If the Skylark actually produce any young I will be amazed.....yet again the farmer has been out there this time to get the crop in....yet they sing on and I hope they defy the odds that this 'guardian of the countryside' has mounted against them endlessly for the past few months. It very much reminds me of the stories I read years ago about both World Wars that when the guns stopped firing, after many hours, it was the Skylark that started to sing....and im guessing that despite the odds then they still managed to produce a few juveniles.....
And yes, before anyone wants to soapbox me about farmers making money I couldnt agree more, but I think this type of behaviour is simply negligent and shows that farmers have little care and any claim to some kind of guardianship of the countryside can be cast aside without too much argument with them.
Anyway....it was warm and worth the visit.....its always worth the visit I suppose even having to witness the genocide of the Skylarks.
House Sparrow, Collared Dove, Blue Tit, Chiffchaff, Starling, Swift, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Greenfinch, Wren, Dunnock, Linnet, Woodpigeon, Herring Gull, Green Woodpecker, Crow, Blackbird, Chaffinch, Skylark, Whitethroat, Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting, Turtle Dove, Blackcap, Heron, Coot, Black Headed Gull retruning in numbers now, Great Crested Grebe, Tufted Duck, Moorhen, Mallard, Little Grebe, Magpie, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Robin, Jay, Kestrel, Stock Dove, Kingfisher
I'll not soap box you Graham, it's a bloody disgrace, the Skylarks go the same way here, very few breed around Hadlow now.
ReplyDeleteA few pairs of Lapwing were breeding this spring in a field off the A26 just along from leavers manor hotel, they were all ploughed in at the egg stage :-(
Guardians of the countryside my arse - guardians of their wallets more like!