The Wildlife of Drake's Island

27/08/2026

THE ISLAND WAS NEVER A WILDLIFE RESERVE AND I NEVER SAW COLLABORATIONS WITH THE NATIONAL MARINE AQUARIUM OR PLYMOUTH SOUND NATIONAL PARK.
With the Island in receivership there have been newspaper reports in the National and Local News about the sale of the Island mainly based on the brochure issued by Carter Jonas, a London based Estate Agents and Property Consultants. As the Warden on the Island from 2017 to 2023 I think it’s worth pointing out some of the information regarding the wildlife on the Island doesn’t match my experience.
Under the heading “Current Use” it says the Island has a Wildlife Reserve. This is inaccurate. In the UK a Wildlife Reserve is defined as land managed primarily for conservation, or for conservation alongside recreation as long as visitor activities do not harm the natural environment. In other words either the whole Island or parts of it are protected and set aside for the conservation of habitats, flora and fauna. Although not required by law private or informal reserves are recommended to have a management plan. No area of the Island is set aside as a specific wildlife reserve nor is there any wildlife reserve plan. Neither has there been any wildlife monitoring of flora, fauna or habitats. In fact the only monitoring that was done was a Drake’s Island Species Monitoring Project I set up on iNaturalist, a free to use wildlife species recording app, as Morgan Phillips wasn’t interested in being involved. The project only recorded individual species of flora and fauna and where they were found but not the numbers. This gives an indication of what is found on the Island but is limited by the time I and anyone who wanted to contribute had available to look for species. If anyone wants to see the project here is the link
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/the-wildlife-of-drake-s-island
Given this lack of management or monitoring the cynic in me believes Morgan Phillips simply wished to say it was a Wildlife Reserve for advertising purposes. It wouldn’t be so bad if just the visitor paths were kept cut back and the rest of the Island was left to nature. However when events were being run they took priority and habitats were simply cut back with no plan to replant elsewhere especially for the airsoft events and the 2025 Rave or where the owners simply wanted to remove habitats to expand the tourist visitor areas. This included the cutting back or removal of habitats during bird nesting season where active nests are supposed to be left alone. Certainly the due diligence of monitoring areas for nesting birds wasn’t carried out before any work was done. Another example was when I was pointing out Mullein Moth Caterpillars at the top of the Vaulted Entrance to visitors. Unknown to me another guide asked Morgan if they could cut back some weeds by the top of the Vaulted Entrance. Morgan gave them the OK. The problem was they weren’t weeds but the Twiggy Mullein plants where the Mullein Moth Caterpillars were foraging. I suspect the other guide was just ignorant of the Mullein Moth Caterpillars but it shows that there was no plan to educate the guides about the wildlife on the Island as there would in a properly run wildlife reserve. I do understand the need for pathways to be kept clear but the plants were behind the safety barriers and it was just done for aesthetics. Whilst I would prefer there to be a wildlife reserve I also understand the need the owners had to make the Island work financially but you don’t get it both ways. You can’t say the Island has a Wildlife Reserve and then fail to take the measures required to have a reserve and failing to preserve habitats when it suits your financial need. This is perhaps best highlighted by an attempt at a school collaboration in 2022. I had the pleasure of hosting some students, teachers and parents from the Mayflower Community Academy who were scoping out a project to build a Bird Hide on the Island in December 2022. A hide location was selected by the Centre Gun Emplacement of the Centre Battery. It gave a wide view of an area at the top of the Island which had a number of habitats, wildflowers, grasses, brambles and trees that host numerous insects and pollinators as well as the resident song birds. It was a great learning and practical project for the Academy students helping them engage with site selection, design, selection of materiel and construction whilst considering the environment. The plan was to have the design elements completed over the winter with a tentative construction start around April of 2023. The construction material was to be supplied free by Morgan Phillips as the hide would be available for general use not just by the school. This was as far as the project got. I never got an official explanation for the project being cancelled but the owners were in talks with the Airsoft company who started their events in January 2023. It seems the more attractive financial benefit of Airsoft events may have had an influence. Coincidentally the whole area that was to be overlooked by the hide was cut down to provide more play area for the Airsofters and also to open up the views of the Centre Battery for visitors. To make matters worse the regular airsoft events left hundreds if not thousands of BB Gun pellets all round the Island after each event. Although the organisers will say they sell only biodegradable pellets those pellets still take 5 months to 2 years to break down depending on the conditions. There were no checks to see if airsofters bringing their own pellets were using biodegradable ones or not.
Under the same heading it states collaborations have taken place with the National Marine Aquarium and Plymouth Sound National Park. In 2019 Plymouth Live reported that Morgan Phillips was working with Plymouth’s National Marine Aquarium and the Ocean Conservation Trust charity to allow schoolchildren to help research the seahorses and sea grass areas around the jetty as well as the seals. However no groups ever visited the Island. It seems to me that although there was a meeting or two was held the collaborations didn’t seem to amount to more than a PR photo opportunity in the local press. As far as I am aware no collaborations happened to benefit the Island or local environment although a group of Cetacean watchers were stationed on the casemate roof during the Sail GB races during 2021 as spotters for large marine mammals during the races in Plymouth Sound.
Finally Morgan also had areas of habitat removed simply to uncover any military fortifications that may have been there. There are two reasons why this was unnecessary. Firstly Morgan never had the finances to take the development of the Island further so removing habitats and uncovering areas served no purpose whatsoever. Secondly I had most of the available military maps and surveys as well as photographs so knew what could be found and where. Morgan knew this but wasn’t interested in asking before just removing the flora.
Sadly the opportunities to make at least part of the Island a Wildlife Reserve and collaborate with other organisations on Wildlife Projects were missed. Currently nature is taking back over but it will be interesting to see if the Island does get a buyer and if so what they will do with it.

18/08/2026

Still no news on the future of the Island. It's still in Receivership and up for sale although I doubt anyone will buy it as the cost of just making it safe will be in the region of £20 million before you can even think about developing it. No tours or events are being run and Morgan Phillips, the last owner hasn't updated the website even though he promised to do so by the end of July.
Nature is starting to take back over with vegetation growing back over the old tourist paths. Visits are trespassing but a few do venture across and the photo's are screenshots one of the urban explorers videos apart from one I took of the sea wall from Mt Edgecumbe in July.

29/07/2026

Hopefully the heatwaves and lack of any substantial rain haven't affected the flora on the Island too much. The thistles are drought tolerant, well established and have deep roots but the heat is a concern for the bees although it has generally been below the critical threshold of 30 degrees. The short video is of a Bumble Bee foraging on one of the many thistles on the Island a few years back.

20/07/2026

It's been a good year for Butterflies but with no tours on the Island and the wildflowers not being cut back they could be even more abundant on the Island. The video is of an Orange Tip Male foraging on daisies and was taken in 2023, my last year as Warden on the Island. The Orange Tip is not abundant compared to most other species on the Island and forages on most wildflowers found there. The female does not have the Orange Tips on it's wings. It is quite photo friendly as it frequently rests for a few moments to forage and is not easily spooked giving time to take a photo or video.

14/07/2026

As there have been no tours or events on the Island this year nor any airsoft since March I am hoping the habitats that were cut back in previous years have had a chance to recover. Until 2023 Sorrel used to grow at the top of the Island next to the Centre Battery Gun Emplacements and provided a source of food for the Island Goldfinches as you can see from the short video. Other sources of food found on the Island include Thistles, Groundsel and Dandelions which should all be more plentiful this year although a spot or two of rain would help.

08/07/2026

If you are unaware the Island went back into receivership on 22 Apr this year. I've included a link at the end of the post for anyone who wants more details or you can access them yourselves on the Companies House Website.
However with no tours and no cutting back of habitats hopefully the wildlife has been thriving especially during nesting season. In particular the ground nesting birds, Canadian Geese and the Ducks should have benefitted from the additional overgrowth. The video is of the 2023 batch of Canadian Goslings - usually there is only 1 breeding pair on the Island - and was taken at the top of the Island close by the RML Guns.
Here's the link, Plymouth Sound Properties is the Company that owns the Island with Morgan Phillips as the sole director.
https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/11997021/insolvency

01/06/2026

THE ECOLOGICAL EVOLUTION OF DRAKE’S ISLAND – THE 1830 TO 1846 BUILDING PROGRAMME
With the old Keep or Barracks at the top of the Island demolished and replaced by the Upper Battery established by 1780 work started to expand the Barracks at the West end of the Island around 40 to 50 years later. By 1830 the Officers Annex and a pantry was added to the end of the Soldiers Barrack. An Annex was added to the Master Gunners House with the area to the rear of the House landscaped and the retaining wall to the rear enclosing the current garden was extended to meet the old outer defensive wall. As the Master Gunner’s House also contained the Guard room and stores the garden at that stage may have been a hard standing for parading the Guard and beasting (military slang for gently exercising) any prisoners. By 1846 the Ablution Block next to the Soldiers Barrack was added. Part of the alley between the two was covered over and housed a Pantry with food and Wine Stores. The wooden hut known as Skittle Alley was also built around this time. It was a recreational hut for the garrison as nine pin bowling was very popular in the UK at the time. The hut was converted to a dining hall during WWI and was demolished just after WWII. It is also likely at this stage the Barrack Courtyard was completely paved over (if it hadn’t been done so already) and steps added leading to the paths to the rear of the Barracks.
The effect on the Island habitats was a loss of area around the new Officers Mess, Master Gunners Annex and Ablution Block. Any flora and fauna that would have established itself in those areas after the previous building programme from 1750 to 1780 would also have been lost. The Island was still permanently garrisoned by a detachment of around 60 soldiers on average which would have included up to 11 families with around 20 wives and children so the brown rat population would still have had a plentiful food source. The marine birds would have been similarly unaffected. Newspaper reports of the time frequently mention the good standard of fishing around the Island which suggests there was plenty of food sources on the foreshore and around the Island.
Some flora had been introduced to the UK during this period with the growth in the planting of ornamental gardens. These include Winter Heliotrope which was introduced from the Mediterranean and North Africa as an ornamental ground cover as it forms dense lavender coloured carpets smelling of vanilla when in flower. It arrived in the UK from around 1805. Hydrangeas were introduced from Korea around 1780. They are found around the Master Gunners Annex by the entrance arch leading to the current Garden on the Island today. Fuchsias arrived in the UK around 1788 from South America and are most commonly found in the inner courtyard at the top of the vaulted entrance that leads up from the beach although it does depend if the area has been cut back or not. Japanese Spindle was introduced around 1804. However although all four can be found on the Island today they were unlikely to have established themselves on the Island until the Adventure Centre era starting in 1963. This was as they were introduced initially to the UK as ornamental garden flora they would have taken some time to establish themselves outside of the Gardens and secondly building programmes to upgrade the defences continued on all around the Island at regular periods up until the end of WWII reducing the available habitats on the Island and the ability of flora to establish themselves on the Island. It was not until the 1960’s and mainly 1970’s that a planting programme to green the Island was carried out by the Adventure Centre which is when the initial introduction of these plants most likely happened. The next post will look at the effect of the Palmerston Defences on the Island.

12/05/2026

DRAKE'S ISLAND TOURS SUSPENDED
Piece in Plymouth Live if people aren't aware. Tours suspended pending safety inspections!! Be interested to see if he publishes the safety reports and risk assessments as the Jetty has at least one leg completely suspended (not connected to the sea bed) and there is concrete falling off the underside directly above the landing stage. Additionally a second breach of the sea wall started at the back of the Island at the end of last year just along from where the first collapse and landslip occurred along with a partial collapse of the Officers Annex roof again that appeared late last year. Link is here

Businessman Morgan Phillips bought the island of a guide price of £6m in 2019

02/05/2026

THE ECOLOGICAL EVOLUTION OF DRAKE’S ISLAND – THE 1750 TO 1780 BUILDING PROGRAMME
In 1689, just after the Island ceased to be used as a State Prison William III and Mary II ascended to the throne. In 1690 construction began at the Naval Dockyard at Devonport and a number of surveys were done on the defences of the Sound to protect the new Dockyard. The Island guarding the entrance to the Tamar was recommended for a number of improvements. Work began in 1750 and was completed in 1780 and a number of buildings constructed over that period remain to this day.
Between 1750 and 1780 the vaulted entranceway and inner courtyard were built. The outer defensive wall was extended out then turned at a right angle to link into the original outer wall. This enclosed the old landing stage and stone steps that led up to the entrance arch. This was backfilled and paved over to create an outer courtyard. A new vaulted entrance way led up to the new outer courtyard with the old entrance arch remaining and giving access to the inside of the Island although the old Gunners Barrack over the Arch and the Guard Room next to it were demolished. This led to a loss of cliff habitat as well as a small part of the marine habitat.
In 1750 part of the area at the west end of the Island was cleared and levelled to make room for the first part of the Soldiers Barrack to be built along with a new Master Gunner’s House and Stores which also housed a guardroom and a couple of holding cells. By 1780 the Tudor Keep and Master Gunner’s Barrack at the top of the Island were demolished and replaced by an upper battery of guns along with furnaces for heating the shot for the Guns. The Island is only 400 metres long by 100 metres wide so this affected a significant amount of the land on the Island. The outer defensive walls were strengthened and raised during this period.
Whilst it is unlikely that any new flora was established on the Island, Canadian Geese had been introduced to England by Charles II in 1665 and his lead was followed by many landowners. Although they do ground nest on the Island today it is unlikely they used the Island until the military moved out due to the lack of ground cover available to hide the goslings back then in the early days and weeks after they hatched. Even today there are often years when no goslings survive due to predation by Gulls and Rats. Brown Rats had also arrived in the UK by 1730 and would have had ample opportunity to get across to the Island on the boats that were involved with transferring men and materiel for the building programmes. They would have replaced any of the smaller Black Rats that may have been established on the Island. The Island had a permanent Garrison by then and its food larders, pantries and the Soldiers Canteen along with the waste produced would have provided an ample food source together with scavenging on any gulls or pigeons they could catch. Although there are no reports of Rat infestations when the Military was garrisoning the Island there were rat problems a couple of times when the Adventure Training Centre was open. Once in 1976 and again in 1987 that resulted in the Kitchens being closed down as staff refused to work in them. Brown Rats still inhabit the Island today though in small numbers. They are seen all around the Island though mainly in the Casemates area and most probably nest in the rock crevices above the high water mark. They will scavenge on birds eggs, injured or dead birds and any young they can catch as well any left over food that isn’t properly disposed of after events have been run on the Island.
Overall this phase building programme would have meant a loss of habitat and only the Brown Rats may have established themselves on the Island during the period though probably in limited numbers as the only water supply on the Island would have been from the drains and rain water catchment tanks. The tanks would have been covered so not easily accessible but the rain would have provided some limited water. The next post will cover the expansion of the Barracks over the period 1830 to 1846.