The BBC report fewer of the UK’s smallest birds have been spotted this year by volunteers in the Big Garden Birdwatch, an annual survey run by the RSPB.
Long-tailed tits were down by 27% and wrens by 17% after being seen in large numbers in 2018. Last year’s very cold spell brought by the Beast from the East is thought to be a factor, as smaller birds would have been hardest hit by the blast.
House sparrows, meanwhile, are making a comeback after years in decline.
The Guardian reports the RSPB is urging the public to sign a petition to help change the law on the practice of bird netting in the UK.
We would like your help exploring the practice of netting trees so they can be removed for construction.
Across the UK there are reports of builders and developers using nets on trees to stop birds nesting so that they can be removed in order for building work to take place.
The Independent reports the head of the RSPB, Kevin Cox, has warned Britain’s National Parks are at risk of losing their protected status because human activity is wiping out so many species and areas outside the parks are often in better condition.
Cox said the UK’s farming policies are driving farmers to work in a way which is increasingly damaging the environment in supposedly protected areas
