British Acquire New Bird Refuge on Kentish Coast

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 83, 24 April 1937, Page 16

British Acquire New Bird Refuge on Kentish Coast

LONDON— Britain is to have a new bird sanctuary.on the Kent coast,, followxng action by the Eoyai Society for the Protectioix of Birds. The site' of . the sanctuary is at Den-. gemarsh. Part Of it has been a private ternery for some years, but builders threatened encroachmeht and the'E. S. P. B. has stepped in to save the laiid. "It is the' only considerable area now romaining on the south coast, east of the Isle of Wight,. where terns can nest," Mrs F. ,,E. Lemon, houorary secretary of t-he .watchers ' ' committoe of the E. S. P. B., states. 'Since 1904* the* DengemarBh ternery has been protected . by Mr Johni Tart, official watcher, and Mr J. T." Blacklocks, the owner. Eecent proposals' to build on thie land have endangered the- tern.ery, and to avert ti,is the councii of the E. S, P. B. has undertaken to purchase the 685 acres of the ternery at a cost of £8250. To help make up this sum the £6000 realized from the recent, sale of the Dungeness sanctuary, which building had made ineffective, has been* appropriated, leaving bird-lovers £2000 to raise to acquire the Dengemarsh sanctuary, and an appeal for this sum has been made. ' Contiguoua with Dengemarsh sanctuary are two others. Walkers Outland and the Open Pits shingle, which together will make a continuou.s sanctuary of 1281 aeres of nesting haunts of rare birds and stopping places for winter visitors from the Arctic. It will be one of the few winter shore-bird sanctuarips in Britain, although anothcr s'chcme to turn the Tees Estuary into one is liow in progress. There are several other bird sanetuaries maintained by the E, S. P. B. within easy reaeh of London. In Sandwich Bay a reliable watcher is stationed under the supervision of Commander Kenneth Newall, and the ternery there has experienced a suecessful season. There are sanetuaries in Surrey at Frensham Ponds, and at Selsdon Wood near Croydon, administered by a iocal eommittee of the National Trust. * At Aldeburgh in Suffolk, birds like shelducks, redshank, ringed plover, green plover, oyster-catcher and some snipo caused interest by nesting in 1936 within bait a mile of the bombing range of air forde planes, at Martlesham, while at Orlordness the terns ncsted despite the increasing buildings.