Nature in the world of our children and grandchildren is already impoverished

'Looking over the columns, magazine articles, books, and local TV of the past, I find entire species mentioned in them are no longer seen.'

The yellowhammer on a branch. this bird is partially migratory, with much of the population wintering further south of here, but a flock of them were spotted in West Cork recently.

I had good news the other morning. Michael O’Brien, a West Cork neighbour, phoned to say that he’d seen a flock of yellowhammers, something neither of us have seen for years. 

Nature, in the world of my children and grown-up grandchildren, is already impoverished. The fecundity of nature in my childhood is absent absolutely. Looking over the columns, magazine articles, books, and local TV stuff I’ve written over the last 30 years, I find entire species mentioned in them are no longer seen. I cannot but grieve for my infant and yet-to-be-born grandchildren. The creatures that filled me with wonder and affection will not be there for them.