Fair Isle

Fair Isle (59.541°N x 1.622°W) is a small island, just three miles long and a mile wide, lying between Orkney and Shetland in the far north of the United Kingdom. Britain’s remotest inhabited island is home to around 50 people, whose jobs include crofting, art and crafts (including producing the famous Fair Isle knitwear) and work in tourism.

It is also the location of the Fair Isle Bird Observatory, which has been studying the Isle’s birds since 1948, as well as providing accommodation for visitors to the Isle.

Although famous as a site to witness migration and find rarities (over 30 firsts for Britain have been found on the Isle), the Isle is also home to large numbers of breeding seabirds. Significant declines of several species have been recorded in recent decades, but in the summer, visitors cannot fail to notice the increasing population of Great Skuas (known locally as Bonxies), with around 500 pairs now nesting amongst the heather and grass, predominantly in the north of the island. Around the cliffs and coasts there are also around 32,000 pairs of Fulmars, 4,000 pairs of Gannets, 21,000 Guillemots, 7,000 Puffins, 2,000 Razorbills and 200 pairs of Shags as well as smaller numbers of , Arctic Terns, Storm Petrels, Black Guillemots, Arctic Skuas, Herring, Great Black-backed, Lesser Black-backed and Common Gulls.

Fair Isle’s designations include Special Area of Conservation (SAC), Special Protection Area (SPA), Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), Demonstration and Research Marine Protected Area (MPA) and National Scenic Area (NSA) as well as holding a Council of Europe Diploma.