Senior councillor's plea to Cleethorpes beach dog-walkers: Spare a thought for welfare of shorebirds!

               

The shelduck and Brent geese are too far away, so this purposeful canine targets a carrion crow

A SENIOR member of North East Lincolnshire Council today pleaded with dog-owners not to let  their pets chase birds feeding on Cleethorpes Beach.

Most of the locally-seen waders and gulls are over-wintering here after breeding in Scandinavia or further north, but their welfare is imperilled by canine disturbance.

Says NELC's environment portfolio holder, Cllr Stewart Swinburn: "Wintering birds need your help to make their stay here as restful as possible.

"Anything that disturbs the birds, such as a dog running loose or a speeding jet ski, causes them to take flight and waste valuable energy reserves.

"This means they might not make it back to the Arctic in the spring and puts their populations, which are already declining, at even greater risk."

                                              

Cllr Swinburn - birds need our help

The alert came on the same day that the authority issued a press release highlighting the importance both of the beach (for traditional bucket-and-spade tourism) and, in particular of the saltmarsh.

It states: "Like the Amazon rainforest, Cleethorpes saltmarsh is a spectacular landscape that supports a rich variety of plants, birds and other creatures.

"It also captures and stores polluting carbon dioxide - more so than an area of rainforest the same size."

NELC has also today published a fascinating " immersive story-map": 

 https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/b83954a7cc8d4a118831058e38cdd2e1- external site 

"It is vital that we look after the saltmarsh and the wildlife that inhabits it,"adds Cllr Swinburn.