Warbler on the comeback trail

A BRITISH bird has made a dramatic comeback after being close to extinction.

The RSPB has just recorded 183 pairs of Dartford warblers – the highest number ever – up from only ten pairs in the 1960s.

The bird, which thrives in dense gorse on lowland heathland, is sensitive to the cold and was nearly wiped out by the ‘Big Freeze’ winter of 1962/63 when temperatures fell to -22.2C (-8F). But milder winters and efforts to restore heathland have seen it fare better. Thirty-seven pairs were spotted at RSPB Minsmere on the Suffolk coast last year, up from 23 pairs in 2019. Eighty per cent of UK heathland, which supports a wide range of wildlife from birds to amphibians, has been lost since the 19th century as a result of land-use change.