Sitting on the cliff edge of Hermaness National Nature Reserve, on the most northerly point of Britain, it's easy to believe you're sitting at the edge of the world. The deep turquoise of the North Atlantic Ocean stretches to the horizon. Only the raucous cries of thousands of seabirds shatters the sense of timeless calm you find here.

Please avoid the shaded ‘sensitive area’ from May – July to avoid disturbing nesting birds.

Rock hurling giants

Hermaness means 'Herma's headland' and was named after the mythical giant Herma, who legend tells us lived here. He and a rival giant, Saxa, who lived on Saxa Vord, lobbed rocks at each other across the Burra Firth – a large one of which landed in the sea and became the Out Stack. Both fell in love with a mermaid and set off to follow her to the North Pole. However, they drowned, as neither could swim!

Their missiles would have consisted of gneiss, the main rock type here. It formed 500 million years ago under immense heat and pressure. This process also produced some of the best crystals of the minerals kyanite and staurolite in Britain, although, to the untrained eye, they're difficult to spot. The cliffs at Neap and Saito are criss-crossed by veins of another hardwearing rock, granite, which show up pale pink against the darker gneiss.

Colourful tapestry

Rough moorland covers much of this reserve, but a closer look reveals a range of attractive plants. The moor is a living tapestry of heather, crowberry, bog bilberry, mosses and grasses, with splashes of colour from orchids and yellow bog asphodel. Cliff ledges out of reach of grazing sheep support angelica, Scots lovage, red campion and sea campion – all plants that can cope with sea spray. Spring
squill creates a quilt of blue in May, changing to pink in summer as the sea pinks (thrift) take over.

Much of the moorland area is blanket bog with deep peat that holds more than 7000 years of plant history in its layers. The moor shelters snipe, dunlin and golden plover, along with artic and great skuas. Other summer visitors include the rare and elegant red-throated divers, which nest on the moorland lochs each summer.

Feathered pirates

Crossing the moorland of Hermaness in summer you'll be greeted by great skuas, or 'bonxies' as they're known in Shetland. They’re notorious for dive-bombing anyone who steps too close to their nests, although they rarely make contact. The whistle of their wings as they fly just above your head is a memorable sound. If you find them too unnerving, hold your arm or a stick straight above your head to keep them at a distance.

These bird pirates are great predators and travellers. They chase gulls, terns and auks (razorbills, guillemots and puffins) to a point where their victims disgorge their catch, providing a free meal for the great skua. They also eat other seabirds, especially kittiwakes and puffins. Great skuas breed from May to August and go south in the winter as far as Brazil and West Africa.

Shetland is the main stronghold of the great skua – it holds over half the world population – with Hermaness hosting the third largest colony. Standing in the middle of the reserve today it is hard to believe that in 1831 there were only three pairs on Hermaness. Due to its rarity, egg collectors and taxidermists targeted the great skua. However, with protection from the landowners, numbers rose to 80
pairs by the 1920s and today there are around 700 pairs.

Seabird cities

The cliffs of Hermaness rise to 170 metres at the Neap. Home to more than 100,000 breeding sea birds, they teem with birdlife. The swooping and diving of thousands of seabirds presents a dizzying display, with a comic turn from the puffins as an entertaining sideshow.

There are several gannetries where more than 16,000 pairs of these elegant birds have built nests of seaweed cemented with guano (bird droppings). Hermaness gannets account for about 5% of the Western European population, but they didn't breed here until 1917. Fulmars are also relative newcomers to the Hermaness cliffs. They began to breed here in 1897 and today there are more than 14,000 pairs. The puffin is the most popular of the auks, but there are also 7000 guillemots nesting on the cliffs and 1000 razorbills in the boulders below. Kittiwakes, shags, black guillemots (tysties) and gulls make this one of the most varied seabird colonies in Europe.

Flying clowns

Shetland is home to over 100,000 pairs of puffins each summer, which represents 20% of the British population of 'tammie nories' as they're known locally. A quarter of these nest on Hermaness, where you can see these sociable, but comical, clown birds popping in and out of their burrows, with colourful beaks crammed full of sand eels or sprats to feed their chicks. Puffins usually return to the same burrow each year. They can dig these with their powerful legs and beak, but often use old rabbit burrows.

The chicks stay in the burrows until they're ready for a life on the ocean and emerge during darkness to avoid predators. They often waddle rather than fly to the sea.

Recent arrivals

Fulmars are elegant fliers and among the longestlived of birds – some survive beyond 40. Until the second half of last century, Britain's only breeding fulmars were on St Kilda, where the islanders hunted them for food, oil and feathers, with the oil used for lamps and medicines. Fulmars, or 'maalies' as they're known in Shetland, spread south from the Faroes or Iceland to first nest in Shetland in 1878. Although they breed from May to September, they can be seen on the cliffs of Hermaness all year. Fulmars are noted for defending themselves by spitting a foul-smelling oil, which destroys the waterproofing quality of feathers.

Hardheaded divers

With a massive wingspan of up to six feet, gannets are Britain's biggest sea bird and are known locally as 'solan geese'. Like the fulmar they have only been nesting in Shetland for about a hundred years. Their skulls are strengthened to withstand the impact as they hit the water from heights of up to 30m. They breed from April to September and the dark grey chicks take up to five years to gain their eye-catching white plumage.

Heading for Hermaness

There's a daily bus service (except Sundays) from Lerwick to Haroldswick in Unst. It leaves from the Viking bus station and collects passengers from the NorthLink ferry terminal. The entrance to the reserve is 3 miles (5km) from Haroldswick. By car from Lerwick you'll need to get the ferry to Yell and follow the main road to the Gutcher ferry terminal to cross to Unst. On Unst take the road north through Baltasound, turning off just before Haroldswick onto the road signposted to Burrafirth and Hermaness.

Getting to Hermaness

Hermaness lies three miles from Haroldswick on Unst – the B9086 road leads to the car park. There's a limited bus service from Lerwick to Haroldswick but it's not possible to enjoy the reserve and get back in a day. Come prepared for changeable weather and rough terrain. Wear walking boots or stout shoes and always take warm clothing even if the sun is shining.

For more information please contact:
Scottish Natural Heritage
Stewart Building
Lerwick
Shetland
ZE1 0LL
Tel: 01595 693345