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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Helena Horton Environment reporter

‘All the birdsong in the world in one sound’: England’s nightingale haven at risk from planning bill

A dense forest with trees in full summer bloom.
Lodge Hill in Kent is uniquely attractive to nightingales, which have declined by 90% in the UK in the past 50 years. Photograph: Martin Godwin/The Guardian

Nightingales don’t sing much during the daytime. So when their clear, pure voices rang out from some brambles in Kent on a late spring morning, it felt as if they were campaigning for their home.

Their music has charmed writers from Keats to Oscar Wilde. But over the decades, the little brown bird has had its habitat gradually hacked away because the thick brambles it likes to nest in have little use for humans.

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