Wildlife Beside The Louth Canal

Thanks to the river Lud and the Louth Navigation Canal, there is a corridor running through the town where wildlife can thrive. This goes some way towards preventing islandisation, which can be damaging to certain species. Islandisation is the process whereby certain species are cut off from each other and from new habitats in small, isolated pockets of wilderness. These species may not be able to survive because there are too few individuals in each "island" for a viable population, or because they exhaust their food supplies.

By connecting up some of these isolated areas of wildlife, the canal and its banks provide a vital habitat for birds, insects, and small mammals.

There are always plenty of ducks and moorhens. Swans were reintroduced to the canal around Alvingham some years ago. If you are lucky you will usually see one of these birds in the vicinity of the canal as it flows through Louth.

There are fish in the canal, although they may be quite hard to spot. Watch out for sticklebacks and perch.