AFON
Advent Calendar: Higher Moors Nature Trail – Isles of Scilly by Ed Marshall.
Welcome to our AFON Advent Calendar! Each day leading up to Christmas you will find a wonderful new post by a different member. This years theme is your favourite nature reserve; where do you go to escape from the world and connect with nature? Enjoy!
© Ed Marshall
Nestled in between two granite headlands, Higher Moors lies low down (ironically) between the steeper hill sides, and verges on the sea in a bay known as Porth Hellick. As far as wetlands go, it doesn’t boast a huge variety of wildlife, at least not over these winter months. Many migrants and waders have passed through and moved on to their final wintering grounds. I can spend many an hour sitting watching, to see a couple of mallards and the odd moorhen and coot pass by on the far side, but that may well be the pleasures of spending a winter on the islands. If nothing else, it is an incredibly tranquil place to spend your mornings. In the right conditions, the mist will rise gently from the surface, and the sun will illuminate the sky in a way I will never tire of.
© Ed Marshall
So if it’s not for the non-stop hustle and bustle of wildlife on these lakes, what is it that keeps bringing me back to this boggy, saline pool? I return to this wetland time after time in search of something much more elusive, something that Scilly boasts an impressive density of compared to on the mainland. Water Rails. This is a personal project of mine, and most certainly a work in progress. They are there, but by no means any less shy. So far I’ve been working without using things such as meal worms to tempt them in, not entirely a choice based on any particular ethical principles I have, but using food such as that to try and get a shot is normally a last resort. All that said, I’m starting to think that there is a reason they work so well for the bird ringer(s) on the island…