Presenter opens lapwing reserve

There are less than 1,000 breeding pairs in Wales

A bird lover who has transformed 200 acres of his Ceredigion farm into a haven for the rare lapwing, has opened it as a nature reserve to the public.

Charles Grisedale said he had spent £50,000 on creating a suitable habitat for the ground-nesting bird at Cross Inn, near Aberaeron, since 1999.

He has turned five acres of pasture into a wetland area, built 35 small lakes and erected fox-proof fencing.

Wildlife presenter Iolo Williams said the reserve was "pretty much unique".

Mr Williams, who opened the reserve to the public on Saturday, said it was probably the only area in Wales where lapwing numbers were increasing.

"It's the only place I know where a farmer has sacrificed 200 acres to help lapwings. It's hugely commendable, and in my experience pretty much unique," he added.

It's hugely commendable BBC wildlife presenter Iolo Williams

Mr Grisedale said the lapwing was endangered, and that breeding pairs in Wales had dwindled from 15,000 in the 1960s to less than 1,000 today.

The demise of the lapwing is blamed on changing farming methods and the increase in the numbers of predators such as foxes.

A keen ornithologist since he was a boy, Mr Grisedale, 53, decided to help protect the few that were left on his land and set-up the Cambrian Lapwing Recovery Trust a few years ago.

"In 1999 there were just three breeding pairs on my land, now there are 25," he said.

He explained what fascinated him about the birds: "I find lapwings the most enthralling of birds.

"To start with, they look incredible, and they are masters of the air with their exuberant flight."

The reserve is not only a haven for lapwings, but dozens of other species including North European Wild Fowl and the rare Pectoral Sandpiper from the United States.