A
t Sandwich Bay bird observatory on the east Kent coast, almost all migrants are veritably welcomed. The observatory, founded in 1952, was one of the country’s first bird-ringing stations, and in 2019 the rare dainty damselfly was spotted there — the first sighting on the UK mainland in 60 years.
There are 21 observatories around the UK and Ireland, originally established to monitor the routes of migratory birds coming from the south in the summer and from the north in the winter. In more recent times they have focused attention on the declining numbers of our native and migrating species.
It is not all bad news, however. Through careful observation and land management, such as that seen at the Knepp Estate, some species can
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