Birds flock to former golf course flooded to become new wetlands reserve

A new 30-hectare nature reserve situated on the Lincolnshire coast will open to the public this Saturday, following the transformation of a former golf course into a wetland habitat, the National Trust has announced.

Sandilands, located just north of Skegness, is the result of six full years of planning, consultation, and ecological work.

The conservation charity converted the fairways and greens into a mosaic of coastal scrub, grasslands, and wetlands.

The site is designed to support species such as lapwings, snipes, terns, and gulls, while serving as a crucial stopover point for migratory birds, including spoonbills, spotted redshanks, and black-tailed godwits.

According to the project team, wildlife began returning to the area prior to its official completion. Rangers confirmed that avocets and oystercatchers have already nested and bred on site, while little ringed plover chicks have been recorded for a second consecutive year.

Despite facing challenges from recent severe droughts and record-breaking heat, project teams are now looking forward to seeing the new wetlands transform over the upcoming wetter winter months.

National Trust Sandilands lies along the internationally important “East Coast Flyway” – one of Europe’s major migration routes, which thousands of birds travel each year between the Arctic and northern Europe breeding grounds and wintering areas further south.

It is also located within the Lincolnshire Coastal Country Park – a five-mile stretch of coastline, sandy beaches, dunes, grazing marshes, saltmarsh, coastal lagoons and reedbeds.

The charity said Sandilands’ addition to the country park will help create an important stepping stone for wildlife alongside the other Lincolnshire coast reserves at a time when nature faces growing climate and environmental pressures.

Katie Scott, area ranger for the National Trust at Sandilands, said: “Many of the species we’ll see at Sandilands are endangered or rare (having a red or amber conservation status), travelling thousands of miles on their extraordinary migrations, and depend on places like this to rest, feed and breed.

“Creating this new area of wetland to form a part of the coastal park will further extend the safe refuges for these birds to recharge and refuel each year, ensuring they can survive and thrive.”

Elsewhere, the National Trust said Sandilands will also provide residents living near and around Mablethorpe and Sutton-on-Sea with more access to nature, adding that the site has been designed to be accessible for people of all ages and abilities.

Work to transform the former golf course into a nature reserve included earthworks with nearly 52,000 cubic metres of earth moved – enough to fill 21 Olympic swimming pools – helping create new wetland habitats across the site, the National Trust said.

Meanwhile, more than 35,000 native coastal shrubs including sea buckthorn, gorse, goat willow and blackthorn have been planted.

And green hay sourced from a nearby Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust reserve has been spread to establish species rich grassland including wild carrot, yarrow, yellow rattle and red clover.

Visitors will be able to experience the changing rhythms of nature throughout the year, the National Trust said – be it dragonflies, bees, butterflies and avocets that echo overhead in summer or whooper swans, wigeons and brent geese in winter.

The charity said it first acquired the two-kilometre stretch of coastline in March 2020, thanks to a supporter donation alongside funding from the trust’s Neptune Coastline Campaign.

Its transformation has been supported by a £2 million investment from the Mablethorpe Towns Fund through Connected Coast, £1.5 million from National Highways and £200,000 from the UK Government Shared Prosperity Fund, delivered by East Lindsey District Council, alongside the support of local partners, community groups and volunteers.