Scart Island

Scart Island is a small islet of around a third of an acre in Loch Leven, near Kinross, lying a little over 800 metres north of Castle Island. Its name comes from the Scots word “scart”, meaning a cormorant or shag, birds that still use the loch’s islands as perches. It is one of the islands of Loch Leven, several of which appeared or grew much larger when the water level was lowered by about 1.4 metres in the 1830s.

Landscape

Scart Island is low and small, rising just above the surface of Loch Leven, the largest lowland loch in Scotland. From here, the loch stretches south past Castle Island and St Serf's Inch, with the Lomond Hills rising to the east and the Ochil Hills to the north, and the town of Kinross on the western shore.

History

Loch Leven is one of Scotland’s most historic lochs. Lochleven Castle, on nearby Castle Island, is where Mary, Queen of Scots, was imprisoned in 1567 and forced to abdicate, before her daring escape by boat in May 1568. On St Serf’s Inch, the largest island, are the remains of a priory with early Christian roots. The lowering of the loch in the 1830s changed its shoreline and created or enlarged several of its islands.

Cormorants are often seen here, standing with their wings held out to dry.

More about Scart Island

Like all the loch’s islands, Scart Island lies within the Loch Leven National Nature Reserve, where islands give birds safe places to rest and nest away from ground predators. Cormorants are often seen here, standing with their wings held out to dry. Loch Leven is also one of Scotland’s most famous trout fisheries.

Visiting

There is no landing on Scart Island. It can be seen from the Loch Leven Heritage Trail, which runs around the loch, and from the boat to Lochleven Castle from Kinross pier in summer. You can collect Scart Island as a sighting in your Island Passport.

Wildlife and area

Look out for cormorants, Tufted Duck, Great Crested Grebe and Osprey, and in winter for pink-footed geese and whooper swans. Other islands nearby include Alice's Bower, Castle Island, Roy's Folly, Reed Bower, Green Isle and St Serf's Inch.