Massive fall in UK woodland birds
June 30th, 2009 | by Nick |

Woodland birds in Britain have suffered a massive decline in the last 30 years, with nightingales falling by 95%, and seventeen other bird species declining significantly. Starlings, linnets, bullfinches and willow warblers all crashed, while 12 species, including blackcaps, magpies and collared doves, rose in number. The figures were released by the British Trust for Ornithology which gathered data on 49 species between 1967 and 1999. ” Although the survey ended in 1999, the data provides the longest and most up-to-date trends anywhere in the UK or Europe for how the composition of woodland bird species has changed in modern times. ” Despite this, I wonder how much will have changed in the last ten years.
BBC
The oldest osprey of the UK – and probably the world – has returned to her eyrie in the Scottish highlands. When she left for West Africa at the end of last summer, no one expected her to return. At 26 she’s lived 3 times longer than most female ospreys. In her life she’s laid 58 eggs and hatched 48 chicks, a massive individual contribution to the survival of ospreys in Scotland, where there are still only about 200 breeding pairs. The questions now are if her mate will return and if she is still fertile. Events can be followed on the 
Otters, water voles and fish are all benefitting from the improved quality of the UK’s waterways, now described as the cleanest since the industrial revolution. Since almost disappearing from the wild in the 1970s, otters are thriving, particularly in the south west of England, Cumbria and Northumberland. The population of water voles, highly precarious in the 1990s, is also beginning to recover. The good results of stricter pollution controls and extensive conservation work are set to continue in the new year with the introduction of new European water quality directives.











