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Doing a good tern: Rappa helps protect important coastal breeding sites.

Just off the north Norfolk coast sits a 7km stretch of sand and shingle that is home to some of our most treasured birdlife. Scolt Head Island National Nature Reserve, around 10 miles east of Hunstanton, is an internationally important area for breeding Sandwich Terns and Little Terns. The site is managed by Natural England and responsibility for the tern project sits with Reserve Manager, Gavin Devaney. We caught up with him to find out more…

Tell us a more about Scolt Head Island?

The habitat includes large areas of inter-tidal mud and sand, saltmarsh, shingle spits and sand dunes. It’s orientated east to west and is separated from the mainland by a tidal channel. Longshore drift is causing the island to extend – it’s an excellent place to see the formation of dune systems. The island is owned jointly by the National Trust and Norfolk Wildlife Trust and has been managed under lease by Natural England since 1954.

How did this project come about?

There has been a warden (or watcher as it was known initially) on the island since 1924. This role has evolved from monitoring to actively protecting the breeding birds. Various forms of fencing have been used over the years with varying success until we reached the effective and robust Rappa system which we use now. During the breeding season we use three electric fences to enclose ideal nesting areas, along with predator control to protect the terns and Black-Headed and Mediterranean Gulls. It begins at the end of March when the gulls return to the island, they are the precursor to the arrival of the terns. All these birds are colonial nesters, building nests in very close proximity. The warden returns in April to identify suitable places to put up fences that encompass as much potential nesting area as possible that won’t be washed away by high tides.