31.05.2026 - Outdoor Meeting : Vine House Farm

Report: Cath Robinson

​Following Nicholas Watts’ talk to the club last October this was
the follow up trip to see his farm and how he manages it for
wildlife. Eight of us met up with him in Deeping St Nicholas (just
south of Spalding) and he took us on a tour visiting 6 very
different sites.

Just a few facts from their website: Nicholas started farming on
280 acres in 1964. The family now farms 2500 acres. He reckons
he has a potential 58 breeding species.
First stop was to his reservoir which was surrounded by reedbed, scrub, some woodland and meadow which hadn’t been farmed for 20 years and was a carpet of wildflowers. This site attracted 7 species of warbler in the spring. Increasing Reed warbler numbers have attracted Cuckoos and the BTO were there recently attaching a (new, smaller) transmitter to a female cuckoo. There were 2 pairs of Common Terns nesting on a “tern” raft with the inevitable Black-Headed gulls. He has seen the numbers of Common Terns decline sharply over the years (at one time he had over 80 pairs), by Mink (now eradicated) but also by Moorhen. Hopefully the numbers may start to increase again. We
saw Peregrine and Hobby here but were surprised to the first of several Ravens, not associating them with the Fens and Nicholas said that the derelict farmhouse on the site supported a Barn Owl
nest.
Next site was a sand mound where there were maybe 60 holes excavated by nesting Sand Martins.
Each winter Nicholas would use the sand for jobs on the farm renewing the surface for the martins the following year. We went down a track past a small ditch, the end of which was overgrown with
bramble and nettle. Here we saw at least 3 Painted Lady butterflies as well as a Large Skipper and 2 nettles covered with black hairy caterpillars which we thought were probably Peacock. The value of
not being too tidy! Years ago, Nicholas had removed the good peaty soil on one of the fields and dug out some shallow pools and devoted it to wildlife. Here there were nesting Lapwing, Oystercatcher and Redshank and also Shoveller, Gadwall, Mallard , a single Wigeon, Little Egret, Sedge Warbler and Skylark. It was a real soundscape and joy to see.
From here, on request, he took us a couple of miles up the road to a Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust site called Willow Tree Fen, purchased in 2009 when an arable farm came up for sale. The plan is/was to
restore it as wet fenland with seasonally flooded pastureland. According to Nicholas, restricting public access and especially dogs has led to a massive increase in wildlife and from the viewing point
we had a great view over mixed grassland, reedbeds and fen. Oh and 2 pairs of Common Crane and 2 Marsh Harriers.
Back then to his land and we stopped by a bridge where we could view the drainage channel. Nicholas had persuaded his local Internal Drainage Board to restrict mowing and clearing of the drainage channels (initially only on his land but now further afield) to once a year and then to alternate sides. This has led to huge increases in Reed Buntings, Reed and Sedge warblers and other wildlife and he had even seen a Bittern along one channel!
Our next treat was to see Corn Buntings perched on a fence by early barley which he said they favoured. And then on to a site with 2 parallel mixed hedges the foliage of both of which had been largely eaten by 2 different moth caterpillars: Brown-tail moth and Spindle Ermine moth. Despite this it was a good site for Tree Sparrows which were nesting in a line of nestboxes, one of which Nicholas opened to reveal 5 young. 
​Although there are Muntjac there for once on a WVBS trip we didn’t see one(!) nor indeed Grey Squirrel! We did see many Hare and the Red-Legged Partridge and Pheasant were all not released birds.
But then it was time to return to the café for an excellent lunch.
What really impressed me about Nicholas was his seemingly endless energy and knowledge about his land and wildlife. He knew how many breeding birds he had, where they were, whether they were increasing or in decline and if anything new was about and where. We were very lucky to have him as our guide around his farm.