Bird lovers flock to Berkeley Square as nightingales return

Artists and musicians swoop to save one of UK's most celebrated but endangered birds

Just as Vera Lynn sang, the voices of nightingales are again being heard in Berkeley Square in central London over the hum of traffic and din of construction work.

The nightingale has virtually disappeared from Britain over the past 50 years, its population plummeting by 93% to fewer than 5,500 pairs. But now a chorus of nightingale events are being arranged by artists, musicians and filmmakers to raise awareness of the plight of one of the country's most celebrated but endangered birds.