Richard Williamson's Country Life Column January 5 2006
Common breeding birds of the countryside, particularly on farmland, have been decreasing now for a quarter of a century.
Twenty common species of farmland are down to 55 per cent of their number, while in woodland they are also on a slippery slope of decline to 80 per cent.
But all is not doom and gloom, for during the same period most raptor ( day-flying birds of prey) have gone up and so too have wintering water birds.
See West Sussex Gazette, January 5, for remainder of this feature.