COLL BIRD FESTIVAL
CANCELLED FOR 2021
Coll Bird Festival, first held in 2014, is a unique opportunity to explore the diverse and often rare birdlife of Coll, with our expert guides on hand to help you get the most from your experience. Suitable for beginners as well as experienced birders, you will learn how our local habitat is managed to support the wildlife, and will witness an incredible selection of birds over a short period.

2021 Coll Bird Festival
We hope that we will be able to go ahead with Coll Bird Festival 2021 and so we are going to start planning for it. Assuming it can go ahead, the event will be risk-assessed, including Covid, and any necessary adaptations will be made. However, the festival is largely about being in the great outdoors, which offers us more scope, and our large hall can easily socially distance our guests during talks.
If you would like to be kept informed by email bulletin please email us: info@ancridhe.co.uk
For more information on what the 2021 programme may look like, please see below. We will aim to mimic what should have been the 2020 Bird Festival in so far as is possible and, at present, the same speakers are all keen to be involved.
In 2019, at least 90 bird species were spotted in one weekend, including corncrake, hen harrier, white-tailed eagle, and so much more. According to the world’s leading corncrake expert (Prof. Rhys Green), Coll is the best place in the UK to spot the elusive corncrake, and with the bird being a key species for Coll we host this festival at the peak time to view the corncrake.
Over the course of a 3-day weekend, our guests are treated to guided walks, guided sea-safaris to neighbouring islands and evening talks by a range of experts. The weekend is topped off ‘Coll-style’ with a buffet and ceilidh at An Cridhe, and a beach clean and free BBQ. Some customers visit us again and again, so we keep the festival fresh with new topics, new walks, or the latest research, each year. Previous walks have included a Skydancer walk and an ‘Off the Beaten Track’ walk, showcasing parts of Coll that many visitors will never see, and our talks, while always including a local theme, are also varied each year. We are grateful to have the support of the local RSPB teams and volunteers, without whom this event would not be possible.
For 2020, we are delighted to have Professor Rhys Green back with us, to speak about the corncrake and the spoon-billed sandpiper. Rhys is currently leading a research project on the spoon-billed sandpiper and has previously regaled us with the latest and most fascinating new insights on the corncrake. John Bowler (RSPB Tiree) will also be back with us bringing a local theme to the talks.
John McLaren, a previous visitor to Coll Bird Festival, has very kindly combined some video excerpts from his time on Coll and Lunga. Other than the boat trip to Lunga it doesn’t feature the Bird Festival events, but it gives you a real flavour of Coll and what you might expect from a visit:
COLL BIRD FESTIVAL
CANCELLED FOR 2021
Coll Bird Festival, first held in 2014, is a unique opportunity to explore the diverse and often rare birdlife of Coll, with our expert guides on hand to help you get the most from your experience. Suitable for beginners as well as experienced birders, you will learn how our local habitat is managed to support the wildlife, and will witness an incredible selection of birds over a short period.

2021 Coll Bird Festival
We hope that we will be able to go ahead with Coll Bird Festival 2021 and so we are going to start planning for it. Assuming it can go ahead, the event will be risk-assessed, including Covid, and any necessary adaptations will be made. However, the festival is largely about being in the great outdoors, which offers us more scope, and our large hall can easily socially distance our guests during talks.
If you would like to be kept informed by email bulletin please email us: info@ancridhe.co.uk
For more information on what the 2021 programme may look like, please see below. We will aim to mimic what should have been the 2020 Bird Festival in so far as is possible and, at present, the same speakers are all keen to be involved.
In 2019, at least 90 bird species were spotted in one weekend, including corncrake, hen harrier, white-tailed eagle, and so much more. According to the world’s leading corncrake expert (Prof. Rhys Green), Coll is the best place in the UK to spot the elusive corncrake, and with the bird being a key species for Coll we host this festival at the peak time to view the corncrake.
Over the course of a 3-day weekend, our guests are treated to guided walks, guided sea-safaris to neighbouring islands and evening talks by a range of experts. The weekend is topped off ‘Coll-style’ with a buffet and ceilidh at An Cridhe, and a beach clean and free BBQ. Some customers visit us again and again, so we keep the festival fresh with new topics, new walks, or the latest research, each year. Previous walks have included a Skydancer walk and an ‘Off the Beaten Track’ walk, showcasing parts of Coll that many visitors will never see, and our talks, while always including a local theme, are also varied each year. We are grateful to have the support of the local RSPB teams and volunteers, without whom this event would not be possible.
For 2020, we are delighted to have Professor Rhys Green back with us, to speak about the corncrake and the spoon-billed sandpiper. Rhys is currently leading a research project on the spoon-billed sandpiper and has previously regaled us with the latest and most fascinating new insights on the corncrake. John Bowler (RSPB Tiree) will also be back with us bringing a local theme to the talks.
John McLaren, a previous visitor to Coll Bird Festival, has very kindly combined some video excerpts from his time on Coll and Lunga. Other than the boat trip to Lunga it doesn’t feature the Bird Festival events, but it gives you a real flavour of Coll and what you might expect from a visit:






OUR PARTNERS
Once again the Coll Bird Festival is brought to you in partnership with one of Scotland’s leading wildlife organisations. We’re very grateful for the support of the variety of people who help us to organise this event. Please use the links below to read more about the work of our partner organisations.
This festival would not be possible without the support of our local RSPB teams on Coll and Tiree. We are delighted to use IsleGo, a new Coll business venture, for our Sea Safaris.
OUR PARTNERS
Once again the Coll Bird Festival is brought to you in partnership with one of Scotland’s leading wildlife organisations. We’re very grateful for the support of the variety of people who help us to organise this event. Please use the links below to read more about the work of our partner organisations.
This festival is sponsored by CalMac and would not be possible without the support of our local RSPB teams on Coll and Tiree. We are delighted to use IsleGo, a new Coll business venture, for our Sea Safaris, and we are grateful to Hebridean Whale & Dolphin Trust for their participation in this year’s festival.