Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust makes appeal to dog walkers
Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust is appealing to dog walkers to keep their pets on a lead in restricted areas along the Lincolnshire coast to protect the wildlife.
The appeal comes in the breeding season and after an incident in the autumn last year where two loose dogs chased and killed a Sanderling on the beach.
Gibraltar Point National Nature Reserve, managed by Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, is one of the most important sites in Europe for waterbirds while they are refuelling on migration from their Arctic nesting grounds to wintering grounds in the tropics or spending the winter in the UK.
The area is also important for Common Seals with pups born during the summer months, while grey seal pups can be encountered on the beach in the early part of the winter.
Kev Wilson, Coastal Officer with Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, told Lincolnshire World: “Most responsible dog walkers keep their dogs on the lead around the main reserve where ground-nesting birds such as Skylarks, Meadow Pipits, and Reed Buntings may only be metres of the path but many do not understand the importance and sensitivity of the beach areas.
“On the upper beach, Ringed Plovers may be nesting on the shingle, whilst on the intertidal stretches wading birds will be feeding on small worms and cockles in the mud and sand flats.”
Dogs are only allowed on some of the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust’s larger reserves provided they are kept on a short lead, including Gibraltar Point, Snipe Dales Country Park, and Whisby Nature Park.
