Our top reserves

Woodland walk

Matthew Roberts

Our top reserves

Our recommended reserves

The Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust manages almost 100 of the best sites for nature throughout Lincolnshire. Some of our most popular reserves also benefit from well managed public footpaths and visitor facilities including cafes, education centres and toilet facilities.

So what are you waiting for! Dip your toe into a coastal reserve or immerse yourself in a woodland walk; discover our best sites for nature across Lincolnshire.

Whisby Nature Park

Neil Roberts

Whisby Nature Park

 

Whisby Nature Park is a beautiful landscape near Lincoln with stunning lakes, walks and trails. Once barren and lifeless, this amazing place now abounds with wildlife. The park was created by quarrying for sand and gravel, but nature has reclaimed the pits and bare sand, creating habitats for many species.

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Gibraltar Point

Matthew Roberts

Gibraltar Point

 

Gibraltar Point is a dynamic stretch of unspoilt coastline running southwards from the edge of Skegness to the mouth of the Wash. The reserve impresses by its sheer scale and diversity of wildlife but to appreciate it fully you need to see it in different seasons.

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Far Ings

Emily Cunningham

Far Ings

 

There's always something to see or hear when looking out over the reedbeds of Far Ings. Whether it's the sound of the reeds as they sway in a gentle breeze, the song of hidden warblers or bearded tits, the eerie boom of a bittern, or a mass of wings as the starlings display in a murmuration over the estuary.

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Snipe Dales

Robert Enderby

Snipe Dales

 

The attractive valleys of Snipe Dales, fretted by streams, offer wonderful views of the southern Lincolnshire Wolds. The reserve is one of the few semi-natural wet valley systems still surviving in Lincolnshire and consists of mixed woodland in the Country Park and wet valleys, grassland and scrub in the nature reserve. 

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Counter Drain at Willow Tree Fen

Willow Tree Fen

 

Willow Tree Fen has been recently transformed from arable land growing beans and cereal to a more traditional fenland landscape of shallow meres, seasonally flooded pastures, hay meadows and reedbeds. The fenland attracts a large numbers of waterfowl such as wigeon, teal, mallard, and waders including lapwing, redshank and snipe.

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Donna Nook grey seal

Lesley Robb

Donna Nook

 

For much of the year grey seals at Donna Nook National Nature Reserve are at sea or hauled out on distant sandbanks. Every November and December, the seals give birth to their pups near the sand dunes: a wildlife spectacle which attracts visitors from across the UK.

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Woodhall Spa Airfield

Robert Enderby

Woodhall Spa Airfield

 

Woodhall Spa Airfield was formerly the home of four RAF squadrons, but more recently was used as a sand and gravel quarry. As a nature reserve it is now a haven for wildlife as well as a place where visitors can share in the unique and peaceful atmosphere of this former airfield.

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Sanderling

Dean Eades

Lincolnshire Coastal Country Park

 

The Lincolnshire Coastal Country Park is an initiative led by Lincolnshire County Council. It covers the area between Sandilands and Chapel St Leonards and contains wildlife-rich areas including five established nature reserves managed by Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust.

The partners in the Coastal Country Park project aim to widen the appreciation of this fantastic environment, provide high quality facilities and countryside access for people and better protection for wildlife.

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Lincolnshire through the seasons

Walking in the heart of the Lincolnshire Wolds with a buzzard soaring overhead. Enjoying the big skies of the fens whilst watching a barn owl hunt. Getting a sneak peak of a newly born grey seal along the Lincolnshire coast. Discover the best places to see seasonal wildlife in Lincolnshire throughout the year.

Seeing wildlife can’t be guaranteed but that’s part of the fun!

Spring

Top wildlife in spring

At the start of spring, wading birds begin to gather in their thousands. The largest and most impressive flocks can be seen on the highest tides of spring and autumn at Gibraltar Point. Meadows are filled with orchids and other wildflowers from early spring through to the mid-summer when they are cut for hay. They're great for butterfly spotting too. Carpets of bluebells in our woodland reserves will be a highlight of any springtime walk in countryside.

Where to see them

Gibraltar Point   Goslings Corner Wood   Rigsby Wood

Bloxholm Wood   Heath’s Meadows   Tunman Wood

More seasonal highlights

Bluebell woods   Wetland birds

Summer

Top wildlife in summer

During the summer months, our reserves really come to life. Our grassland and meadow reserves provide the perfect habitats for insects and butterflies, and the soaring song of skylarks is common in spring and summer. Marsh Harriers can be seen hunting over the reedbeds of our wetland reserves, and if you're lucky you might even catch a colourful glimpse of a kingfisher on many of Lincolnshire's wetlands and waterways.

Where to see them

Red Hill   Porter’s Lodge Meadows   Snipe Dales

Gibraltar Point   Far Ings   Whisby Nature Park

More seasonal highlights

Butterflies   Wildflower meadows

Autumn

Top wildlife in autumn

As the leaves begin to turn their autumn colours bring an air of magic to woodlands, parks and heathlands. Many fungi can be spotted whilst crunching through the leaves on a crisp autumn day. Coastal areas prepare for the arrival of many over wintering birds such as redshank, wigeon and pink-footed geese

Where to see them

Hoplands Wood   Langholme Wood   Far Ings

Legbourne Wood   Fairfield Pit   Snipe Dales

More seasonal highlights

Autumn woodlands   Fungi

Winter

Top wildlife in winter

In the winter months, colourful ducks such as teal, wigeon and shoveler arrive from northern Europe to wetland reserves. Possibly the most stunning spectacle is when grey seals come to give birth to their pups on the beaches of Donna Nook during November and December. Elsewhere on the coast, harbour porpoises may be spotted and beachcombing reveals the smaller marine creatures.

Where to see them

Far Ings   Gibraltar Point   Baston Fen

Donna Nook   Fairfield Pit   Willow Tree Fen

More seasonal highlights

Starling murmurations   Winter waders

 

Didn't find what you're looking for?

Take a look at our full list of nature reserves here, or search for a reserve near you below.

Walking

Matthew Roberts

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