The Arctic blast that has given the last days of winter such a chill will eventually relent. Spring is really just around the corner and when, eventually, the countryside is clothed in green our thoughts will turn to the flood of summer migrants. One, in particular, is a bird of imagination as its rich song punctuates the dark hours – nightingales will return to the South of England in just a few short weeks.
In North Kent, still gripped with snow and ice, Lodge Hill awaits them. Generations of nightingales have come and gone from a place that is now one of the most important sites for them in the UK – to them Lodge Hill simply provides the right conditions for them to sing, and pair and raise their young.
The future of Lodge Hill to the nightingales is a matter of life of death, but that future is not safe. Proposed housing threatens their home and has put Lodge Hill at the centre of a battle to protect it (here's some background). The RSPB’s Chief Executive, Mike Clarke, knows Lodge Hill and is acutely aware that it’s not just the nightingales and their nesting habitat that is at risk – this case highlights the need for a strong independent statutory champion for nature, a role held by Natural England, but for how long?
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