A date with the birds - North East Lincolnshire Council mayor visits Grimsby's new wetland habitat

                                                                               

Scope at the ready - inside the hide with North East Lincolnshire mayor Cllr Steve Beasant (left) and Roger Wardle

THE great and the good gathered today to mark completion of creation of the new Novartis Ings wetland birds mitigation area on the outskirts of Grimsby.

This is a sister-site to Cress Marsh at nearby Stallingborough.

It will not be open to the public, but birdwatchers can peer through the railings or observe from afar on the adjacent estuary wall.

As with the Cress Marsh project, the mitigation area has been created to allow companies to develop other bird-sensitive sites on the South Bank of the Humber without the need for prior ecological consents.

To date, Cress Marsh, created a few years ago, has failed to live up to early expectations. Counts of waders and wildfowl have been modest at best.

However, there are high hopes for Novartis Ings which has a more favourable location.

Both sites were designed by Roger Wardle.

                                                               

Curlews on the wing above one of the wetland scrapes

Watch the birdie! VIPs from NELC and other organisations pose for the camera 

The Grimsby News says: Creation of a new habitat for wetland birds is to be welcomed - and it is understandable why the council has chosen  to secure it behind padlocked fencing. The authority does not want the birds to be scared by off-the-lead dogs, motor-bikes, barbecue parties or, dare it be said, over-zealous bird photographers. But, at the same time, the barrier between people and wildlife is to be regretted. It perpetuates the common notion that Nature is something 'over there' - all right in small doses just so long as it does not get in the way.