Oronsay

Oronsay is joined to Colonsay only when the tide allows: the crossing, known as the Strand, is a stretch of sand and mud passable on foot for about two hours either side of low water. Check the safe crossing times before setting out; they’re posted on Colonsay, and the sand floods quickly once the tide turns, so don’t linger. Across the Strand stands Oronsay Priory, founded for Augustinian canons in the 14th century under the patronage of the Lord of the Isles, with carved medieval grave slabs and a tall high cross still standing near the cloister. The island is farmed under an RSPB agreement, grazed with cattle and sheep to keep the grass right for corncrakes, a shy, fast-declining bird that once bred in hay meadows across Britain, and for chough, a red-billed relative of the crow that nests in coastal caves and old buildings. Only a handful of people live here, working the farm that doubles as the nature reserve.