World environment day

As it is 'World Environment Day' today, I would like to add some observations of my own, apart from those I made in the post a couple of days ago about plastics.

I have already commented on the lack of water in the forest compared to previous years and the demise of the tadpoles but today I became aware of other strange things. I lived here from 2006 - 2012 and in that time I frequently heard and saw buzzards, usually soaring on the thermals. They could be seen most days circling high in the sky. I even once surprised one on a path I was walking. I think I also saw red kites on occasions. Since March 2018 I have not heard or seen a single buzzard. 

In those earlier years in Spring there was also an explosion of butterflies every year without fail. Usually each year produced an abundance of a certain type, so that one year it might have been a good year for tortoiseshell butterflies and the next another species. Since March 2018 all I have seen in all that time is one tortoiseshell butterfly, which I photographed and a couple of meadow browns. I am beginning to wonder about this as here we are at an altitude of 750 meters in the heart of a forest and one would think far away from any pollution. 

Even down in the Kurpark 300 meters below, where there is an abundance of wild flowers, all I have seen so far are a few small blue butterflies. When I first arrived in 2006 there were squirrels everywhere for the first few years but then I noticed that around 2008 or 2009 I rarely saw any. Apart from the three squirrels I saw recently while trying out the hide I came across, I have only seen one other since March.

I spend 2-3 hours in the forest everyday taking photographs so I am wondering what could be causing this decline in these different areas of wildlife.

It's not like we are having unusual weather. It's been sunny and warm sometimes almost reaching 30C. There have been the usual thunderstorms bringing regular rain.

Well if anyone has any ideas why there is a lack of this wildlife I would love to hear from you. On the plus side I have seen more woodpeckers than previously, if that is any consolation ...

World environment day 5th June