Marwick Head

All of Scotland’s wild places and green spaces are vital for the survival of its unique, amazing wildlife. If you plan to head out to these areas please respect and protect Scotland’s great outdoors. As guidelines change, we ask that all visitors follow the latest Scottish Government restrictions and advice. See below for reserve details and our dedicated Covid-19 updates page for the latest safety information (link below). Thank you for your continued support and patience. Stay safe everyone.

Address: RSPB Marwick Head, Orkney, KW17 2NB, UK

Grid ref: HY229240

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Covid-19 updates for RSPB nature reserves

Discover a spectacular seabird city at Marwick Head, with breathtaking views along the Orkney coastline. With a blue sky above, an azure sea, a carpet of colourful flowers and the commotion of the seabird colony below, is there is a better place to spend a sunny June afternoon?

Plan your visit

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

Car park
Guided walks
Viewing point
Nature trails
Educational facilities

Accessibility

Full accessibility information (external website)

How to get here

By bus

Route 8 passes close to the Choin car park - alight at the road end by the brown tourist sign for RSPB Marwick Head just before Marwick and there is a 0.8 mile (1.3 km) walk to the car park at the Choin. Up to date travel information can be found on travelinescotland.com.

By bike

The reserve is close to Route 1 of the National Cycle Network. Follow the brown tourist sign at for RSPB Marwick Head just before Marwick.

By road

Marwick Head is about 11 miles (17.6 km) north of Stromness, off the B9056 between Skaill and Birsay.

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

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

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Group visits are welcome, however the car parks are not accessible for vehicles larger than a minibus. For more information, please contact the Orkney office on 01856 850176.

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 Marwick Head

RSPB Marwick Head, Orkney, KW17 2NB, UK
orkney@rspb.org.uk
01856 850176
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What will you see?

Our star species

Guillemot

Marvel at how closely packed these birds are on the cliff ledges.

Razorbill

Not so obvious as the guillemots, you can often find them perched on the edge of crevices in the rocks.

Kittiwake

Listen out for the distinctive call that gives them their name.

Fulmar

See if you can spot this relative of the albatross nesting on the cliffs.

Purple sandpiper

Look out for small groups at high tide in the winter on the edges of the Choin.

Nature spectacles

From the spectacular viewpoint at the top of the cliffs, you can look right into the heart of the colony and see impressive numbers of nesting seabirds, whilst gulls and skuas patrol the adjacent skies. In winter, wading birds including turnstones, purple sandpipers and ringed plovers gather on the shore at the Choin to roost and feed, and sea ducks are plentiful offshore.

The reserve is also home to the great yellow bumblebee, a rare bee which is confined to northern Scotland. The cliffs at Marwick are at their best between April and July, when the seabird colony is at its peak of activity.

Watch for returning seabirds settling down onto the cliffs. Wander through the carpets of thrift, spring squill and sea campion on the cliff tops. On calm days, scan the seas for passing whales and dolphins.

Take in the sights, sounds and smells of the razorbills, guillemots, kittiwakes and fulmars. Scan the cliffs carefully and you may be lucky and see a puffin or two. Marvel at the acrobatics of fulmars, Arctic and great skuas patrolling the cliff edges. See if you can spot a great yellow bumblebee busy feeding on the flowers.

Scan the fields near the Marwick Bay car park for waders, including curlews and redshanks, busy feeding up after migrating south. Check the rocks fringing the Choin at high tide for turnstones and purple sandpipers.

Look out for ducks such as teals, wigeons, red-breasted mergansers and eiders in the Choin. Check the gulls in Marwick Bay for unusual northern visitors such as Iceland and glaucous gulls.

About Marwick Head

Habitat

The spectacular seacliffs of Marwick Head, backed by a narrow fringe of coastal grassland, are home to a bustling colony of seabirds, and the seas offshore play host to passing whales and dolphins. Back down at sea level, a low-tide lagoon called the Choin provides valuable shelter during the winter for large numbers of ducks, as well as a stopping off point for various migrating waders.

Conservation

The seabird colony at Marwick Head is the largest on Orkney Mainland, and our work aims to maintain the cliffs as a safe haven for all the species that breed on them. Marwick is a key site nationally for monitoring the populations and breeding success of seabirds, information which is particularly vital in light of the recent large declines in seabird numbers around the coasts of northern Scotland.

The fields at the lower end of the reserve are managed by grazing for breeding waders and we also aim to provide large areas of cover for corncrakes, which in some years call from nearby. This management is complemented by work to maintain the presence of the rare great yellow bumblebee, which can be seen in small numbers on the reserve in summer.

Site information

The 20 hectare nature reserve at Marwick Head takes in a mile of magnificent, rugged sea cliffs, rising to a height of 87 m. The reserve is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a Special Protection Area (SPA) for its breeding seabirds, especially guillemots and kittiwakes. The low tide lagoon, the Choin, is also a valuable site for wintering sea ducks and passage waders.

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Activities and events

Activities for children and families

Keep an eye out for family-friendly events over the summer.

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

Leisure activities

Walking: The walk to the top of the cliffs is steep in places, but you will be rewarded with spectacular views of the west coast of Orkney – see if you can spot the Old Man of Hoy and the cliffs of Westray on a clear day.

Photography: Marwick Head offers fantastic opportunities for photography, with rugged scenery, shifting light on the oceanic waters and all the bustle and movement of a busy seabird colony.

Local history: The reserve bounds the Kitchener Memorial and commemorative wall, honouring the death of the 737 servicemen who died in the sinking of the HMS Hampshire and HM Drifter Laurel Crown in 1916.

Marshside

Lytchett Fields

Arne

Marwick Head