Key bird species along rivers shows worrying decline

[Dave Taylor]

Good point Ray, I hadn't considered that. 2006 was the last droughty summer wasn't it? But I gather that was nothing compared to 76 - a lot of folks still talk about it. I was just a twinkle in my fathers eye them!

Blimey Joe,.. didn't realise that you were a whipper snapper!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/17130206
Unfortunately I remember the summer of '76 for months of sweating my b*lls off in an upstairs factory wishing I was on the beach.
We lost a lot of trees that summer, mainly beech, ... but I remember many ponds completely drying out which was a disaster for amphibian tadpoles as well as the all the other inhabitants.
Waders suffered as water meadows dried out, and low river levels coupled with prolonged high temperatures also meant low dissolved oxygen levels and poor dilution of pollutants. The poor flows in the river Mole that summer were estimated to be 75% 'treated' sewage!
The local ring necked parakeet population must have loved it though.

 

[Mike Hodgkiss]

It was indeed a long hot summer in 76 , my local river very nearly dried up , many fish died . I spent that summer surrounded by hundreds of skeletons working on an archaeological excavation of a medieval cemetery , nice ...

 

[Dave Taylor]

It was indeed a long hot summer in 76 , my local river very nearly dried up , many fish died . I spent that summer surrounded by hundreds of skeletons working on an archaeological excavation of a medieval cemetery , nice ...

At least I had someone to have a chat to in the factory Mike,...
Thinking back though,.. what on earth would some of our rivers and streams be like if we suffered a repeat of 76, given the vastly increased present day demand for water?

 

[Robert Richbell]

The scale of habitat destruction is enormous, not just house building but pollution ( River Irwell the latest) and people wanting maintenance free gardens so pave, deck or plastic grass (ffs). As has been said decimation of trees and vegetation. When I was a kid there was rough ground we played in now play areas are designated manicured look pretty but are useless to wildlife. We criticise poor countries for destroying habitat yet do so ourselves without a 2nd thought. It's hard to be optimistic about the future without a massive shift in human behaviour.