It's fingers crossed that the 'crex crex' call of Corncrakes will once again be heard in a corner of Lincolnshire

                                                       

Corncrake and chicks as depicted in John Gould's The Birds of Great Britain (1873)

IT is probably many years since Corncrakes bred in Lincolnshire, but could the species make a welcome comeback at a proposed new wetland habitat in the county?

The Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust has been given the planning green light to transform 55 hectares (136 acres) of fallow, low-grade grazing land  off Spalding Road, Bourne, to a nature reserve.

And the species it is particularly keen to encourage have been identified by the trust's Norfolk-based partner consultancy, Wild Frontier Ecology,  as:

* Corncrake

* Bittern

* Marsh Harrier

* Crane

* Bearded Tit

* Garganey

* Teal

Other uncommon creatures earmarked for encouragement at 'Bourne North Fen Nature Reserve' include Otter, Water Vole, European Eel, King Diving Beetle, Hairy Dragonfly and Ruddy Darter.

The stated intention of the project is to "restore historic shallow wetland habitats and groundwater tables in order to replicate reedy meres and creeks characteristic of fenland before the widespread drainage activities that took place between the 1600s and 1950". 

LWT submitted its planning application  in June two years ago,

but because of the requirement for extensive consultation with both statutory organisation, such as Anglian Water and the Environment Agency, plus interested Trust members and local residents it was not until September 26 this year that consent was finally granted.

The EA had initially objected because it feared potential flooding issues, but it withdrew its objection after receiving assurances that these could be addressed.   

As conditions of granting consent, the local authority, South Kesteven Council, has asked for confirmation on the following:

* An assessment of visitor numbers 

* Details of access and parking arrangements

* Details of the areas of the site  to be made accessible to the public

* An assessment of any impacts on neighbouring amenity resulting from visitor access to the site

The trust's responses are likely to be brief because, though there may be occasional 'open days', it has indicated it  is unlikely to grant any public access to the site for fear of disturbance to the species that the trust seeks to encourage.

No figures have been revealed about the likely cost of  the project, but a job will be created for a site manager with occasional freelance support from 'suitably qualified ecologists'.

Aspirations for restoration of Corncrakes to Lincolnshire coincide with a more intensive initiative in  North Yorkshire whereby some 148 captive-bred birds have this summer been released at sites in the Lower Derwent Valley.

                                     

Low-grade gazing land - part of the site earmarked to become a wetland reserve 

The Wryneck says: The Lincolnshire wetlands project is to be welcomed, but will the proposed transformation bring adverse consequences at Bourne North Fen for other struggling farmland bird species such as Skylarks, Yellowhammers and Corn Buntings? Is there a risk of robbing Peter to pay Paul? Hopefully not, but it would  be enlightening if the LWT could  publish its survey (presumably such a document exists)  of the birds and wildlife that currently dwell on the site. The 'before' and after 'comparison' would certainly be revealing.