The Lincolnshire Bird Club

Today at St James Church House I took part in a meeting with the Rector, Canon Stephen Holdaway, Church Warden Robert Haynes and Bob Sheppard, our Lincolnshire bird of prey expert. It was amicable and positive. Bob outlined the biology and the legal framework and the church representatives informed us of the difficulties they face through loss of goodwill from visitors who may have travelled a long way to enjoy the panorama from this, the highest parish church in the country and the consequent loss of income.

The outcome is that St James has agreed to close the tower if the birds show evidence of breeding. The tower is closed, in any case, until 5th April by which time we should know either way. If breeding occurs then they will close the tower until the chicks are well established and then permit limited access. Furthermore, Robert Haynes has agreed to sponsor a web-cam. Now we, the birding community, will also need to demonstrate goodwill and help the church to redeem the lost income stream should the tower need to be closed.

I’ll keep members informed about developments and how they may be able to help, but for the present this is very good news and I’d like to thank Stephen and Robert for their understanding in this matter and Bob for travelling up from Bourne at very short notice.

John

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Lincolnshire Birds https://www.flickr.com/photos/120340949 ... 8078912016
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Contact: recorder_north@lincsbirdclub.co.uk

Excellent news indeed!

Very well done John.

Roy

Hear hear! Most problems can be resolved by dialogue and this is a good example. Hopefully, should breeding occur, Peregrines at St James' will generate income from the birding fraternity.

Well done to all concerned. The peregrines have been around for over 2 years now and I'm still waiting for one to fly low enough to count it as a garden tick. May be in with a chance now.

Geoff

gggggreat stuff lads it just shows what can be achieved by sensible reasonable caring people as apposed to the cormorant incident, well done to all concerned
terry whalin

Excellent result, well done John, the powers of persuasion!

Good outcome John. Lets hope they are as successful.

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Regards,

Andy.

A good result thanks to Bob and John. It just shows what good diplomacy can achieve. Some of the comments previously passed on to the church and baseless threats of legal action probably had not helped. It was important to have the Church ‘on-side’ here as basically there is nowhere on the church to nest except on the nesting tray provided by Bob Sheppard early in 2008, and the church has no legal obligation to maintain this and could dismantle it at any time (as long as it was prior to any breeding attempt). As Peregrines have never nested here, the site has no protection in law.

Let us hope that the Peregrines appreciate all this effort and use the platform, and that the Church recoups lost revenue from appreciative birders.

Alan

well done john @ the others you helped to stop the church from distroing the nest site the papers will be reporting good news we hope knot bad news thats good for all use birds loves in louth @ in the club as well .hope for some photos soon john lusby

Good for you John. Well done. You always were a sweet talker. Cheers. Rick

Ditto

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Regards
Dean Eades



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As well as being a cool dude John is a great ambassador for the local birds and has done a great service with the Peregrines, working regularly in the Louth area I look forward to seeing this spectacular creature breeding. This topic seems to have been of interest to the local media here is a link to one such example. http://www.thisisgrimsby.co.uk/louth/news/Birds-prey-roost-church/article-1822818-detail/article.html

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www.nickclayton.net
www.nickclayton.co.uk

Thanks for your kind and accurate comments. Most thanks are due to Bob Sheppard and the St James church people. let's just hope that the Peregrines now do their bit!

It seems to be true what they say about bad news. Alan Ball's thread - Louth Peregrines - disappointing news has had 1249 hits at the time of wring whilst this good news story has had a mere 751!

John

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Lincolnshire Birds https://www.flickr.com/photos/120340949 ... 8078912016
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Contact: recorder_north@lincsbirdclub.co.uk