Loch Stiapabhat

About

Loch Stiapabhat was declared a Local Nature Reserve in July 2005, a first for the Western Isles. There is a bird hide open to the public at any time.

Loch Stiapabhat is the largest eutrophic loch in Lewis and is situated on the main flyway from and to the Arctic. It therefore, attracts a great variety of migrant, and vagrant, bird species from both the Old and New Worlds. It is the first fresh water found by birds migrating from Iceland and Greenland in autumn, for washing, drinking & feeding, and the last for those returning in spring. None of the Outer Hebridean lochs has had a wider range of rarities recorded or possesses such a diversity of common water birds that can be so easily observed. These include Whooper Swan, Teal, Wigeon and Pink-Footed Geese. It also supports many feeding and nesting birds, including those of international importance such as Dunlin, Redshank, Golden Plover and Lapwing.


Historically it is said that the area North of the loch was once an island, formed after the ice age when sea levels rose. When the ice retreated, and the land rose. As it did, the sea receded and the loch was created. Its name is said to mean ‘the loch of immersing or soaking’ and is thought to relate to the practice of soaking flax prior to its spinning.