Donna Nook is a bombing range on the coast of Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, north of the village of North Somercotes

North Somercotes

North Somercotes is a large coastal village with a population of approximately 1800 people, located in the Marshes area of Lincolnshire, England.- General :...

. The area is salt marsh

Salt marsh

A salt marsh is an environment in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and salt water or brackish water, it is dominated by dense stands of halophytic plants such as herbs, grasses, or low shrubs. These plants are terrestrial in origin and are essential to the stability of the salt marsh...

, and is used by a number of Royal Air Force

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

 bases in Lincolnshire for bombing practice. The site was also made available to commercial organisations such as BMARC

BMARC

BMARC was a UK-based firm designing and producing defence products, particularly aircraft cannon and naval anti-aircraft cannon...

 for firing tests. Wildlife seem to have become accustomed to regular aircraft bombing.

The coastline is managed by the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust

Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust

The Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust is a wildlife trust covering the whole ceremonial county of Lincolnshire England...

 as a nature reserve

Nature reserve

A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...

. The Grey Seal

Grey Seal

The grey seal is found on both shores of the North Atlantic Ocean. It is a large seal of the family Phocidae or "true seals". It is the only species classified in the genus Halichoerus...

population return to breed from October to December every year. In 2007, the seal colony had its best breeding season on record, with about 1,194 pups born to the 3,500 resident grey seal colony. A controversial double wooden fence was erected in 2007 to stop people touching the new born pups.

The reserve, staffed by volunteer wardens, is accessible to the public. Media coverage of Donna Nook has led to a big increase in visitor numbers; it was visited by about 43,000 people in 2006. Surplus money collected through sales is used to further support the protection of seals.

External links

• Information on RAF Donna Nook
• L.W.T. nature reserve
• BBC webcam looking at the seals at Donna Nook This camera hasn't worked since 2009
• Grey Seals at Donna Nook