The Hook-Nosed Sea-Pig Edition 1 ~ January 2017
When you hear mention of the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust, see our truck or a sign with our name and logo on what does it mean to you? Do you think of the cows grazing our headlands and coastal areas; or the ancient and historic monuments which can be seen dotted around our islands? Do you consider the intricate network of paths which weave inland and around the coastlines of our inhabited and uninhabited islands? Do you find your mind drifting to beachcombing and beach cleans and educational activities or the wildlife sanctuaries of Annet, the Northern Rocks or the Eastern Isles? Do you contemplate the Nature Trails, board walks, bird screens and bird hides on St Mary’s or perhaps the wildlife safaris, walks and rockpool rambles which take place throughout the year across the islands? Maybe our name jogs your memory and you remember what you thought was a long forgotten fact about a special plant or animal species found in Scilly? Because whatever it means to you, we are involved with all of the above and much, much more…. The Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust is a local, independent charity which looks after more than 60% of the islands (just under 2000 hectares – that’s around 1333 football pitches!), leased from the Duchy of Cornwall on a 99 year fully repairing and insuring lease. This includes the inhabited and uninhabited islands, both marine and terrestrial habitats; most of which are open and accessible for everyone to enjoy all year around. The Trust is managed by a board of nine Trustees and on a day to day basis the work of the Trust is delivered by a dedicated island based staff team of six. Yes, that’s SIX people looking after 1333 Gorse coated, Bracken and Bramble enveloped, Pittosporum encroaching football pitches!
Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust
@ScillyWildlife
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www.ios-wildlifetrust.org.uk
Our team of three Rangers (Rob, Darren H and Murray) and Head Ranger (Darren M) are “out in the field” in all weather’s completing the conservation, management and maintenance work set out in the Trust’s Management Plan and Work Programme; our CEO (Sarah) and Communications Officer (Nikki) are office based and ensure that the charity is run smoothly and efficiently. (If you want to find out a little more about the team then check out the “Who we are” section of our website) The majority of the work which we complete is financed through time-limited grant funding (90% of our income). Consequently a large proportion of this work is very targeted with specific outcomes; examples of this are the conservation work that we carry out on the uninhabited islands. Managing, restoring and maintaining habitats to encourage continued breeding of ground and burrow nesting birds or the management of invasive plant species such as Pittosporum, Gorse, Bracken and Bramble, since the cessation of grazing, to recreate and manage the habitats needed for our smaller, rarer plant species and animals to thrive, i.e. the Dwarf pansy, Orange birds-foot and the Least adders tongue.
I n 2016 w e clea r m o r cut a n d k e pt e o f pat h s a t h a n 63 m ile s cr t h at’s f ro m o ss t h e I s l a n d s; En d & ba Scilly t o L a n d s’ ck a n d a litt le bit m o re”
Did you know....?
“In 2016 we uncovered 18 new archaeological sites; these will now join the 14 we already maintain on a yearly basis”
The remaining 10% of funding comes from membership, donations and legacies and allows us to carry out what is often considered by our local community and visitors the more visible and “valuable” work; i.e. beach cleans, path clearance and ongoing maintenance of facilities like the boardwalks and bird hides. Follow us on FaceBook and Twitter to receive daily instalments and updates regarding our work and if you aren’t already why not consider becoming a member? From as little as .60p per week you can support us to ensure that our maintenance work on paths, boardwalks and bird hides can continue and residents and visitors alike can access, safe and well-maintained facilities.
“In 2015 the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust laid 127 metres of new board walk at Lower & Higher Moors. This new plastic boardwalk is made from recycled bottles, with 1000 bottles making up a 1m section; so that’s 127,000 bottles diverted from landfill!” - Page 2 -
Halichoerus grypus... ....literally translates rather unceremoniously to “Hook-nosed sea-pig”; these “sea-pigs” are more commonly known to you and I as the Atlantic grey seal. The Isles of Scilly Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) boasts many designations, including one of the highest available, that of Special Area of Conservation (SAC). One of the reasons for this designation is because of the nationally important breeding population of Atlantic grey seals. Grey seals are the largest carnivore living in Britain and are among the rarest seals in the world; with the UK Grey seal colonies representing around 40% of the total world population of Grey seals and 95% of the European population!
a rs h a ll Pic ~ Ed M Male Atlantic greys (or bulls) can grow to around 7.5-8 feet in length and weigh on average between 250-300kg while the females (or cows) generally remain slightly smaller growing to a size of about 5.5-6 feet in length and weigh in at around 160kg.
September to December is a pretty special time of year in Scilly; our female Atlantic greys come ashore on the more remote Eastern Isles, Western & Norrard Rocks to give birth (or pup). By this time these lovely ladies aren’t so “lightweight”; after an 11.5 month gestation period and “piling on the pounds“ they give birth to a single pup, with soft white fur, weighing on average around 14kg. The pups remain on land, where they feed from their mothers for around 3 weeks; the rich milk contains up to 60% fat and as a result the pups easily put on 2kg or more in weight each day! Pic ~A nn Hort on
At three weeks old the pups are abandoned on the beaches by their mothers, who are ready to mate again; the pup then has to fend for itself and will finally be driven into the sea by hunger.
At this time of year pups are regularly spotted on the beaches of our inhabited Islands; they generally come ashore for a rest or because they are unwell. When pups are found on our beaches if they look healthy they are left to their own devices and monitored; if they are looking unwell then our local vet, Heike, is trained to respond appropriately and will often take them into care before getting them flown to the Seal Sanctuary at Gweek for rehabilitation. In the wild Grey seals can live up to 40 years; with the females generally living longer than males.
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Ranger Team Update:
Goodby e Ton y
At the beginning of December we said “goodbye” to Ranger Tony, and his partner Merrion. After being with us for just over a year they made the decision to move from our tiny Islands in the middle of the Atlantic to a much bigger one off the south coast in the English Channel. We think that they may have become slightly addicted to Island life! Tony has exchanged his Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust ear defenders and wellies for Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust ones and is slowly getting used to not having to go on a boat to work most days and not being able to walk everywhere. Goodluck Tony, you will be missed; we’re not sure we can say the same for your singing though!
Wint er Work Summer may be over but the work is never ending for our Ranger Team. Whenever we do walks and talks and explain about the work that the Rangers do it’s invariably a beautiful Scilly day and comments such as “your job sounds amazing”, “you’re so lucky to be doing the work you do” and “where can I sign up” are quick to roll off the tongue. As idyllic as it sounds it isn’t always so. Often their days are pretty uncomfortable. Whether its the summer and they’re all togged up in their safety gear in the sweltering heat or the winter when there are unpredictable extremes in weather to contend with. So far this winter it’s mostly been good but there have still been some days where uninhabited Island work has had to be rescheduled as boat landings aren’t possible.
Pic ~ BareFoot Photographer
Days where the Rangers have come into the office after being out on the headlands all day battered by gale force winds and driving rain with fingers about to drop off and not a dry piece of clothing between them (still smiling I might add!)
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Winter Work continued.... So what have they been up to? A lot of work has taken place on both the inhabited and uninhabited Islands over the past couple of months with the Rangers managing areas of our main invasive species; predominantly Gorse, Pittosporum and Bracken. On Gugh they have tackled more of the encroaching Pittosporum and Coprosma; managing previously cleared areas and clearing some additional areas of the island. The Rangers are working to create a mosaic of different grassland vegetation heights, with delicate species such as Orange bird’s foot and Clovers in the short turf areas and the nationally scarce Balm-leaved figwort and Babington leek in the longer areas. This is a continuation of last winter’s work programme, written about this time last year; you can find out more on our website. http://www.ios-wildlifetrust.org.uk/news/2016/01/08/gugh-get-star-treatment On the headlands (across the Islands) the Rangers have tackled more of the encroaching Gorse; again managing previously cleared areas and clearing some additional areas. By removing sections of the gorse we are trying to promote the regeneration of heather and grassland that have slowly decreased as the gorse has become more dominant; once again giving tiny and rare plants such as the Lesser & Least adders tongue and Orange bird’s foot a chance to survive. This is also a continuation of last winter’s work and further information about this can be found on our website. http://www.ios-wildlifetrust.org.uk/blog/isles-scilly-wildlife-trust/2015/12/18/wet-windywinter-work-wingletang In addition to this the Ranger Team have also been focussing on the management of the Reedbeds at Higher and Lower Moors. This work is also ongoing and continuing from last year; to find out what they are doing and why it’s important check out our blog piece on Reedbeds. http://www.ios-wildlifetrust.org.uk/blog/isles-scilly-wildlife-trust/2015/11/11/reedbeds
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Financial Matters Back in July 2016, we said goodbye to Paula Smith our Finance Manager, who moved to the mainland for family reasons. Paula was instrumental in re-vamping our financial management systems and ensuring that the charity is compliant with financial and charity law; all vital pieces of work which were long overdue. Unfortunately, we were unable to recruit a replacement for Paula, so we have enlisted the services of our friends in the Cornwall Wildlife Trust (CWT) finance team to provide monthly financial processing and support. There is a brand new accountancy team at CWT and I am enjoying working with them to ensure the charity remains efficient and compliant. We continue to seek to diversify our income sources to make sure we are not over reliant on time-limited grants. I recently visited the Halpin Trust, a small grant-making trust to talk to them about our work and how they could support us. They like to help small charities like ours to become more resilient and sustainable and they fund solutions to particular problems. We are very grateful to the Halpin Trust who recently awarded us a small grant to develop our fundraising capacity and to make the most of the opportunities which are available to us. We will use the funding to explore options including visitor gifting, relationships with high net worth individuals, legacies and one-off donations. The result will be a clear plan of fund raising action for our very small team, so that we make the most of the limited resources we have to raise as much money as possible for our vital work. Watch this space, our website and social media accounts to see how we are changing our approach to raising funds, in the months ahead.
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the Isles of Scilly Bird Group for a generous donation of £500 towards installation of new boardwalks at Higher Moors. This much needed gift will help to repair the ramp to the Stephen Sussex Hide so everyone is able to enjoy the views across the pool. Last year we formed some very successful partnerships with businesses that support the work of the Trust. We have recently received donations from the following and we would like to say a big
“Thank you”
for their support and recognition of the work that goes on throughout the year for the Islands landscapes and wildlife:
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St Agnes Boating ~ £768 (donation of £2 per attendee on every Wildlife Safari) www.stagnesboating.co.uk/island-experiences/wildlife-trips/
Wildlife Travel ~ £280 (donations from Wildlife holidays to Scilly) www.wildlife-travel.co.uk/holidays.php
Kernow Coasteering ~ £185 (donation of £1 per attendee Coasteering on
Peninnis Head SSSI) www.kernow-coasteering.co.uk/isles-of-scilly
Tresco Island ~ £300 (donation towards Free Wildlife Walks we run on
Tresco)
www.tresco.co.uk
Carnwethers ~ £40 (% donation from charges levied for dogs staying at the
guesthouse)
www.carnwethers.com/index.htm
Otillo SwimRun World Series ~ £1050 (donation of £10 per team attending the event on Scilly) otilloswimrun.com/races/isles-of-scilly/
Scilly Walks ~ £100 (% donation from charges for walks & slideshows throughout the season) www.scillywalks.co.uk/
If you run a business and would like to support the work of the Trust by passing on a donation from your customers just like the businesses above, please do get in touch.
Happy New Year! Sarah Mason, Chief Executive
Other news
Community archaeology
The Community Archaeology Group (CAG) are having a break from outdoor excavations this month and will be holding an indoor session towards the end of January. There will be a presentation from Charlie Johns about ‘Recent archaeological research in Scilly’ , Ann Preston-Jones will be speaking about ‘Heritage at Risk in Cornwall and Scilly’ and Katharine Sawyer will show some pictures of the sites worked on over the last two years by the CAG. Back in December a clearance took place at Helvear; the group concentrated on the Bronze Age entrance grave just inland from the Civil War battery. It is in a very ruined condition and was probably demolished at the beginning of the 20th century when land at Helvear was cleared for pasture. Despite this they uncovered part of the chamber and some of the stones in the kerb. For more information about the work that CAG are doing check out their FaceBook Page : www.facebook.com/groups/473127096149620/
Bat Group The Isles of Scilly Bat Group has had another successful year. Eight Bat Walks have been held on St Mary’s. Although the numbers on each walk were relatively small, visitors have been enthusiastic and appreciative. The walks have raised £195 in funds for the Group - thank you to those that attended and contributed to this total. Winter is upon us and our local Bat Group, much like our bats, is slightly less active; although you may still be lucky enough to see one flitting about at twilight. If you’re visiting Scilly in 2017 and fancy something a little different make sure you check back to our website at regular intervals to find out when the planned 2017 walks are going to take place!
For information about the group as well as locations and costs of walks see www.ios-wildlifetrust.org.uk select Scilly Wildlife and then Isles of Scilly Bat Group.
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Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) Over the course of the year we produce various articles for different publications both on and off the Islands; one publication which we regularly contribute to on behalf of the AONB is Scilly Now & Then. These articles are also included on the AONB website for viewing and I’ve included the most recent one below.
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) outstanding scilly nature
access
beauty
heritage
Microbeads, Balloons & A Message in a Bottle...
By Nikki Banfield, Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust Communications Officer
For those of you that know me you will be aware that I talk rubbish; A LOT! It’s extremely unlikely that you’ve had a conversation with me and not been bombarded with information about marine litter. Microbeads, nurdles, plastic bottles, ghost gear, balloons, Lego, Smartie lids, lobster trap tags.....and the list goes on. As part of my work with the Wildlife Trust I get to talk to others on a regular basis about all of this, not only feeding my obsession but in many cases getting other people hooked as well; it’s brilliant! This year my preoccupation with marine litter & especially plastic has gone one step further and as a result the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust has joined the Cornwall Plastic Pollution Coalition (CPPC): more than 30 environmental organisations, beach cleaning groups and marine science experts who collectively raise awareness of marine litter, campaign and try to find solutions to the issues that it causes around our coastlines; for both people & wildlife.
Microbeads Found in all sorts of things from cosmetics to cleaning This balloon, picked up on
products these tiny pieces of plastic are trouble. Between 5000 to 95,000 ‘beads are released into the environment with every single use of these products; the majority ending up in the sea. Following campaigning MP’s voted to “Ban the Bead” by 2017 and many retailers are starting early, removing them from their “own-brand” products as I type!
the Scilly coast travelled here from Portsmouth, that’s 240 miles, in less than 24 hours!
Balloons Balloons have rapidly become the “cool” way to promote your product; what
little person isn’t drawn to the bright floaty colours? But when they escape into our environment, either through purposeful releases or accidentally, they can travel miles; land in our seas and on land and become a hazard to our wildlife. The CPPC has written to and had responses from organisations such as Virgin Media who are listening to our message regarding environmentally friendly promotional tools to replace balloons.
Message in a Bottle We are also whole-heartedly supporting the Surfer’s Against
Sewage Message in a Bottle campaign which is calling for the introduction of bottle return/ deposit scheme on plastic bottles and cans. An estimated 35.8 million plastic bottles are used and discarded in the UK each day, of which only a little over half are currently recycled! Funded by: Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust
s an d To fin d out mo re about all the se thi ngbsi our we te! how you ca n he lp pop ove r to@ScillyAONB
Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust registered charity number 1097807
www.ios-wildlifetrust.org.uk
@ScillyWildlife
@Scilly AONB - Page 9 -
Isles of Scilly Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
Looking forward to the 2017 visitor season..... Preparations are well under way for our schedule of 2017 activities and events; we’ll be starting to firm them up and put details on our website shortly.
If you’re already on the Islands or coming across to visit do get in touch, find out what we have planned during your stay and come along! We have a handful of things planned between now and April but things really kick-off in the first week of April when we are taking part in Walk Scilly 2017! We are offering a number of guided walks across the Islands; discovering the wild side of Tresco, the secret side of St Mary’s, talking about marine rubbish and more. To find out more about Walk Scilly check out the Visit Isles of Scilly website.
Pic ~ BareFoot Photographer
If you can’t join us for Walk Scilly don’t panic there are plenty of other activities planned throughout the season; from beachcleans to guided walks, rockpooling to wildlife safaris there are plenty of ways to discover our beautiful Islands.
Keep in touch
Sky at Nig ht - Sta rs over Elm s
We’d love to hear your feedback about this newsletter or on any topic: 01720 422153
@ScillyWildlife
www.ios-wildlifetrust.org.uk
enquiries@ios-wildlifetrust.org.uk Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust, Trenoweth, St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly, TR21 0NS
Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust
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