The black-throated diver.
A new Special Protection Area to protect breeding black-throated divers and common scoters has been designated in West Inverness-shire.
The new SPA is West Inverness-shire Lochs. This network of eight lochs to the west of the Great Glen supports an internationally significant population of black-throated divers. It also represents one of the main concentrations of breeding common scoter in Great Britain.
The SPA was designated following consultation by Scottish Natural Heritage.
Minister for environment, Roseanna Cunningham said: “Scotland is the UK stronghold for both of these rare species. With its distinctive wailing call, the black-throated diver is an icon of our upland freshwater habitats. And despite the name, the common scoter is extremely rare in the UK, with fewer than 100 pairs."
Stuart Housden, director of RSPB Scotland said: "Both species are confined as regular UK breeding birds to the Highlands, and this decision fills an important geographical gap in the network of European protected sites for these species.
"It is vital that we do all we can to help land managers to maintain and enhance these sites for the rare birds that live there, and we look forward to helping to achieve that.”
