Bird reserve gets funding boost

A Lincolnshire nature reserve is going to be extended, thanks to a grant of almost £500,000.

The Heritage Lottery Fund has given £453,500 to the RSPB reserve at Frampton Marsh, near Boston.

The award has enabled the RSPB to buy 84 hectares of farmland next to its current nature reserve.

The mostly arable farmland will be turned into a range of freshwater habitats expected to attract a wide variety of wild birds.

These adjoining habitats will bring great benefits for wildlife, particularly for wetland birds Lewis James, RSPB

The RSPB hopes that birds such as lapwings, redshanks and wintering wildfowl will be among visitors to the area.

Lewis James, RSPB area manager for The Wash and north Norfolk said "This is a really exciting challenge for us.

"Traditional coastal grazing marshes and reedbeds have been absent from the Lincolnshire Wash area for centuries.

"The siting of freshwater wetlands next to extensive saltmarsh on the other side of the sea bank will establish a unique complex of habitats.

"These adjoining habitats will bring great benefits for wildlife, particularly for wetland birds."

Despite few visitor facilities, Frampton Marsh reserve still attracts around 9,000 people each year.