Lynton, Lynmouth and Exmoor Advertiser, April 2019

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38 APRIL 2019
LYN VALLEY WILDLIFE WATCH
Larking about in Lynton
I grew up in a city. The only birds I ever saw in our tiny back garden
were pigeons. The first time I heard about skylarks was at school
when we studied Shelley’s famous poem which seemed to me to
go on forever. It was only when I moved to live in the country
outside Bath that I understood Shelley’s passion. Climbing the hill
behind our house we reached fields used for growing various crops. And in spring they
were alive with skylarks, their song almost deafening, you heard it way before you got
there, a beautiful sound.
Research showed that their numbers – like most of our songbirds - are plummeting.
In the UK we now have only 10% of the skylarks we had 30 years ago. The main
reason is changes in farming habits with winter grown crops becoming increasingly
widespread. These small rather plain birds are ground nesters, well camouflaged to
hide away amongst the stubble where they produce 3 to 6 eggs in June. Crops grown
so early result in greenery that is too dense for the birds to use. Though farmland
birds, they do also use heathlands and dunes, but even these are becoming more
difficult to find.
So I was delighted when - walking in the valley one day last February - I heard that
excited trilling way up in an amazingly blue sky. So far up that I couldn’t see it! I gather
that’s good. The singing is the males showing off and the higher they fly, the more
complex their song, the more impressed the females will be. There were only a
couple of them, but it was a good start. And at least I knew they were in the right
place to nest and breed.
The story of the field outside Bath didn’t have a happy ending. One spring day when
the birds were a little quieter, dropping down frequently to their nests, obviously
feeding their young, the farmer decided to manure the fields. In one day he flattened
the whole area, running over nests as he did so. Many of the locals were upset,
especially as he had notices everywhere about being part of a stewardship scheme.
Complaints poured in. Excuses were made. The birds were confused, circled around,
were silent, shocked. Then they moved off. The following year a few skylarks
returned, but not many. The year after there were none. They’d gone.
Would love it if one day the valley could be as full of song as that field was. Here’s
hoping.
Jan Hunt
E-mail: wildings55@btinternet.com
advertise@lyntonadvertiser.com 01598 752788