Gugh (; kw, Keow, meaning "hedge banks") could be described as the sixth inhabited island of the
Isles of Scilly
The Isles of Scilly (; kw, Syllan, ', or ) is an archipelago off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England. One of the islands, St Agnes, is the most southerly point in Britain, being over further south than the most southerly point of the ...
, but is usually included with
St Agnes with which it is joined by a sandy
tombolo
A tombolo is a sandy or shingle isthmus. A tombolo, from the Italian ', meaning 'pillow' or 'cushion', and sometimes translated incorrectly as ''ayre'' (an ayre is a shingle beach of any kind), is a deposition landform by which an island become ...
known as "The Bar" when exposed at low tide. The island is only about long and about wide, with the highest point, Kittern Hill at . The geology consists of
Hercynian
The Variscan or Hercynian orogeny was a geologic mountain-building event caused by Late Paleozoic continental collision between Euramerica (Laurussia) and Gondwana to form the supercontinent of Pangaea.
Nomenclature
The name ''Variscan'', come ...
granite with shallow
podzolic
In soil science, podzols are the typical soils of coniferous or boreal forests and also the typical soils of eucalypt forests and heathlands in southern Australia. In Western Europe, podzols develop on heathland, which is often a construct of huma ...
soils on the higher ground and deeper sandy soils on the lower ground. The former Gugh farm is just north of the neck across the middle of the island between the two hills. The two houses were designed and built in the 1920s by Charles Hamlet Cooper.
[Parslow, R. (2007) ''The Isles of Scilly''. ]New Naturalist
The New Naturalist Library (also known as ''The New Naturalists'') is a series of books published by Collins in the United Kingdom, on a variety of natural history topics relevant to the British Isles. The aim of the series at the start was: "To ...
Library. London: Collins
Collins may refer to:
People Surname
Given name
* Collins O. Bright (1917–?), Sierra Leonean diplomat
* Collins Chabane (1960–2015), South African Minister of Public Service and Administration
* Collins Cheboi (born 1987), Kenyan middle- ...
. The name is often mispronounced as "Goo", "Guff" or even "Gogh".
The island lies within the Isles of Scilly
Heritage Coast, is in the Isles of Scilly
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is an area of countryside in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Areas are designated in recognition of thei ...
and is managed by the
Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust
The Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust, formed in 1985, is a Wildlife Trust covering the Isles of Scilly, a group of islands off the coast of Cornwall. It became the 46th member of The Wildlife Trusts in 2001 and is dedicated to ensuring that the a ...
. Vegetation cover is mainly wind-pruned heath or dense bracken and bramble with a small area of coastal grassland formed over blown sand which has accumulated near the bar.
In 2013 the Isles of Scilly Seabird Recovery Project was set up by a number of organisations including the RSPB and the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust. The five-year project aimed to keep the islands of
St Agnes and Gugh
brown rat
The brown rat (''Rattus norvegicus''), also known as the common rat, street rat, sewer rat, wharf rat, Hanover rat, Norway rat, Norwegian rat and Parisian rat, is a widespread species of common rat. One of the largest muroids, it is a brown o ...
(''Rattus norvegicus'') free, to help breeding sea birds, which lost 25% of their populations between 1983 and 2006. A programme of habitat restoration began in January 2016 with the removal of the invasive
Pittosporum
''Pittosporum'' ( or ) is a genus of about 200 species of flowering plants in the family Pittosporaceae. The genus is probably Gondwanan in origin; its present range extends from Australasia, Oceania, eastern Asia and some parts of Africa. '' Ci ...
(''Crassifolium'' species).
History
![Old Man of Gugh, Isles of Scilly - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Old_Man_of_Gugh%2C_Isles_of_Scilly_-_geograph.org.uk_-_84368.jpg)
The earliest signs of occupation on Gugh are two groups each, of
entrance graves and
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
cairn
A cairn is a man-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the gd, càrn (plural ).
Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehis ...
s. Entrance graves are either burial or ritual monuments and cairns are burial mounds. A lack of finds, most likely because of acid soils destroying any evidence, makes the dating of the monuments difficult but a few pottery remains date them to late
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
or early Bronze Age. On Kittern Hill there are five entrance graves, one of which
Obadiah's Barrow
Obadiah's Barrow or Obadiah's Grave is a Neolithic entrance grave located on the island of Gugh in the Isles of Scilly. The grave sits on a steep slope on the southwestern side of Kittern Hill, the highest point on Gugh. The grave was excavated ...
was excavated in 1901, by
George Bonsor, and ″disarticulate unburnt bones″ found. There is also a cluster of fourteen cairns which are linked by prehistoric field walls or banks but the relationship between the two is not established. The only
menhir
A menhir (from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large human-made upright stone, typically dating from the European middle Bronze Age. They can be foun ...
to be excavated on Scilly is the ''Old Man of Gugh'', a 2.7 m (9 ft) tall standing stone which lies at the base of Kittern Hill, but there was no features or finds. There is also a cluster of nineteen cairns and a field system on the south part of Gugh along with a further two entrance graves. An
English Civil War
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...
battery
Battery most often refers to:
* Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power
* Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact
Battery may also refer to:
Energy source
*Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...
was built over one on Carn of Works and its chamber re-used as a
magazine
A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...
. The Civil War defences are concentrated around the Scillonian coast to defend the deep-water approaches. Part of Gugh is a
Scheduled Monument
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change.
The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...
and the whole island is recommended for scheduling.
For centuries Gugh seemed to have been uninhabited and used by the residents of St Agnes for cattle grazing.
Two kelp pits have been recognised, one on the north-east side of Kittern Hill and the second at Tol Tuppens. Burning seaweed was introduced in 1684 by Mr Nance on
Teän
Teän ( , sometimes written ''Tean'' without the diaeresis; kw, Enys Tian) is an uninhabited island to the north of the Isles of Scilly archipelago between Tresco, to the west, and St Martin's, to the east. Approximately in area, the isl ...
to provide
sodium carbonate
Sodium carbonate, , (also known as washing soda, soda ash and soda crystals) is the inorganic compound with the formula Na2CO3 and its various hydrates. All forms are white, odourless, water-soluble salts that yield moderately alkaline solutions ...
for glass making and continued until 1835. Kelp burning only produces 2–3 percent
sodium carbonate
Sodium carbonate, , (also known as washing soda, soda ash and soda crystals) is the inorganic compound with the formula Na2CO3 and its various hydrates. All forms are white, odourless, water-soluble salts that yield moderately alkaline solutions ...
and during the 19th-century more efficient commercial and industrial methods ended the practice locally.
In the 1920s, a retired surveyor and former consulting engineer of the
Corporation of Wimbledon, William Hamlet Cooper (died 10 September 1932), formerly of
Colchester
Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian.
Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...
, secured the lease of the island, built the two buildings that can be seen today and started a farm. He lived on the island, along with his housekeeper.
[ In a 1925 letter to the '']Western Morning News
The ''Western Morning News'' is a daily regional newspaper founded in 1860, and covering the West Country including Devon, Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly and parts of Somerset and Dorset in the South West of England.
Organisation
The ''Western Mo ...
'' he wrote of his attempts to control black-backed gulls (greater or lesser is not recorded), which included constant shooting and the destruction of nearly 2,000 eggs. In 1924, none of his animals could graze on the northern part of the island during the nesting season due to attacks on his cattle and sheep, which included the loss of a valuable ram which never recovered from the injuries received. In Cooper's will it states that if he died on Gugh he should be buried on the island at Kitten Hill (place of death is not mentioned). An auction of the animals and crops owned by Cooper occurred on Gugh on 21 October 1932. Animals listed were 80 fowls (mostly white leghorn), two Kerry cows, a heifer, two farm horses and 69 pigs. Also for sale was 5 tons of potatoes, 50 cartloads of mangold wurzels, 5 tons of hay, 3 tons of barley grain, 35 cwt of bran and 10 tons of lime. The buyer also had the right to harvest 2 acres of narcissus bulbs (Soleil d'Or, Scilly White and Princeps).
A fire on the island In September 1933 burnt for a week with the island said to be ablaze from end to end. The fire was put out by the staff of Major Dorrien-Smith and the farmhouse and farm buildings owned by Mr Theo Bond and his wife, the only inhabitants, were saved. The Bonds formerly lived on St Martin's, spent their honeymoon on the Gugh and decided to live there and continue flower production.[
]
Natural history
The island was first notified as a Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...
in 1976 and re-notified under the 1981 Act in 1986. The SSSI covers an area of , of which was assessed as "unfavourable recovering" when it was reviewed on 30 July 2010. "Although the vascular plant assemblage (VPA) is favourable the notified heathland habitat is recorded as unfavourable recovering.
The VPA species are all present and occurring in suitable habitat except for small adder's-tongue (''Ophioglossum azoricum
''Ophioglossum azoricum'', the small adder's-tongue fern or lesser adder's-tongue fern, is a small fern of the family Ophioglossaceae.
Distribution
''Ophioglossum azoricum'' is an Atlantic–Mediterranean species native to islands in the nort ...
'') which has not been recorded on this site since 1986, however, the former site appears suitable for the species and is therefore recorded as favourable".
The reasons for the unfavourable assessment is because there is too much ground cover of bramble ('' Rubus fruiticosus'') and ''Pittosporum
''Pittosporum'' ( or ) is a genus of about 200 species of flowering plants in the family Pittosporaceae. The genus is probably Gondwanan in origin; its present range extends from Australasia, Oceania, eastern Asia and some parts of Africa. '' Ci ...
'', and the heath on Kittern Hill is less interesting than on the rest of the island. The reason is probably because of a fire on the hill in 1972 and subsequently there is less ''Cladonia
''Cladonia'' is a genus of moss-like lichens in the family Cladoniaceae. They are the primary food source for reindeer/caribou. ''Cladonia'' species are of economic importance to reindeer-herders, such as the Sami in Scandinavia or the Nenets ...
'' ''sp''. (a lichen). The ''Pittosporum'' requires urgent control and the island needs grazing to return it to a favourable condition. There is also a problem with the recent appearance of stone mazes which should be discouraged.
The notifiable habitats for Gugh are the heath communities; H7, H8 and H11.
Flora
Much of the vegetation of Gugh is either wind-pruned, dry, waved maritime heath or dense gorse and bracken. The three dominant species on the heath are heather (''Calluna vulgaris
''Calluna vulgaris'', common heather, ling, or simply heather, is the sole species in the genus ''Calluna'' in the flowering plant family Ericaceae. It is a low-growing evergreen shrub growing to tall, or rarely to and taller, and is found wid ...
''), bell heather (''Erica cinerea
''Erica cinerea'', the bell heather, is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae, native to western and central Europe.
The plant provides a great deal of nectar for pollinators. It was rated in the top 5 for most nectar produ ...
'') and western gorse (''Ulex gallii
''Ulex gallii'', the western gorse or dwarf furzeA R Clapham, T G Tutin, E F Warburg, ''Flora of the British Isles'', Cambridge, 1962, p. 332 is an evergreen shrub in the pea family (Fabaceae), native to the Atlantic coasts of western Europe: sou ...
''). Immediately above the bar is a small area of dune grassland merging into maritime grassland around the coastal fringe. On the small dune system grows western clover (''Trifolium occidentale
''Trifolium occidentale'', the western clover, is a clover plant belonging to the genus ''Trifolium'' in the legume family, Fabaceae. Its flowers are white, similar to white clover (''Trifolium repens''), with which it has long been confused. T ...
''), sea holly (''Eryngium maritimum
''Eryngium maritimum'', the sea holly or sea eryngo, or sea eryngium, is a perennial species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae and native to most European coastlines. It resembles a plume thistle in appearance on account of its burr-shap ...
''), sea spurge (''Euphorbia paralias
''Euphorbia paralias'', the sea spurge, is a species of flowering plant in the family Euphorbiaceae, native to Europe, northern Africa and western Asia.
The species is widely naturalised in Australia. It invades coastal areas, displacing local ...
'') and Portland spurge ('' Euphorbia portlandica''), wild thyme (''Thymus polytrichus
''Thymus praecox'' is a species of thyme. A common name is mother of thyme, but "creeping thyme" and "wild thyme" may be used where ''Thymus serpyllum'', which also shares these names, is not found. It is native to central, southern, and western ...
'') and sea bindweed (''Calystegia soldanella
The morning glory ''Calystegia soldanella'' (syn. ''Convolvulus soldanella'') is a species of bindweed known by various common names such as sea bindweed, seashore false bindweed, shore bindweed, shore convolvulus and beach morning glory.
Descri ...
''). The neck of the island between the two hills where the farm was located has an unusual flora. Amongst dense bracken is balm-leaved figwort (''Scrophularia scorodonia
''Scrophularia scorodonia'' is a species of flowering plant in the figwort family (Scrophulariaceae).
It is native to western and southwestern Europe, Northwest Morocco and the Azores
)
, motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace" ...
''), common here but not found elsewhere on the island and an unidentified yellow, cultivated rose. A second alien, Argentine dock (''Rumex frutescens
The docks and sorrels, genus ''Rumex'', are a genus of about 200 species of Annual plant, annual, Biennial plant, biennial, and perennial plant, perennial herbs in the buckwheat family, Polygonaceae.
Members of this genus are very common perennia ...
'') grows on the edge of a sand pit which was originally intended to be a reservoir. The fields below the two houses were, before 1933, fertilised with "shoddy
Recycled wool, rag wool or shoddy is any woollen textile or yarn made by shredding existing fabric and re-spinning the resulting fibres. Textile recycling is an important mechanism for reducing the need for raw wool in manufacturing.
Shoddy was ...
" – a high nitrate manure derived from the woollen industry. Within these fields can be found viper's-bugloss (''Echium vulgare
''Echium vulgare'', known as viper's bugloss and blueweed,Dickinson, T.; Metsger, D.; Bull, J.; & Dickinson, R. (2004) ROM Field Guide to Wildflowers of Ontario. Toronto:Royal Ontario Museum, p. 203. is a species of flowering plant in the borag ...
''), common melilot (''Melilotus officinalis
''Melilotus officinalis'', known as sweet yellow clover, yellow melilot, ribbed melilot and common melilot, is a species of legume native to Eurasia and introduced in North America, Africa, and Australia.
Description
''Melilotus officinalis'' c ...
'') and wild mignonette (''Reseda lutea
''Reseda lutea'', the yellow mignonette or wild mignonette, is a species of fragrant herbaceous plant. Its leaves and flowers have been used to make a yellow dye called "weld" since the first millennium BC, although the related plant ''Reseda l ...
''). All three are thought to be imported arable weeds. In the 1960s the "neck" was a closely cropped sward of grass but after myxomatosis
Myxomatosis is a disease caused by ''Myxoma virus'', a poxvirus in the genus ''Leporipoxvirus''. The natural hosts are tapeti (''Sylvilagus brasiliensis'') in South and Central America, and brush rabbits (''Sylvilagus bachmani'') in North Ame ...
the area became overgrown with bracken and bramble.
In October, 1972 a fire on Kittern Hill burnt through the shallow peaty soil to the granite. Bleached stones and blackened gorse stems can still be seen and the vegetation has not recovered sufficiently to equal the waved heath elsewhere on Scilly. Heath is on the hills on both sides of “the neck” and in the south of the island the nationally rare orange bird's-foot (''Ornithopus pinnatus
''Ornithopus pinnatus'', the orange birdsfoot, is a plant in the Fabaceae family. It was first described as ''Scorpiurus pinnata'' in 1768 by Philip Miller in ''The Gardeners Dictionary''. In 1907, George Claridge Druce assigned it to the genu ...
'') can be found as can rare lichen species such as ''Lobaria pulmonaria
''Lobaria pulmonaria'' is a large epiphytic lichen consisting of an ascomycete fungus and a green algal partner living together in a symbiotic relationship with a cyanobacterium—a symbiosis involving members of three kingdoms of organisms. ...
'' and golden-hair lichen ('' Teloschistes flavicans'').
Rare plants
*Shore dock (''Rumex rupestris
''Rumex rupestris'', commonly known as shore dock, is a species of flowering plant belonging to the family Polygonaceae. Its native range is Western Europeand is one of the world's rarest dock species.Lousley JE, Kent DH. 1981. ''Docks and Knotwe ...
'') first discovered here in 1893 by John Ralfs
John Ralfs (13 September 1807 – 14 July 1890) was an English botanist. Born in Millbrook, near Southampton, he was the second son of Samuel Ralfs, a yeoman of an old family in Hampshire. He has been commemorated in the names of many plant gr ...
still extant in the 1960s but now extinct.
*Small adder's-tongue (''Ophioglossum azoricum
''Ophioglossum azoricum'', the small adder's-tongue fern or lesser adder's-tongue fern, is a small fern of the family Ophioglossaceae.
Distribution
''Ophioglossum azoricum'' is an Atlantic–Mediterranean species native to islands in the nort ...
'') has not been seen since at least the mid-1980s. The site was on the east coast between Carn Kimbra and Point Witcher. The only area of the SSSI that was classified as "favourable".
*Four-leaved allseed (''Polycarpon tetraphyllum
''Polycarpon tetraphyllum'', commonly known as four-leaved allseed (also fourleaf allseed or fourleaf manyseed), is a plant of the family Caryophyllaceae. An annual herb growing to 15 cm in height, it is found on sandy soils, in coastal area ...
'') was recorded by Lousley in 1939 and 1940.
Fauna
In July 1924, W. N. Blair caught a shrew which he did not recognise and sent a specimen to the British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
for the attention of Martin Hinton
Martin Alister Campbell Hinton FRS (29 June 1883 – 3 October 1961) was a British zoologist.
Career
Hinton joined the staff of the Natural History Museum in 1910, working on mammals, in particular rodents. He became Deputy Keeper of Zoology i ...
, who identified it as the lesser white-toothed shrew (''Crocidura suaveolens
The lesser white-toothed shrew (''Crocidura suaveolens'') is a tiny shrew with a widespread distribution in Africa, Asia and Europe. Its preferred habitat is scrub and gardens and it feeds on insects, arachnids, worms, gastropods, newts and sma ...
''). Known as the "Scilly shrew", the type specimen is held by the British Museum. The other mammals found on Gugh are feral cats, rabbit (''Oryctolagus cuniculus
The European rabbit (''Oryctolagus cuniculus'') or coney is a species of rabbit native to the Iberian Peninsula (including Spain, Portugal, and southwestern France), western France, and the northern Atlas Mountains in northwest Africa. It has b ...
'') and possibly the house mouse (''Mus musculus
Mus or MUS may refer to:
Abbreviations
* MUS, the NATO country code for Mauritius
* MUS, the IATA airport code for Minami Torishima Airport
* MUS, abbreviation for the Centre for Modern Urban Studies on Campus The Hague, Leiden University, Neth ...
'').[Robinson, P. (2003) ''The Birds of the Isles of Scilly''. London: Christopher Helm.] Permanent monitoring stations, consisting of boxes with chocolate wax inside, have been set up around the coasts of both Gugh and St Agnes and a baiting grid will be set up around any signs of rats.[ As of 2015 the brown rat is most likely eradicated on the island.][
Rabbits are currently the only grazing animal and in the 1960s myxomatosis decimated the population and led to an increase of scrub on parts of the island, especially "the neck" where in some years cuckoos ('' Cuculus canorus'') were attracted by the large numbers of garden tiger moth ('']Arctia caja
The garden tiger moth or great tiger moth (''Arctia caja'') is a moth of the family Erebidae. ''Arctia caja'' is a northern species found in the US, Canada, and Europe. The moth prefers cold climates with temperate seasonality, as the larvae ove ...
'') and other large caterpillars. In one year the number of garden tiger larvae was 90 per square metre. The last grazing animals left in 1974 and Natural England
Natural England is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, ...
would like grazing animals back on Gugh to counteract the effects of the scrub and dense sward of grass covering parts of the island. A cobalt
Cobalt is a chemical element with the symbol Co and atomic number 27. As with nickel, cobalt is found in the Earth's crust only in a chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron. The free element, pr ...
deficiency in the soil means grazing animals need supplements.
In the southern part of the island large colonies of lesser black-blacked ('' Larus fuscus graellsii'') and herring gull ('' Larus argentatus'') breed, as do a small number of greater black-backed gull (''Larus marinus
The great black-backed gull (''Larus marinus'') is the largest member of the gull family. Described by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as "the king of the Atlantic waterfront", it is a very aggressive hunter, pirate, and scavenger. It breeds on t ...
''). Storm petrel (''Hydrobates pelagicus
The European storm petrel, British storm petrel, or just storm petrel (''Hydrobates pelagicus'') is a seabird in the northern storm petrel family, Hydrobatidae. The small, square-tailed bird is entirely black except for a broad, white rump and ...
'') and kittiwake (''Rissa tridactyla
The black-legged kittiwake (''Rissa tridactyla'') is a seabird species in the gull family Laridae.
This species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'' as ''Larus tridactylus''. The English ...
'') no longer breed there. To protect and enhance the islands' seabirds, and to protect Annet (an important breeding site) from re-invasion, a feasibility study was carried out to see if it was possible to eradicate rats from the Isles of Scilly. A winter trapping survey on St Agnes and Gugh indicated that those islands had a population of 3,300 brown rats. It was found the rats foraged on a variety of food including Scilly shrew which were found in the stomach contents of 18% of the rats trapped. Furthermore, numbers of the shrew were higher in areas where the rats were controlled; an indication that rats are having an effect on their numbers. The survey showed that it was both feasible, and there are significant benefits, to remove the rats as they are preventing Manx shearwater and storm petrel from establishing on St Agnes and Gugh.
In 2009 lesser black-backed gull bred on Gugh but with low chick productivity, and the small colony of kittiwake nested, but failed for at least the fourth year. Following the rat eradication programme 12 Manx shearwater chicks fledged on Gugh and St Agnes in September 2014.
Vagrant birds
* A white-tailed eagle
The white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla'') is a very large species of sea eagle widely distributed across temperate Palearctic, Eurasia. Like all eagles, it is a member of the family Accipitridae (or accipitrids) which includes other diur ...
(''Haliaetus albicilla'') with a wingspan of 7 ft 6 in (2.29 m) was shot on Gugh in November 1909.
* A white-tailed eagle (''Haliaetus albicilla'') was seen on the Isles of Scilly (and Bosigran
Cornish promontory forts, commonly known in Cornwall as cliff castles, are coastal equivalents of the hill forts and Cornish "rounds" found on Cornish hilltops and slopes. Similar coastal forts are found on the north–west European seaboard, in ...
, Zennor
Zennor is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The parish includes the villages of Zennor, Boswednack and Porthmeor and the hamlet of Treen (Zennor), Treen. Zennor lies on the north coast, ...
) from April 1947 onwards. It was thought to roost on Gugh where it was once seen eating a shag (''Gulosus aristotelis
The European shag or common shag (''Gulosus aristotelis'') is a species of cormorant. It is the only member of the Monotypic taxon, monotypic genus ''Gulosus''. It breeds around the rocky coasts of western and southern Europe, southwest Asia and ...
'').
* A two–barred greenish warbler was found by Colin Bradshaw and Tom Bradshaw on Gugh from 21 to 27 October 1987. A first for Britain and Ireland.
Insects
;Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera ( ) is an order (biology), order of insects that includes butterfly, butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 Family (biology), families and 46 Taxonomic r ...
# Cocksfoot moth ('' Glyphipterix simpliciella''), very common
# '' Nothris congressariella'', the larvae feed between spun leaves of balm-leaved figwort (''Scrophularia scorodonia
''Scrophularia scorodonia'' is a species of flowering plant in the figwort family (Scrophulariaceae).
It is native to western and southwestern Europe, Northwest Morocco and the Azores
)
, motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace" ...
'') and first recorded on Gugh in May 1994
# '' Epagoge grotiana'' – recorded on 9 July 1995
# ''Scoparia subfusca
''Scoparia subfusca'' is a species of moth of the family Crambidae. It is found in Europe.
The wingspan is 20–27 mm. The forewings are brown-grey, mixed or suffused with whitish, sometimes with a few black scales; a short black dash from ...
'', recorded by day in 1993
# Common carpet ('' Epirrhoe alternata'') – recorded in 1995
# Purple bar ('' Cosmorhoe ocellata'') – recorded in the years 1993,1994 and 1995
Habitat restoration
In 2013 the Isles of Scilly Seabird Recovery Project was set up by a number of organisations including the RSPB and the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust. The five-year project aims to keep the islands of St Agnes and Gugh brown rat
The brown rat (''Rattus norvegicus''), also known as the common rat, street rat, sewer rat, wharf rat, Hanover rat, Norway rat, Norwegian rat and Parisian rat, is a widespread species of common rat. One of the largest muroids, it is a brown o ...
(''Rattus norvegicus'') free, to help breeding sea birds, which lost 25% of their populations between 1983 and 2006. The rats eat eggs and kill the chicks of those birds that nest in burrows or on the ground. Rat removal began in October 2013 by a team of thirty volunteers led by Wildlife Management International Limited (WMIL) of New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
, and there has been no signs of rats on St Agnes and Gugh since December 2013.
The ranger team of the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust started to remove pittosporum
''Pittosporum'' ( or ) is a genus of about 200 species of flowering plants in the family Pittosporaceae. The genus is probably Gondwanan in origin; its present range extends from Australasia, Oceania, eastern Asia and some parts of Africa. '' Ci ...
from some areas in 2016. By 2019, 1.2 ha had been removed from the sea-bird breeding areas and archaeology sites. They also created a mosaic of differing vegetation heights in the areas of grassland to create conditions favourable for orange bird's-foot and clovers, which need short turf, and in longer grass, Babington's leek and grass balm-leaved figwort.
See also
* British National Vegetation Classification
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The British National Vegetation Classification or NVC is a system of classifying natural habitat types in Great Britain according to the vegetation they contain.
A large scientific meeting of ecologists, botanists, and other related pr ...
* South Walls
South Walls ( sco, Sooth Waas), often referred to as Walls, is an inhabited island adjacent to Hoy in Orkney, Scotland. The name is a corruption of "Sooth Was", which means the "southern voes" – as with Kirkwall, it was assumed that it was a mi ...
in Orkney
References
External links
Lowland heathland - a cultural and endangered landscape
Isles of Scilly Seabird Recovery Project
The Isles of Scilly Area of Outstanding Beauty
The Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust
The Megalithic Portal
{{SSSIs Cornwall biological
Inhabited islands of the Isles of Scilly
Island restoration
Sites of Special Scientific Interest in the Isles of Scilly
Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1976
Tidal islands of England
Tombolos