Two nature lovers have secured their dream job after becoming rangers on a remote island which is home to hundreds of thousands of seabirds.
Craig Nisbet, 38, and Francesca Clair, 35, have been appointed as rangers on Handa, a wildlife reserve off the west coast.
The duo will be living and working on the tiny island from March to Septemeber next year.
They will be joined on the 309-hectare island by up to six long-term and 50 weekly volunteers over the season.
A small ferry sails to Handa from Tarbet, Argyll and Bute, on the mainland.
And the island is internationally important for seabirds including guillemots, puffins, arctic skua, wading birds, and razorbills.
Craig said: "Francesca and I are passionate about conservation.
"We're both looking forward to working and living with volunteers, meeting the visitors, and making a connection with the land, the sea and the local community."
Craig has spent the last 10 years with Scottish Natural Heritage.
And he is no stranger to living on remote islands after completing four continuous seasons as Reserve Manager of Noss National Nature Reserve in Shetland.
He has also been involved in a number of expeditions, most recently in Arctic Norway identifying and filming orcas and humpback whales.
He said: "I am very excited. It will give me an opportunity to build on my skills.
"I love seabirds and nature, and I love living in isolated environments.
"These islands are remarkable places to live and work.
"Handa is just one of the many seabird colonies in the UK.
"It is going to be rustic living. There is a small bothy that will be shared between us and the volunteers.
"It's simple living - we will have a small garden where we will be able to grow our own veg and solar panels to provide electricity.
"There is a small shop close by, and access to some facilities, but it's very remote, and phone signal can often be a bit iffy."
Francesca has worked for several environmental organisations, including the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.
She has focused on education, community development, and practical conservation, both in the UK and abroad.
The pair will help to manage coordinated counts of breeding seabirds and chicks, and oversee repair work taking places on Handa's path network.
They will also help ensure that thousands of people are able to enjoy a safe visit to the island.
Handa Island is owned by Scourie Estate and managed in partnership with the Scottish Wildlife Trust.
During the summer, the island attracts thousands of birds including guillemots, kittiwakes and fulmars.
Dolphins, whales and basking sharks are often seen from the coast.
Sven Rasmussen, Reserves Manager, Scottish Wildlife Trust said: "Handa is an extraordinarily beautiful place and is one of Europe's most important seabird colonies.
"However, it is rather remote, which means our rangers have to be resourceful and resilient.
"Craig and Francesca are both experienced conservationists and I'm sure they have the skills needed to make 2018 a successful season for our volunteers, visitors and wildlife."
The Scottish Wildlife Trust offers a number of ways for people to volunteer on the island and applications open in January.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article