I am standing at a stunning location in the depths of the Hampshire countryside and all around is rich bird song.

The warm April sun is shining and, in the distance, I can hear chiff chaff, blackcap, robin, blackbird and overhead the first few swallow are hawking on the gentle breeze for insects. But I am here for one very special bird-the nightingale.

Not so long ago you could have visited commons or scrub woodland across much of England and seen this fantastic bird. But not so in 2018.

Hampshire is one of the few counties where nightingale can still be both heard and seen. The nightingale is the size of a small thrush; but unlike either song or mistle thrush has no spots on its chest. It has a copper brown back and tail; that glints and shines in good light conditions and an incredibly rich song.

It is undoubtedly the song that makes this bird world famous.

A stunning cacophony of rich warbles, mimicry, croaks, squeaks and whistles-interspersed with brief pauses as if it is trying to plan what to sing next. It will sometimes sing a few lines and then apparently get stuck, repeating notes over and over again-like a musician attempting perfection before standing on stage and performing a new repetoire.

Nightingale arrive from West Africa in mid-April. The males sing; the female normally croak; a bit like a grumpy toad. Once paired off the males abruptly stop singing and vanish into think cover.

By early June the female will, if left undisturbed produce one or two young. By late July they are already starting to depart and by middle of August they are making their perilous way south towards the Mediterranean and the Sahara.

As with much of our wildlife in Hampshire; Nightingales are in trouble.

From perhaps several hundred pairs as little as thirty years ago, there may be as few as twenty-five pairs left in the entire county. The reasons for their decline are complex.

Nightingale like scrubby, messy woodlands and commons-and even big gardens.

They hate things being tidied up-so thrive where there is a tangle of undergrowth, mixed with open wildflower rich meadow and woodland.

There is surprisingly little of that type of habitat left. Most site owners like to tidy things up; and as the grass gets cut, bushes removed, wildflowers displaced-the sound of the nightingale become a relic of the past.

The site I am standing at is Casbrook Common in the Test Valley. This year half the area has been bulldozed by an over-zealous site owner. Worse still I believe the owner knew exactly where he had nightingales and decided that he didn’t want a rare species on his land as it would reduce his options for the future. So three of last years nest sites have been bulldozed. And yet they are hanging on at the site, despite overwhelming odds.

And it is not just land-owning developers that are at fault. Dogs off leads in the bushes, people trying to get too close to them for photographs as well as climate change, hunting (on migration), and lack of food on route to the UK are conspiring together to ensure a very uncertain future for this wonderful bird.

So what can you do?

This year a number of us are working together to try to discover exactly how many nightingale are left in Hampshire. Why not check your local common or park? If there are some unkept scrubby areas-that’s where they will be. If you are not sure what you are listening for then go on line-where you will find lots of recordings of nightingale song and photos of the bird, so you can hear and see what you are looking for.

If you suspect you find one; let me know the grid reference and name of the place. If you can get a recording of the song without disturbing the bird then please send it to me. Often the easiest way to confirm nightingale is by song. And finally if you know you have nightingale on land near you, do encourage the owner to keep the site messy!

A tidy site will be one without nightingale-and if we lose them in the county that will be a terrible loss for nature.