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 | Working for Local Wildlife
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Exciting new Wildlife Watch club at Woodhall Spa!
Young people and their parents are invited to the first meeting of a new Wildlife Watch club for the Coningsby/Tattershall/Woodhall Spa area.
It's on Sunday 16 June, 10am - 12am, Cottage Museum, Woodhall Spa.
We will explore a local wood (weather permitting), looking at trees and other wildlife and help plan future meetings. Please come dressed dress suitably for being outdoors. All ages (minimum of approximately 6 years) are welcome. Older children who are keen to also do real practical conservation work at future meetings are particularly welcome.
There will be no charge for this initial meeting. Non-Watch members are also welcome.
Please email Watch Organiser Mary Porter watch@lincstrust.co.uk for more details.
June 2013
A Land Fit for Heroes - appeal to buy Woodhall Spa
The Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust has launched an appeal to raise half a million pounds to buy Woodhall Spa Airfield. If successful, for the first time ever, the public will be able to walk along the runway that the Lancasters took off from.
The charity currently owns over half of the airfield and an adjacent nature reserve, Kirkby Moor. By securing the rest of the site, the runway can be saved and a new nature reserve created.
Woodhall Spa Airfield will become a place where visitors can share in the unique atmosphere of spaciousness and serenity. The air will fill with the songs of skylarks. The open skies will see birds of prey soaring where aircraft once flew. It will be a fitting tribute to the many servicemen and women who gave their lives to preserve and protect our ‘green and pleasant land’.
> Please help secure Woodhall Spa Airfield by making a donation
> Find out more about Woodhall Spa Airfield
May 2013
Lincolnshire's Coronation Meadow
On 5 June 2013, Red Hill nature reserve was named as one of the 60 Coronation Meadows across the UK to mark the 60th anniversary of The Queen's Coronation.
The initiative came from HRH The Prince of Wales after reading Plantlife's report on the scale of the local loss of wildflower meadows. The UK has lost 97% of its wildflower meadows since the 1930s, with every county across the UK losing, on average, a wild flower every two years - the majority of these are meadow and grassland species.
The scale of the loss has left the remaining wild meadows fragmented and wildlife isolated and even more vulnerable. Even common hay meadow plants, like yellow rattle, eyebrights and greater knapweed are in decline. These flowers, along with many others, can all be found at Red Hill nature reserve. Red Hill is one of the most attractive and interesting fragments of ancient 'sheep walk' downland which once covered much of the chalk wolds. Part of the site used to be a barley field. Now an extension to the SSSI, it is one of the best chalk downland meadows in Lincolnshire.
> Red Hill Nature Reserve
> Coronation Meadows
June 2013
Improving the Scrapes
In late September diggers arrived at Far Ings National Nature Reserve to begin a major project to re-wet a dried out fen in the area called the scrapes.
The plan is to lower the scrapes area, link it to adjacent water bodies creating permanent water and reed fringe, and to increase public accessibility. 1.4 hectares of wet reedbed will be created contributing to local and national targets for reedbeds. The area will become much wetter and more attractive to wetland birds including priority conservation species: bittern, water rail, bearded tit and snipe.
The improvement works being undertaken include:
- Excavation and deepening of the existing Scrapes area.
- Installation of new sluices with eel passes.
- Creation of new islands in Target Lake for nesting terns and avocet.
- Removal of the two old Scrapes hides.
- Construction of a new raised bird hide with all-round vision and ramp access.
The project is supported by: BIFFA, the Environment Agency, North East Lindsey Drainage Board and Natural England.
October 2012
Photographing the Coastal Grazing Marshes
The Lincolnshire Coastal Grazing Marshes Project Digital Photographic Competition has been extended into 2014!
So there is still lots of time to get photographs of the Coastal Grazing Marsh landscape, wildlife, heritage and life.
More details will be announced.
Visit the Lincolnshire Coastal Grazing Marshes Project website to find out more about this special landscape. To be eligible for the competition photographs must have been taken within the Lincolnshire Coastal Grazing Marshes area.
Photo: Joe Blissett
May 2013
Transforming Willow Tree Fen
At Willow Tree Fen nature reserve in South Holland the transformation of 114 hectares of farmland to a typical fenland landscape of reedbeds, shallow meres, seasonally flooded pastures and hay meadows is picking up pace. From 1 May, with the Higher Level Stewardship agreement from Natural England in place, some of the major work on the land can begin.
Fencing will be put in place, a new ditch dug and water control structures installed: ready to be re-wetted in the late summer/autumn. Over the summer, the site will be kept dry so the inevitable weeds can be kept under control and for re-seeding with 7 different grass species suitable for wet fenland conditions.
Developing the habitats at Willow Tree Fen will triple the area of wild fenland in the county and it is linked by waterways to other existing nature reserves. It's been made possible with financial support from Natural England, the Heritage Lottery Fund, Lincolnshire Waterways Partnership, Environment Agency and the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust's members.
> Willow Tree Fen nature reserve
May 2010
Lincolnshire coastal landscape project underway
Thanks to a £857,399 Landscape Partnerships Grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, a three-year partnership-led project to regenerate the Lincolnshire Coastal Grazing Marshes is now underway. The project will focus on three target areas in East Lindsey around Burgh-le-Marsh, Saltfleetby and Huttoft.
The project is being hosted by East Lindsey District Council but the Partnership also includes English Heritage, Environment Agency, Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group, Heritage Trust Lincolnshire, Lindsey Marsh Drainage Board, Lincolnshire County Council, Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, and Natural England.
Lying between the coastal strip and the Wolds, the grazing marshes are a nationally threatened habitat and support a rich variety of wildlife, a distinctive wetland landscape and cultural history.
The project will support local farmers and landowners to conserve the remaining traditional grazing marsh by providing access to grants, advice and training. Local communities will also be supported through a programme of cultural, educational and access projects. These will enable local people to discover, explore and celebrate the special quality of their own local areas and boost the local economy.
Councillor Craig Leyland, East Lindsey District Council’s Portfolio Holder for the Economy, said "We are delighted to be able to host this project that recognises the unique qualities and potential of our grazing marshes and the communities that lie within them."
> Visit the Coastal Grazing Marshes website to find out more (opens in new browser window)
June 2013
Car Parking Season Tickets
A combined car parking season ticket for Gibraltar Point and Snipe Dales is available for £10.00 for 12 months.
The season ticket is available at the Snipe Dales Office, Gibraltar Point Visitor Centre or by post from:
Banovallum House, Manor House Street, Horncastle LN9 5HF
Please make cheques payable to "Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust".
Mark your envelope CPST and enclose a stamped addressed envelope.
March 2012
