蜜芽传媒

When Brett Westwood began a wildlife diary aged 15, little did he think that he'd still be writing notes, nearly 40 years later about the same local patch in North Worcestershire.

In this series Brett returns, diaries in hand, to five different habitats in his local patch and compares notes from the past with the landscape and wildlife of today.

There are genuine shocks and revelations.

Brett visits an area of arable and pasture land where corn buntings sang their crackly songs, grey partridges creaked in spring dusks and the pee-wit cries of lapwing were regular sounds.

But intensive farming in this area has had a huge effect on how the land is managed, resulting in the loss of hedges, use of pesticides, loss of winter stubble. All these changes have impacted on the insects, shelter and nesting sites for wildlife.

Wildlife Sound Recordist: Chris Watson

Producer: Sarah Blunt

First broadcast on 蜜芽传媒 Radio 4 in January 2015.