Mousa

Information about Mousa

Enlarge picture
Mousa as seen from the mainland; the broch is visible on the right.
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A misty day at Mousa Broch


Mousa (Old Norse: "Mosey" [1]) is a small island in Shetland, uninhabited since the nineteenth century. The island is best known for Mousa Broch, an Iron Age round tower.

The Norse tended to consider an island to be something that they could circumnavigate, and this included being able to drag a boat over land. Thus Mousa was considered two islands, namely North Isle and South Isle. In the same way Kintyre was considered an island by them. [2]

Wildlife

Mousa is also known for its wildlife, including grey and common seals, guillemots, arctic terns and storm petrels.

Storm Petrels

Mousa is well known among birders for its breeding European Storm-petrels. The island holds c.6,800 breeding pairs in total, representing about 8% of the British population and about 2.6% of the world population.[3][4] Partly because of this the island has been designated a Special Protection Area. Storm petrels may also be found at the reserve of Haaf Gruney.

Transport

The island is readily accessed using the passenger-only ferry which operates from the Shetland Mainland at Leebitton, Sandwick in summer time.

Reference

1. ^ Anderson, Joseph (Ed.) (1893) Orkneyinga Saga. Translated by Jón A. Hjaltalin & Gilbert Goudie. Edinburgh. James Thin and Mercat Press (1990 reprint). ISBN 0-901824-25-9
2. ^ Haswell-Smith, Hamish. (2004) The Scottish Islands. Edinburgh. Canongate.
3. ^ Ratcliffe, N., D. Vaughan and M. White (1998) The status of Storm Petrels on Mousa, Shetland Scottish Birds 19:154-159
4. ^ Harrop, Hugh and David Tipling (2002) The Storm Petrels of Mousa Birding World 15(8):332-333


 
Scotland | Shetland Islands
Inhabited islands: Mainland | Bressay | Burra | Fair Isle | Fetlar | Foula | Muckle Roe | Out Skerries | Papa Stour | Trondra | Unst | Vaila | Whalsay | Yell
Other islands: Mousa | Noss
Towns and villages: Lerwick | Aith | Baltasound | Brae | Grutness | Gutcher | Haroldswick | Scalloway | Symbister | Toft | Ulsta | Uyeasound | Vidlin |Walls
Extreme points: Hermaness | Sumburgh Head
Archaeological sites: Jarlshof, Mousa Broch


Coordinates:
island (IPA: /aɪ.lɪnd/) or isle (IPA: /aɪ.ʌl
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Shetland Islands
Sealtainn


Flag Coat of arms
Location

Geography

Area Ranked 12th
 - Total 1,466 km²
 - % Water ?
Admin HQ Lerwick
GB-ZET
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For the periodical, see .
The 19th Century (also written XIX century) lasted from 1801 through 1900 in the Gregorian calendar. It is often referred to as the "1800s.
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Broch of Mousa is the finest example of a broch in Shetland, Scotland, and is the tallest still standing broch in the world. Judging from its sophisticated construction it probably dates to about 100 BC to AD 100, during the final period of broch building.
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Iron Age was the stage in the development of any people in which tools and weapons whose main ingredient was iron were prominent. The adoption of this material coincided with other changes in some past societies often including differing agricultural practices, religious beliefs
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Round tower may refer to:
  • Types
  • Irish round tower
  • Broch
  • Round-tower church
  • Specific

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Kintyre (Ceann Tìre in Gaelic) is a peninsula in western Scotland, in the south-west of Argyll and Bute. The region stretches approximately 30 miles (48 km), from the Mull of Kintyre (immortalised in the song of the same name by Paul McCartney) in the south, to East Loch
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Wildlife refers to all non-domesticated plants, animals, and other organisms. Domesticated organisms are those that have adapted to survival with the help of (or under the control of) humans, after many generations.
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Halichoerus
Nilsson, 1820

Species: H. grypus

Binomial name
Halichoerus grypus
(Fabricius, 1791)


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P. vitulina

Binomial name
Phoca vitulina
Linnaeus, 1758

Range of Phoca vitulina


This article is about the marine mammal.

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The Guillemots are seabirds in the auk family. They comprise two genera: Uria and Cepphus. The former are relatives of the Razorbill, Dovekie and the extinct Great Auk and together make up the tribe Alcini, while the latter form a tribe of their own, the Cepphini.
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S. paradisaea

Binomial name
Sterna paradisaea
Pontoppidan, 1763[2]

Breeding grounds (red), wintering grounds (blue) and migration routes (green)

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Hydrobatidae
Mathews, 1912

Genera

Subfamily Oceanitinae
Oceanites
Garrodia
Pelagodroma
Fregetta
Nesofregetta
Subfamily Hydrobatinae
Hydrobates
Oceanodroma
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Birdwatching or birding is the observation and study of birds with the naked eye or through a visual enhancement device like binoculars. Most birders and birdwatchers pursue this activity for recreational or social reasons unlike ornithologists who are engaged in the
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Hydrobates
Boie, 1822

Species: H. pelagicus

Binomial name
Hydrobates pelagicus
(Linnaeus, 1758)

The European Storm-petrel or
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A Special Protection Area or SPA is a designation under the European Union directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds ( 79/409/CEE ).

Member States of the European Union have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and certain particularly threatened
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Haaf Gruney is a small island in the north east of the Shetland Islands.

Geography and geology

The island is between Unst and Fetlar which are to the north and south respectively.
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Mainland, Shetland

Location

OS grid reference: HU414553

Names

Gaelic name: Unknown
Norse name: Megenland
Meaning of name: Old Norse for 'mainland'

Area and Summit
Area: 96,879 ha
Area rank (Scottish islands): 3
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Sandwick may refer to
  • a settlement on the east coast of Shetland, 15 miles south of Lerwick.
  • a parish on the west of Orkney.
  • an area of the town of Stornoway, Isle of Lewis.

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Birding World is a monthly birding journal published in the United Kingdom. It is the magazine of the Bird Information Service, based at Cley next the Sea, Norfolk.

Originally published in 1987 as Twitching
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Motto
Nemo me impune lacessit   (Latin)
"No one provokes me with impunity"
"Cha togar m'fhearg gun dioladh"   
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Shetland Islands
Sealtainn


Flag Coat of arms
Location

Geography

Area Ranked 12th
 - Total 1,466 km²
 - % Water ?
Admin HQ Lerwick
GB-ZET
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Mainland, Shetland

Location

OS grid reference: HU414553

Names

Gaelic name: Unknown
Norse name: Megenland
Meaning of name: Old Norse for 'mainland'

Area and Summit
Area: 96,879 ha
Area rank (Scottish islands): 3
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Bressay

Location

OS grid reference: HU507406

Names

Gaelic name: Unknown
Norse name: Breiðey/Brusey
Meaning of name: Old Norse for 'broad island' or 'Brusi's island'

Area and Summit
Area: 2,805 ha
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Burra (Old Norse: Barrey [1]) is the collective name for two of the Shetland Islands, West (pop. 753) and East Burra (pop. 66), which are connected by bridge to one another, and to the Shetland Mainland via Trondra.
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Fair Isle

Location
OS grid reference: HZ209717

Names

Gaelic name:
Norse name: Frjóey/Friðarey
Meaning of name: "Sheep island", from Norse

Area and Summit
Area: 768 ha
Area rank (Scottish islands): 61
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Fetlar

Location
OS grid reference: HU620919

Names

Gaelic name: Unknown
Norse name: Fætilar
Meaning of name: 'prosperous land' or 'strapped together island'

Area and Summit
Area: 4,078 ha
Area rank (Scottish islands): 25
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Foula

Location

OS grid reference: HT960392

Names

Gaelic name: Unknown
Norse name: Fugløy
Meaning of name: Old Norse for 'bird island'

Area and Summit
Area: 1,265 ha
Area rank (Scottish islands): 43
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Muckle Roe

Location
OS grid reference: HU317650

Names

Gaelic name: Unknown
Norse name: Rauðey Mikla
Meaning of name: a combination of Scots and Old Norse for 'big red island'

Area and Summit
Area: 1,773 ha
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Out Skerries are an island group in Shetland, Scotland.[1] They are sometimes called the Outer Skerries or just Skerries (although this may lead to confusion with the Ve Skerries).
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