Work to encourage lapwings given £25,000 grant boost

Potteric Carr Nature Reserve, which is run by Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, said the cash would be
used for its Lapwings on Your Doorstep project, which aims to improve breeding conditions for the bird.

Workers at the site, near Doncaster, said the scheme would
also benefit a wider range of species, both common and rare, including other birds, bats and insects.

Jim Horsfall, reserves officer for Yorkshire Wildlife Trust,
said: “The habitat management work includes new grazing areas to improve the grassland, extension and enhancement of woodland habitat, hedgerow renovation and the putting up of bat boxes around the site.

“Potteric Carr is an incredibly diverse haven for wildlife, right on the edge of Doncaster – about as urban as you can get for a wildlife hotspot – and this work will only make it better.”

Mr Horsfall said grasslands at the east end of the nature reserve would be improved to provide the perfect conditions in spring for lapwing and mammals such as the brown hare.

In the part of nature reserve known as Seven Acres Carr, an area of wet woodland habitat has already been enlarged, with a mix of both dense woodland stand and open woodland.

The open woodland is packed full of possible breeding spots for the rare willow tit, the habitat is also fantastic for insects and woodpeckers which feed on
insects burrowing in the dead trees.

The lack of roosting spots for bats is also being addressed
by fixing 15 new bat boxes
across the nature reserve, so that species associated with both open water and woodland are catered for.

Cash to provide awards such as that granted to Potteric Carr comes from donations from
waste management firm Biffa Group, which offsets its donations against taxes due on landfill operations.