SUSTAINABILITY

AROUND THE REGIONS
14
Lincolnshire
Air Weapons Range Holbeach
mallard inland of the marsh again this
year and are now in their sixth year of
the programme. The furthest ringing
recovery being Holland. Previously, it
was a hen mallard in a Siberian
catching station.
Otter seen near Holbeach © Crown
Holbeach Air Weapons Range is situated
on the west bank of the Wash in
Lincolnshire between the rivers Welland
and the Nene, though closer to the river
Nene. The range has had a new target
installed this year to complement the
existing ones. This target known as a
L.I.M.O. is a moving target range and
another that is planned for the future
will be for high-tech laser guided
weapons. There was also some ground
training in the last year which
progressed so well that the users have
shown an interest in returning.
The main concerns of the conservation
group are bird disturbance and the
habitat condition on the range
including the marine side which
includes fish stocks, breeding areas,
nursery areas, and the control of the
shell fishing. This takes place out on
the inter-tidal mudflats and creeks with
bird disturbance overlapping both the
‘mudflats’ and the vegetated green
shore. The habitat on the green shore
has to be monitored for its plant life
and is zoned into three areas, high,
middle and lower level on the marsh.
These are monitored for any invasive
species that might smother the natural
plant life of the marsh. Access to the
range outside of operations is
controlled by the tide and the use of
bridges which span the creeks near to
the sea wall. Most bridges are for the
maintenance of targets with the others
allowing safe access on and off the salt
marsh. A bridge that was damaged by
the tidal surge in December 2013 has
been repaired voluntarily by the local
wildfowling associations.
The wildfowlers are the eyes and ears
of the group as they are the main
users of the marsh on the ground.
They control the shooting of water
fowl that are on the legal quarry list
and also the areas that may be shot
over. Shooting is only permitted on
the green shore. The mudflats are a no
shooting zone. The mudflats are by far
the largest area so insuring that there
is always a quiet area were the birds
may rest and feed. The height and
time of the tide and the wind and
cloud control the habits of the
wildfowler so in learning this trade
most become very good naturalists.
Wildfowling traditionally takes place at
dawn and dusk. The wildfowling clubs
have released two hundred ringed
The common gull has two small
colonies one in front of the camp
offces and the other out off the
northern flag pole in the middle zone
on the green shore where the sea
purslane is dominant. Unfortunately
one of the colonies is shrinking due to
the invasion of couch grass as the
ground becomes increasingly dry. This
has also covered a previously important
winter feeding area for Brent geese
causing them to move further along the
foreshore in search of better grazing.
A big plus for the range is that we
suspect there has been a pair of otters
using the marsh in late January and
into February for the last two years.
They have been seen briefly, but the
problems of getting down wind and
catching them on camera are very
diffcult. However, on a recent visit to
the site the Sanctuary Editor managed
to photograph a male otter on the
outskirts of the range.
Graham Wall
Head Marsh Warden
Holbeach Wildfowlers AWR
Holbeach Conservation Group
The repaired bridge © Graham Wall
Sanctuary 44 • 2015 87