Messingham Sand Quarry

Also within

Lincolnshire County

Condition (Natural England)

Geology & landscape

Mining / Industrial: Quarry

Birds & fish recorded

Birds

Description

Area, 49.9 hectares 123.3 ac Description Messingham Sand Quarry is a mosaic of habitats of an area initially worked to exploit the covers and deposits, but recently managed to create open water, wetland and woodland, with some re establishment of the natural heathland vegetation. The site is particularly important for its insect fauna and also supports a diverse breeding bird community. Much of the site is occupied by open water flooded sand workings and associated fringing stands of reed Phragmites australis and reed mace Typha latifolia. The wetland plants include, most notably, pillwort Pilularia globulifera, a plant of local and decreasing distribution in great Britain. On the restored land both broadleaved and coniferous woodland has been planted. In more open areas, grassland and heathland communities are developing. The latter contain species such as heather Calluna vulgaris, petty whin Genista anglica, wood sage Teucrium scorodonia and heath dog violet Viola canina characteristic of the covers and heathlands once widespread in this area. Thirteen species of dragonfly have been confirmed breeding which constitutes an outstanding assemblage at this latitude. The very rare scarce vapourer moth Orgyia recens occurs and this site may represent the strongest population of this species in the British Isles. Numerous other nationally or locally rare moths, beetles and bugs have been recorded. Over 140 species of birds have been recorded on the site, of which about 60 are known to have bred regularly, including great crested grebe, teal, shoveler, tufted duck, ringed and little ringed plover, nightingale and a colony of about 25 pairs of reed warbler. Other Information Much of this site is managed as a nature reserve by the Lincolnshire and South Humberside Trust for Nature Conservation.

Species mentioned

Insects to look out for

These moths, butterflies and beetles are known to feed on plants recorded at this site, and carry a notable UK conservation status — but a host-plant being present doesn't mean the insect has actually been recorded here. Treat this as "worth watching for," not a confirmed sighting.

Host-plant data: Cook et al. (2025), Traits data for the butterflies and macro-moths of Great Britain and Ireland, 2024, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology / Butterfly Conservation; and Padovani et al. (2020), Database of Insects and their Food Plants (DBIF), UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (both Open Government Licence). Contains data supplied by UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology.