Tales from the Riverbank: Is it bye bye birdie? ask Grantham Rivercare co-leaders David Martin and Ian Simmons

One of the many benefits of ‘river caring’ is the opportunity it gives us to get closer to Nature, write David Martin and Ian Simmons of Grantham Rivercare.

The river banks, trees and hedges make for a pleasant backdrop while litter picking, keeping things as we feel they should be.

Something that has crept up on us over the last few months is the realisation that the bird song we have become so accustomed to has, to all intents and purposes, vanished.

This is hugely worrying.

The numbers of ‘common’ birds has declined dramatically to a point where, even on a stroll around what should be a biodiverse Wyndham Park and the adjacent Commemorative Orchard, you will be lucky to hear anything break the silence.

Indeed, the number of wild birds has fallen by 73 million since 1970. Many of these are rural species. Their decline is attributed to changes in agricultural practices and the subsequent habitat loss.

The recent adoption by some farmers of regenerative farming offers hope to all species. A great example of this is Wild Ken Hill in Norfolk, often featured on the BBC’s seasonal ‘watch’ programmes. Locally, some 1,500 acres are to be ‘re-wilded’ as part of the ‘Boothby Wildland’ project in Boothby Pagnell.

Our volunteers have, over the last five years, planted hedgerow plants around the perimeter of Wyndham Park (off Sandon Road). This, coupled with the widening of the hedgerow margins, will provide more cover and encourage small mammals, birds and invertebrates to thrive.

However, if recent experience is anything to go by, Nature may need more help.

SKDC declared a climate emergency in 2019 and, following recent (2023) consultation with the public (which received only 176 responses), they will be recommending a strategy and plan for the coming years in an attempt to meet their climate change goals by 2030. They have been asked to include a biodiversity emergency element in an attempt to give wildlife a fighting chance. One question they need to answer is why it has taken four years to get this far?

A beacon of hope are what are known as ‘ark sites’, where wildlife is given a chance to breed, grow and spread. Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust are doing some great work across the county. Other examples of marine conservation zones show that, when left alone, Nature can and will recover.

In the meantime, we all need to keep a careful watch on our patch, encourage Nature into the town and recognise that without birdsong and everything that supports it, the world is a duller place.