page_title: Oronsay, Colonsay
section_title: Wildlife
hierarchical_section_title: Oronsay, Colonsay / Wildlife
caption_attribution_description: English: View from one of the small beaches on the east coast of Oronsay. In the middle distance is Eilean Ghaoideamal and in the distance the Paps of Jura
context_page_description: Oronsay, also sometimes spelt and pronounced Oransay by the local community, is a small tidal island south of Colonsay in the Scottish Inner Hebrides with an area of 543 hectares.
  The island rises to a height of 93 m at Beinn Orasaigh and is linked to Colonsay by a tidal causeway consisting of sands and mud flats. In the 2001 census Oronsay was recorded as having a population of five people, who lived at the farm adjacent to Oronsay Priory. In 2011 the population had risen to eight. The island has no facilities for visitors and is now privately owned, with the RSPB farming the island for the American owner. It is dependent upon tidal access to and from Colonsay. There is a small grass air strip south of the priory that "fights a losing battle with the rabbits".
context_section_description: The rocks and skerries of Eilean nan Ròn (Seal Island), to the south-west, are an important grey seal breeding colony. The islet has a ruined house, possibly once used by a kelp gatherer and used for sheep grazing in the summer, the rocks being fertilised by the winter-visiting barnacle geese. Dean Munro also mentioned the nearby islet of Eilean Ghaoideamal under its earlier name of Ellan na muk, noting that it was "gude for swine and uther bestiall".
  In order to conserve the population of resident choughs and breeding corncrakes  Oronsay and southern Colonsay became a Special Protection Area in December 2007.
  Colonsay and Oronsay are home to about 50 colonies of the European dark bee the Apis mellifera mellifera. The Scottish Government introduced the Bee Keeping (Colonsay and Oronsay) Order 2013 to prevent cross breeding with other honeybees (Apis mellifera)  and to protect it from diseases common on the mainland. From 1 January 2014 it has been an offence to keep any other honeybee on either island. The Environment and climate Change Minister Paul Wheelhouse MSP said: "The Bee Keeping Order illustrates how our non-native species legislation can be used to protect our native wildlife. The order is a targeted measure to protect an important population of black bees on Colonsay from hybridisation with non-native bees" (the "non-native species legislation" was used because Apis mellifera are considered to be non-native to Colonsay, but considered native to Scotland as it was the first honey bee to be introduced for use in beekeeping there). The bees on Colonsay are now referred to as the "Colonsay Dark Native Bee". They were collected from across Scotland in the previous thirty years, genetic analysis has shown Australian and New Zealand A. m. ligustica introgression.
caption: From one of the small beaches on the east coast of Oronsay, looking towards the Paps of Jura in the distance
exif: {}