New Book Published
April sees the launch of a new book about
the natural history of Scilly. It is written by Patrick Coulcher, who presents
an expert and enthusiastic look at the Islands. He describes the rich wildlife
and beautiful countryside and also includes some of the exciting history
of the Islands throughout the ages. He has already produced other acclaimed
books about natural history. This new book is very informative with many
excellent illustrations and photos. It is titled ‘The Sun Islands’, is
in hardback and will sell for £17.95. Patrick has generously offered
to give the Trust half the royalties from the sale of the book, as his
way of helping to protect the special nature of Scilly. Copies of the book
can be obtained from the Trust Office.
Control of Seaborne Litter
Needed
St. Mary’s has received a complete pre-season
clean-up of the beaches around the Island. Almost everything picked up
had washed in from the sea and most of it will have been thrown over the
sides of ships at sea. Until there is more control over sea pollution,
it will be impossible to stop this unwanted rubbish. Luckily, Scilly collects
less of the seaborne litter than many mainland sites, but it is galling
that many ships still dispose of their rubbish ‘over the side’ with impunity.
We thank Carol Drage for organising this very successful two day clean-up
and all the volunteers who helped. It is encouraging that so many people
care about the Islands – we were even joined by several people who were
on holiday. It has taken David Mawer (Conservation Warden) more than two
days to round up all the piles of rubbish and dispose of them. This is
part of the plan to keep our beaches in pristine condition and in April
we will be carrying out similar exercises on some of the uninhabited islands.
During the beach clean, it was disappointing
to find several locations where people have dumped builders rubble near
to beaches. It is sometimes done in the mistaken belief that it acts as
a sea defence. There is a shortage of hardcore and much of the dumped material
would have been ideal for using in footpaths had it been offered to the
Trust.
Land Management
The winter and spring have been a very
busy period of land management. Several areas of gorse scrub have been
removed to allow the native flora to re-generate. Cutting takes place during
the winter months to keep clear of the breeding season. However, virtually
no birds breed in gorse and the number of birds in an area tend to increase
when the gorse is removed. There is already a strong growth of the original
flora in the cut areas and we have also taken steps to protect a site of
English Bluebells on St. Mary’s by employing a flash burn of the built
up bracken litter. A number of improvements have been carried out at the
Higher Moors Nature Trail with the removal of several old barbed wire fences
and a number of concrete blocks. The remaining path from the first hide
to Porth Hellick Bank is to be completed during April, which will create
an all weather path through the whole length of the trail.
Sites and Sightings
We are still keen to hear of any sites
where Japanese Knotweed is growing and David Mawer is noting increased
bat activity – please continue to report sightings of bats around the Islands. |
