The Skylark
This is my choice – Why? For its sheer tenacity…. To arrive in the grips of winter and nest on the frozen ground – flying high with that wonderful song – Isn’t that just an inspiration to all of us, feeling a little faint hearted
Skylarks were once common migratory birds from Europe and Africa. But their numbers have plummeted by 50 per cent in the last 20 years, mainly due to (the usual old thing) habitat degradation and change of agricultural practice…Cereal cops were commonly sown in the spring, but now 90% is winter wheat, leaving the skylark without food and habitat – luckily here in the Welsh Borders we still have some “unimproved” (strange word that) pastures left on our upland areas, which don’t offer so much food, but at least the birds can still survive
It is the male birds that sing to attract a mate, guard their territory and detract predators, such as sparrow hawks, crows and kites which wait for them to arrive in the bleak mid winter, picking them off as they fly up from their ground nests. These lovely birds have everything stacked against them, and yet they still delight us with their aerial flight displays and glorious Skylark
Immortalised in Shelley’s poem To a Skylark
Photograph by Matthew Stadlen