BIRD SANCTUARY.

Hokitika Guardian, 24 November 1925, Page 1

BIRD SANCTUARY.

NORWICH. September kb Miss K. I. Turner, the ornithologist who spent the greater part of the spring and summer of 1021 on the lonely Scott Head island, off the North Norfolk coast, watching the nesting of the wild birds there, has again gone into residence to watch the autumn movements of birds. Among her reports ol what she saw she writes as follows regarding some voting Sandwich terns: Kittle groups of eight or ten might be seen running about together along the shore, like a brood of ducklings. On one occasion a party of eight took to the water when l approached, anti were convoyed from the air by sixteen parents, and thus escorted to another bench where they could not be followed. Dr Sydney Kong, of Norwich, the honorary secretary of the Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists’ Society, told me that the island is the finest fernery in the country. He emphasised the need for it to he left in quietness, so that it may fulfil the purpose of a sanctuary and added:

We have assured ourselves by its purchase that it can never have bungalows and seaside houses erected on it, but we do want the public to respect the rights of property. Notwithstanding it's inaccessibility, there have been motor-roach parties brought to the nearest point on the mainland. \y e have been classifying the island’s plants, and so far have a list well exceeding 100. We are also planting some tell rubs around the only fresh water on the island. There is a hut where an observer can watch, and wo are hoping that this spot will become a concentration place for the birds, so | that they can be more easily studied.