Swan Island is an island measuring 0.1 ha within the

Larne Lough Larne Lough, historically Lough Larne (), is a sea loch or inlet in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It lies between the Islandmagee peninsula and the mainland. At its mouth is the town of Larne. It is designated as an area of special scientific ...

Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) near

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic territory) is a town on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, with a population of 18,755 at the United Kingdom census, 2011, 2011 Census. It is a major passenger and freight Roll-on/ro ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. The island is formed by stabilising shingle, gravel and stones overlain by a thin layer of soil. It is sited 550 m from the west shore of the lough and 3.1 km from the mouth. The ASSI is also an SPA (

Special Protection Area A Special Protection Area (SPA) is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union (EU) have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and cert ...

) because it regularly supports internationally important numbers of light-bellied brent geese in winter. Swan Island, which was classified as an SPA in its own right in 1992, qualifies because, in summer, it supports nationally important breeding populations of

rosate Rosate ( lmo, label=Milanese, Rosaa ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Milan in the Italy, Italian region Lombardy, located about southwest of Milan. Rosate borders the following municipalities: Gaggiano, Gudo Visconti, ...

and

common tern The common tern (''Sterna hirundo'') is a seabird in the family Laridae. This bird has a circumpolar distribution, its four subspecies breeding in temperate and subarctic regions of Europe, Asia and North America. It is strongly migratory ...

s. The nationally rare plant bur chervil can also be found in significant abundance on Swan Island.Department of the Environment Northern Ireland details on Larne Lough ASSI
/ref> Small numbers of both

Sandwich A sandwich is a food typically consisting of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat, placed on or between slices of bread, or more generally any dish wherein bread serves as a container or wrapper for another food type. The sandwich began as a po ...

and

Arctic terns The Arctic tern (''Sterna paradisaea'') is a tern in the family Laridae. This bird has a circumpolar breeding distribution covering the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions of Europe (as far south as Brittany), Asia, and North America (as far south a ...

also breed at this site.

References

Islands of County Antrim Special Protection Areas in County Antrim {{Antrim-geo-stub