NEW PUBLICITY CAMPAIGN IDENTIFIES CLEETHORPES AS BIRDWATCHING HOTSPOT

CLEETHORPES is being promoted as the latest destination for eco-tourism - particularly birdwatching.

It is featured in The Coastal Bird Trail - a new leaflet and online publication that was launched on Friday at the three-day Global Birdfair being held at the county showground near Oakham in Rutland.

Although the Lincolnshire Coast does not boast breeding populations of iconic species, such as puffins, ospreys or choughs, its beaches are a magnet for huge numbers of wading birds, such as redshank, curlew and sanderling, in autumn and winter.  

Cleethorpes, especially on the fringes of the saltmarsh and on its buckthorn-rich foreshore nature reserve, also attracts many migrating and breeding songbirds.

Also on the coastal trail are:

* Alkborough Flats

* Donna Nook

* Coastal Country Park

* Gibraltar Point

* Freiston Shore

* Frampton Marsh

The new tourism initiative is a joint venture by VisitLincolnshire.com and the Lincolnshire Bird Club, with support from conservation organisations such as Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust and Natural England.

                                               

Phil Espin - putting Lincolnshire on the birdwatching map 

An illustrated  half-hour talk highlighting the county coast's rich birdlife was given on Saturday by Phil Espin, Louth-based chairman of Lincolnshire Bird Club.     

The trail can be explored online at:

www.visitlincolnshire.com/birdwatching 

                                                                 

Birders check the Humberston Fitties pools following the sighting of a rare white-rumped sandpiper