BirdGuides

STEPHEN MOSS is a naturalist, tour-leader and author. so. Grey partridge clings on in some parts of the county; corn bunting and turtle dove are extinct here, as is a woodland specialist, the willow tit; tree sparrows are on the way out, too. Some birds did linger long enough for me to see them. Nightingales used to serenade the spring in woods and edgelands all over Somerset; today we count ourselves lucky if we hear a single one. Cuckoos are rapidly declining, too: even on the Avalon Marshes, where there are enough reed warblers to support thousands of cuckoos, they are very few and far between. Each spring we make the pilgrimage to the Quantocks Each spring we make the pilgrimage to the Quantocks, walking up the beautiful Hodder’s Combe, in search of the ‘western oakwood trio’: wood warbler, pied flycatcher and redstart. Each year we hear – and usually see – all three. Until last spring, that is, when the formerly guaranteed wood warbler had fallen ominously silent. These summer visitors – along with other, once- common, species such as the spotted flycatcher and whinchat – overwinter in West Africa. It appears that a toxic combination of habitat loss on their wintering-grounds, the disappearance of favoured stopover sites, and the catastrophic decline of insects here in the UK, is devastating the populations of these much-loved birds. So, even here in Somerset, bird populations are in decline. I hear the same story from my friends and fellow birders around the country: capercaillies in Speyside, willow warblers in the south-east, and cuckoos, willow tits and tree sparrows almost everywhere, are all seemingly on their way out. There are some successes, of course: amongst them the rise of fulmars and gannets, and the successful return of the white-tailed eagle; but these cannot mask an overall and growing loss being racked up in the debit column of Britain’s birdlife. Birdfair has long championed the importance of bird populations in the UK and across the globe. It has drawn attention to the perils facing migratory birds along the three key global flyways, and continues to champion the cause of bird conservation at home and abroad. Yet, as we welcome the event’s return – and celebrate the continued rise in membership of organisations such as the RSPB, BTO and Wildlife Trusts – we should remember that for all the recent increases, there are as many or even more losses. This makes it even more important that every single one of us – as individuals, groups and as part of the wider environmental movement – continues to fight against the threats faced by the birds we love so much. Avalon Marshes images by Stephen Moss, bird images by David Tipling Great white egret G LOBAL B IRDFAIR 2022 j 11