The Lincolnshire Bird Club

I have been monitoring a large field near Saltfleet where there are several pairs of Lapwing nesting, possible predators seen have been Short-eared Owl, Marsh Harrier, Sparrowhawk and Fox although I haven't seen any prey taken by them. This week over 50 young bullocks have been released into the field and they've been galloping around exploring the area.
Yesterday I saw 4 Lapwing chicks with 3 adult Lapwings around and 1 dead adult which appears to have been trampled. Putting cattle out to graze just as Lapwing are hatching doesn't seem to be a good idea. The solution appears to be either put them out to graze before or preferably after nesting, any thoughts?

That's distressing, Geoff.

Farmers, of course, have a living to make and therefore set their own agendas/ timetables. That makes birds vulnerable, but I don't see what can be done about it.

I was saddened last week to see cereal fields being drenched in chemicals by tractor- hauled spraying machinery.

What hope the survival of any skylarks - adults or chicks - that happened to be located along the route?

It's a pity that the RSPB doesn't have sufficient clout to come up with some solution that might work to the benefit of both the farmer and wildlife. I tend to feel that, although it does lots of good work, it is an organisation that punches beneath its weight on environmental issues (including wind farms).

A lot of work has been done over recent years to get the water levels and grazing to
a suitable level to provide the right habitat for breeding waders and wildfowl on the site,
with Lapwing Redshank and Teal now breeding and raising chicks, sedge , reed warbler and reed buntings breeding
in the reed filled ditches, and the many pairs of skylark, and meadow pipits , this is proof the improvements made are working so lets remember how the site was some years ago and take a positive attitude to what it is now,
During the winter it supported large numbers of wildfowl with over a thousand pink foot geese, hundreds of wigeon,
teal, swans , curlew, lapwing, golden plover,and a few snipe etc. if it was to be returned to arable we
know what that will mean.

regards John

If more fields were to be created like Elm House Farm, Saltfleetby what a difference it would make for wildlife.