The British Isles - A Wildlife Cruise

The British Isles are blessed with some of the most spectacular coastal scenery in the world! Shaped over the millennia by the relentless pounding of the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea, our western and northern coastlines are particularly impressive and dotted with rugged islands, secluded sea stacks and remote archipelagos. These isolated outposts are not only home to a hardy bunch of island-loving folk, but to some of the most important and impressive seabird colonies in the whole of the Northern Hemisphere. On this exciting wildlife cruise we will take you to some of the very best of these, including the Scilly Isles, Skomer, St. Kilda, Orkney and Shetland as we travel from Poole on England's coast to Aberdeen in eastern Scotland. For 12 nights we will be based on board the 88-passenger MV Ocean Nova, a small and very comfortable ship which we have exclusively chartered for this expedition.

Our cruise begins in Poole where we board MV Ocean Nova and head west into the English Channel to our first island group, the enchanting Isles of Scilly. We then have the following afternoon to explore either Tresco, with its famous subtropical gardens, or the small westerly island of St. Agnes. Moving on, we will next visit Lundy in the Bristol Channel where we can walk along its traffic-free lanes and meet our first Puffins!

Sailing north, we cross into Wales and spend time enjoying the wildlife of Skomer, home to a further 6,000 pairs of Puffins, along with many Guillemots, Razorbills, Fulmars and Kittiwakes, birds that will become familiar sights on our cruise. We should also find Grey and Common Seals as we explore the island by zodiac and, depending on the weather conditions, we may choose to wait offshore in the evening to watch the return of some of the estimated 100.000 Manx Shearwaters that nest here each year!

Moving on once more, our next destination is the Isle of Man, home to Red-billed Chough and Loghtan Sheep. We will then make a short stop at Ailsa Craig — on which sits the third largest Gannetry in Britain — before sailing on to Northern Ireland and Rathlin Island, edged by one of Ireland's most impressive seabird colonies. Having now landed in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, we complete the United Kingdom's quartet of countries with our first stop in Scotland, most likely on the small island of Iona which sits off Mull and is home to the elusive Corncrake. We also hope to enjoy the Puffins of the nearby Treshnish Islands, along with countless Common Guillemots, Razorbills, Kittiwakes, Fulmars and Shags.

Our time around the remote islands of St. Kilda — a group of four rocky outposts 80 kilometres to the west of the Outer Hebrides — is sure to be a highlight of the cruise. St. Kilda, with its fascinating human history and enormous seabird colonies, is one of the few UNESCO World Heritage Sites with dual status, reflecting both its natural and cultural significance. The islands are home to half a million breeding seabirds, including over 100,000 pairs of Puffins, plus thousands of European and Leach's Storm-petrels. We hope to land and see the unique Wren subspecies and Soay Sheep, and hear about the human occupation of the islands, which lasted for 4,000 years until 1930.

Next, we head for the Orkney Islands. The seas around Scotland's numerous islands are rich in cetaceans with Bottlenose, Common, White-beaked and Risso's Dolphins, Minke Whale and even Orca possible. Arctic and Great Skuas will start to become common, and migrating flocks of Pomarine or Long-tailed Skuas are possible too. Following a day to explore the sheep-dotted crofts and wetlands of North Ronaldsay (the most northerly of the Orkney archipelago) we will move to the Shetland Islands, landing on Foula if conditions allow. We are also likely to stop off at Lerwick, the capital, for a few hours, and pass by Sumburgh Head, a favoured spot for the Orca which patrol the waters off Shetland throughout the year.

Our last port of call is Fair Isle, renowned amongst the UK's birding community as one of the finest rarity hotspots in the country! Although the major rarities mostly turn up in the latter part of the year, 'spring overshoots' regularly drop in during late May/early June and as we wander the island enjoying its seabirds, we need to keep an eye open for classic late spring rarities such as Red-backed Shrike or Bluethroat. 

Our cruise ends in Aberdeen where we will disembark MV Ocean Nova and, with the memories of dramatic sea cliffs and raucous seabird colonies still fresh in our minds, we begin our journey home.