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St Mary's Island The Island and its lighthouse is reached by causeway at low tide, and the lighthouse has a good Information Centre along with a great view of the surrounding coastline to anyone prepared to climb the 137 steps to the top of the tower. Alternatively, you can get the same view via a video camera at ground level. There's animal life and plant life in the tidal rock pools beside the causeway and around the island, while a spot of beachcombing can reveal whelks, dogfish and skate left by the tide. There's a concentration of wading birds - curlew, snipe, redshank and many other species which fly in to roost on St Mary's wetland. At high tide when the island is cut off, many of the birds roost on the island, some standing on one leg appearing to doze the time away until the tide recedes and then claim their food. One of the best sights to watch are the sanderlings, which hurry along with heads down, almost like clockwork toys, chasing small crustaceans like shrimps and sand hoppers uncovered by the waves. The causeway is about 80 metres across and care should be exercised when negotiating the causeway when any tide is running as it's quite easy to walk "off-the-edge". St Mary's Lighthouse Information Allan Potts |
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