Colsay is an uninhabited island off of the west coast of the
south Shetland Mainland. The maximum height of the island is 44m,
where the remains of a cairn can be found. In the centre of the
north western headland there is the Ox Eye, which is a blowhole
linked by a subterranian passage to a geo to the west. The Ox Eye
is understood to have been a source of top quality local
millstones.
For many years the island was used for summer grazing of sheep.
A field wall and a sheepfold between Reeli Geo and Loch of Colsay
and next to a rectangular wall structure still exist. The sheep
were transported to the island by a small, traditional Shetland
rowing boat called a Yoal. This perhaps highlights how hard the
Shetland crofters had to work to make ends meet - can you imagine
rowing a small boat packed full of sheep across the sea just so
they could graze?
Venables & Venables recorded the following species of birds
breeding on Colsay 1949-53. Regular and common: Storm Petrel;
Fulmar; Starling; Shag; Eider; Oyster Catcher; Common Gull; Herring
Gull; Common Tern; Lesser Black-backed Gull; Arctic Tern; Razor
Bill; Black Guillemot; Puffin; Rock Dove; Hooded Crow; Wren;
Wheatear; Pock Pipit and Twite. Irregular or rare: Mallard; Greater
Black-backed Gull; Skylark and Raven.
The cache can be found on the mainland where the Yoal and its
cargo of sheep were launched from:
N59 56.EBA
W001 20.6A6
where the years that Venables & Venables recorded the bird
species = ABCD-EF.
Much of this information has been taken from the excellent
Shetlopedia
website
Many thanks to
cumlietwo for kindly looking after this cache on our
behalf.