Things to see and do at Sandilands

View of the golf course and beach at Sandilands, Lincolnshire — View of the golf course and beach at Sandilands, | © National Trust Images

Forming part of the Lincolnshire Coastal Country Park, Sandilands’ preserved coastline is the perfect place to explore nature and see more than 200 species of bird in beautiful surroundings.

Sandilands, the National Trust’s first coastal land in the midlands

Located between Sutton on Sea and Chapel St Leonards in Lincolnshire, Sandilands, a former golf course, is the National Trust’s first coastal land in the Midlands. By protecting the area’s natural beauty and wildlife, Sandilands will be preserved as a year-round destination to discover nature. It is already happening now!

Birds at Sandilands and around the Lincolnshire Coastal Country Park

According to a tally taken by Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust's Coast and The Wash Assistant Warden, Richard Doan, 217 bird species were seen in the area from Chapel North Sea Observatory to Sandilands over a year.

To put this into perspective, very few areas within the county (or country) manage to record more than 200 bird species over one year. Gibraltar Point is the only exception to this within Lincolnshire, which records on average 220-230 species per year. 

In 2020 the area hosted three national rarities: great snipe at  Sandilands, Caspian tern and little bittern again at nearby Huttoft Pit. These species require submission forms to be sent to the British Birds Rarity Committee (BBRC) for confirmation.

Whooper swan in flight at Lower Newton — Whooper swan in Northumberland | © National Trust Images/Derek Hatton

Breeding bird species at Sandilands

In addition to these, three breeding species specially protected under the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 can be seen here.

Two breeding pairs of marsh harrier at Anderby Creek and Chapel Pit fledged four chicks between them. Barn owls have been seen breeding around Huttoft and over 10 breeding pairs of Cetti’s warbler have been spotted across the site. The Cetti’s warbler breeding density is possibly the highest in Lincolnshire.

Add to this: wintering roosts of red-throated Diver (of national importance), roosting starlings (peaking at 120,000 birds at Chapel Six Marshes), herd of whooper swans and numerous skeins of pink-footed geese. Spectacular migration spectacles of thousands of passerines, waders and seabirds during the spring and summer.