Great ideas on how your garden, or even a small backyard or balcony, can become a mini nature reserve

    • How green are you?

      How green are you?

      See some of the ways you can get into green living.

    • Campaigning

      Campaigning

  • Reserves & events
      Reserves A-Z
    • Consall Woods
    • Fore Wood
    • Haweswater
    • Langford Lowfields
    • Loch Spynie
    • Oronsay
    • Otmoor Reserve
    • Loch Druidibeg
    • Events, dates & inspiration
    • Events
    • COVID-19 information
    • Dates with nature
    • Places to visit blog
    • #ThanksToYou
    • Reserves Alerts
      Top reserves this month
    • Marshside

      Marshside

      This fantastic wetland site is located north of Southport town centre and has some of the best wildlife in the region.

    • Lytchett Fields

      Lytchett Fields

      The reserve has seen more than thirty species of wading birds.

    • Arne

      Arne

      Heathland home to more than 2565 species.

  • Fun & learning
      For teachers
    • Supporting resources
    • Wild Challenge
    • School outreach visits
    • Big Schools Birdwatch
    • Sign up for the newsletter
    • School trip ideas
    • For kids
    • Fun factoids for all the family
    • Games and activities
    • Kids stories
    • RSPB kids competitions
    • For families
    • Big Wild Sleepout
    • Wild Challenge
    • Nature reserves for families
    • Robin Robin
    • Cameron's Cottage
    • Your Support
    • About Cameron's cottage
    • Latest kids' activities
    • Wild Challenge

      Wild Challenge

      Nature is an adventure waiting to be had. Get out, get busy and get wild!

    • Fun factoids for all the family

      Fun factoids for all the family

      Find out more about the nature and wildlife outside your window.

    • Youth membership

      Youth membership

      As well as a free gift and magazines, you’ll get loads of ideas for activities to try at home.

  • Join & Donate
      Join us
    • Choose a membership
    • Family membership
    • Youth membership
    • Gift membership
    • Nature is stronger with you on its side. Become a Life Fellow today.
    • Renew your membership
    • Donate
    • Philanthropy & Major Gifts
    • Our appeals
    • Make a one-off donation
    • Make a regular donation
    • In Memory Donations
    • Plant a celebration tree
    • In Memory Booklet
    • Leave a gift to nature in your Will
    • Why Include a Gift to Nature in Your Will
    • How to Include us in Your Will
    • Information for executors & solicitors
    • Download your free guide
    • Other ways to help
    • Gift Aid
    • Support us when you shop
    • RSPB Images
    • RSPB second-hand binocular scheme
    • Win with the RSPB
    • Payroll Giving
    • Stamp out albatross deaths
  • Login to your account Sign up for an RSPB account
  • Shop
  • Community
  • Home
  • Reserves & events
  • Reserves A-Z
  • Onziebust

Onziebust

gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
Address
RSPB Onziebust, Onziebust House, Egilsay, Orkney KW17 2QD
Grid ref
HY468302
What3Words
strut.illogical.passions

Discover Onziebust, a mosaic of glorious wildflower meadows, grassland fields and wetland areas which are a paradise for wildlife. Situated centrally within the Orkney islands archipelago, this hidden gem (which also features two tranquil lochs) is home to a population of curlews, lapwings and redshanks.

Plan your visit

Opening times

Open at all times.

Entrance charges

Free entrance to RSPB members
Yes
Adults
Free, but donations are very welcome.
Children
Free, but donations are very welcome.

Facilities

  • Car park
  • Viewing point
  • Nature trails
  • Educational facilities

Accessibility

  • Full accessibility information (external website)

How to get here

By train

There is no public transport available.

By bus

There is no public transport available.

By road

There is a road network on Egilsay, but the roads are narrow and distances are small. To reach the reserve, drive up from the pier to the crossroads (0.5 miles / 0.7km) and either park at the Community Centre, or turn right and follow the road south along the centre of the island. The reserve lies to either side of this road.

The roads on Egilsay are not suitable for coaches.

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

Egilsay is reached by a roll on-roll off ferry from Tingwall on Mainland Orkney, which can take passengers and vehicles. Visit orkneyferries.co.uk for information.

For flights and ferry information to Orkney, contact VisitOrkney at West Castle Street, Kirkwall, KW15 1GU. Website: visitorkney.com Tel: 01856 872856.

Get directions from Google Maps
View on What3Words
RSPB reserves on Google Earth

Group booking information

Group visits are welcome. For more information, please contact the Orkney office on 01856 850176. Although the ferry can take coaches, the roads on Egilsay are narrow with soft verges, with limited turning opportunities and not very suitable for large coaches. The roads are suitable for minibuses, although opportunities are limited with only a small road network.

Schools booking information

School visits are available on our Orkney reserves on a variety of topics. Please contact the Orkney Office on 01856 850176 for further details.

Contact Onziebust

  • RSPB Onziebust, Onziebust House, Egilsay, Orkney KW17 2QD
  • orkney@rspb.org.uk
  • 01856 850176
  • Find us on facebook

What will you see?

Our star species

    Wading curlew illustration

    Curlew

    Long summer evenings are filled with the sound of curlews.

    Eider male

    Eider

    Eider ducks nest around the coast of Egilsay.

    Standing Lapwing illustration

    Lapwing

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

     Skylark illustration

    Skylark

    Skylarks nest in the fields at Onziebust. Watch them displaying and singing overhead in spring.

    Snipe illustration

    Snipe

    These cryptically-coloured waders can be seen probing their long beaks into the soft ground.

Nature spectacles

In winter, explore the eastern coastline of Onziebust and discover flocks of waders and wildfowl from the far north, including whistling wigeons, bleeping teals, busy turnstones and squelching snipes. Weather conditions can be challenging and at the same time spectacular, but it's worth the effort to head out in it to see swirling wader flocks and feeding wildfowl, within the big sky amphitheatre which surrounds the island.

Seasonal highlights

  • Spring
  • Summer
  • Autumn
  • Winter

Wading birds such as lapwings, oystercatchers, redshanks and snipe can be seen displaying. The skies are full of singing skylarks. The 'crex, crex' call of the corncrakes may be heard from May, though rare in recent years. On the beach, Arctic terns and ringed plovers often nest. Eiders, mallards, shovelers and tufted ducks breed here too.

The fields and roadside verges are full of flowers such as clover, yellow rattle, fumitory and vetch. The endangered great yellow bumblebee can be found here. Look out for otters on Manse Loch or along the coast. Wading birds raise their young and the long summer evenings are filled with the sound of curlews, oystercatchers, redshanks and snipe alarming.

Greylag geese arrive from Iceland, joining the island's residents. Many migrants start to move through from continental Europe, often bringing the odd rarity to the island.

This time of year brings a large variety of ducks - wigeons, teals, shovelers, mallard and goldeneyes - on Manse Loch, Loch of the Graand and along the eastern shore. Further offshore, flocks of eiders, long-tailed ducks and great northern divers can be seen and heard occasionally. Farmland birds can be found sheltering and feeding in many fields, with twites, skylarks and reed buntings.

About Onziebust

Habitat

Onziebust is a mixed grassland farm providing suitable habitat for corncrakes, while the wildflower meadows are full of bees including the nationally scarce great yellow bumblebee. The site's extensive wetland areas, with freshwater lochs, are home to a range of birds, including curlews and redshanks. The rocky coast and white sandy beaches provide important feeding opportunities for wintering waders and wildfowl.

Conservation

We want our Onziebust reserve to play the key role in both stabilising and increasing the corncrake population on Orkney and in ensuring that Orkney remains one of the most important breeding areas in the UK for waders especially curlews.

We are restorating a combination of fertile hay meadows and species-rich grassland to benefit corncrakes, waders and the rare great yellow bumblebee. Grazing by light traditional cattle is being used to provide optimal conditions for breeding curlews, redshanks, lapwings and snipe, by providing a mosaic of vegetation heights suitable for nesting and raising families of chicks.

Thanks to recent funding for a project, we have taken over the management of the farm, and are improving the building infrastructure to house an increase in staff to manage the site and animals to graze the reserve, and to provide both a residential volunteering scheme and a training programme for wardens and wildlife-friendly landowners wishing to conserve waders and corncrakes across the county.

Partners

Farming for wildlife; supporting people, sustaining nature.

LEADER
The European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development: Europe investing in rural areas

In April 2017 RSPB Scotland were successful in securing a grant from the Orkney Leader Programme which is being used to start a wildlife-friendly farming operation on Egilsay to increase numbers of rare and threatened species such as corncrakes, curlews, lapwings and great yellow bumblebees.

Site information

The reserve is 270 hectares and covers more than 55 per cent of the island of Egilsay. The RSPB bought Onziebust reserve in 1996 primarily to help the nationally declining corncrake population and safeguard the important numbers of breeding waders. The wetland areas are botanically rich and full of wading birds such as curlews, redshanks, snipe and lapwing. The two lochs and coastline support a large numbers of wintering wildfowl.

Please note there are livestock on this site and you may encounter them on your visit here.

RSPB Scotland welcomes responsible access, in line with the Scottish Outdoor Access Code.

Latest forum posts

  • Vandelism at RSPB reserve Brodgar

    I've just been reading sadly that there has been vandalism at RSPB reserve Brodgar in Orkney. It’s nothing to do with any wildlife. But sadly the historical stone circle at that RSPB reserve has been covered in graffiti. It a big criminal effence to ...

    Posted 11/04/2019 by THOMO
  • Wrapping up the Fortnight

    Our fortnight is over, back to the daily grind - but time for a last thread to finish off our time in the Orkneys. You may have noticed a lack of Bonxies on the previous threads - I was simply saving them up.  They get a bit of a bad press as Pirates...

    Posted 25/06/2018 by Whistling Joe
  • Do You Ever Feel Like You're Being Watched?

    There's a lot of coastline to stroll along on Orkney, some of it very dramatic, like the cliffs here at Yesnaby.  With the winds pushing the waves, it's very impressive Incidentally, the car was parked on the clifftops, just out of shot top right.  W...

    Posted 22/06/2018 by Whistling Joe
  • Island Hopping

    We're staying on Mainland, but there are lots of smaller islands you can catch a ferry to go and see.  One of the closest and most obvious is Hoy, so the other day we packed our lunch and caught the boat.  The ferry bounced around a bit on the way ac...

    Posted 20/06/2018 by Whistling Joe
read our forum

Latest blog posts

  • Stoat Snippet 102

    Welcome to the latest news and updates from the Orkney Native Wildlife Project New to our blog and want to find out more about the project, how to volunteer with us or have a question?  Visit our Facebook page, our website or email us at info@on...(r...

    Posted 01/07/2021 by Orkney Native Wildlife Project
  • Stoat Snippet 101

    The latest blog from the Orkney Native Wildlife Project, the world's largest stoat eradication, explaining the impact of invasive non-native species during this year's Invasive Non-Native Species (INNS) week.(read more)

    Posted 28/05/2021 by Orkney Native Wildlife Project
  • Curlews in Orkney - Outrageous Goals, Extravagant Hope , by Richard Clubley

    photo courtesy of RSPB Images When Stephen Hawking was writing “A Brief History of Time” someone advised he would lose half the potential readership with each equation he included; so he settled on just e=mc² in the entire book. I’m thinking the same...

    Posted 21/04/2021 by EleanorD9
  • Stoat Snippet 100

    Welcome to the latest news and updates from the Orkney Native Wildlife Project New to our blog and want to find out more about the project, how to volunteer with us or have a question? Visit our Facebook page, our website or email us at stoatsig...(r...

    Posted 21/04/2021 by Orkney Native Wildlife Project
read our blog

Activities and events

Activities for children and families

For more information on events and to book tickets, please visit events.rspb.org.uk/onziebust

Leisure activities

  • Walking - There is a walk of slightly more than a mile (2km) from the pier across the centre of the island to the spectacular sandy beach on the eastern shore, from where you can explore the area. Alternatively, turn south at the crossroads up from the pier and continue along the road towards Onziebust Farm. This walk is 1.7 miles (2.7km) each way and offers fantastic views of the reserve.
  • Photography - Onziebust reserve offers fantastic opportunities for photography, with mixed landscapes, shifting light conditions on the surrounding seascapes, botanical delights for macro lenses and all the bustle and movement of the seasonal coastal wildlife, that will require a faster shutter speed.
  • History - St Magnus Church is well worth a visit. It is dedicated to Saint Magnus, who was killed on the island in 1117 by an axe blow to the head. For hundreds of years the story of St. Magnus, part of the Orkneyinga saga, was considered just a legend until a skull with a large crack in it, as if it had been stricken by an axe, was found in the walls of St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall. St Magnus memorial cenotaph is located at HY470300. There is a chambered cairn also on the reserve but no access is possible.

Share this

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest

You might also be interested in

Hilltop lochan / bog pool, Trumland RSPB reserve

Trumland

Trumland in Orkney consists of 131 hectares of blanket bog and 52 hectares of wet heath.
RSPB Giving Nature a Home Campaign

Global Seabird appeal

Every year, hundreds of thousands of seabirds drown needlessly in fishing gear.
RSPB Giving Nature a Home Campaign

Join us - legacy

Become an RSPB member by signing up here.

We spend 90% of net income on conservation, public education and advocacy

Quick links

  • Contact us
  • Online Community
  • Vacancies
  • Media centre

Information for

  • Teachers
  • Policy makers
  • Farmers & landowners
  • Scientists

Our work in

  • England
  • Scotland
  • Wales
  • Northern Ireland
  • International

Follow us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram
  • Email

Partnering with

The RSPB is a member of BirdLife International.

The RSPB is a member of BirdLife International. Find out more about the partnership

Fundraising Regulator logo OSCR logo

© The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a registered charity: England and Wales no. 207076, Scotland no. SC037654

  • Terms & conditions
  • Cookie policy
  • Privacy policy
  • Charter and statutes
  • About our site
  • Modern Slavery Act

Cookie Preferences

Accepting all non-essential cookies helps us to personalise your experience

Edit settings
Accept all

Essential cookies are required

These cookies are required for basic web functions

Enable analytics cookies

Allow us to collect anonymised performance data

Enable marketing cookies

Allow us to personalise your experience

Save settings
Read our cookie policy