For those of us interested in wildlife and the environment these are depressing times. There are worrying declines in so many once common species. It is happening right around the world but the UK’s track record is not a good one and I suspect little will change unless there is the political will to do so. On the other hand it is easy to overlook some heart-warming developments.
Beavers became extinct in the 16c but recent re-introduction programmes have seen them re-establishing in parts of Devon. I saw them on the River Otter pre-covid and have since witnessed signs of their presence right here in our own parish. On the other hand, I have yet to see otters here in the wild.
Buzzards are now our most common bird of prey and can be seen almost daily over the village, but this has not always been the case. By the mid-1900s they had a restricted range and were rarely seen in numbers outside Wales. I still remember my first sighting over Exmoor some 40 years ago and it was not until the early 1990s that the first birds reappeared along the Sussex Downs.
Ospreys were persecuted to extinction during the 1800s, as was the case with red kites. The kites just about held on in Wales but since a major re-introduction programme some 30 years ago in the Chilterns they have made a spectacular return. Ospreys on the other hand are still having a tougher time of it and progress is still slow. It is still too early to say what will happen to the sea eagle re-introduction programme, although early signs are encouraging.
We recently spent a week in Cornwall and were delighted to have several sightings of red-billed choughs along the rugged coastline, the best of which happened at Lizard Point. Choughs almost became extinct in the early 1900s surviving in Cornwall until 1952 and on remote cliffs in Wales. There followed a very slow recovery in parts of its range until a pair returned to Cornwall in 2001 where it is now estimated that there may be as many 200 birds, although Wales still holds the major part of the population. Choughs are members of the corvid family, slightly larger than jackdaws but smaller than crows and ravens. We had seen several birds flying around – not easy to separate from the slightly smaller and more numerous jackdaws unless you are close enough to see their red bills and legs. We were blessed – at the very moment we were about to leave the area, a pair flew in and settled on a cliff top just a few yards away. I have heard rumours that choughs have arrived in Devon….
