‘These birds are telling us something serious is happening’: the songbirds disappearing from Britain’s woods

The dramatic decline of marsh tits in an ancient Cambridgeshire woodland is a story repeated across the UK as human activity drives species towards extinction

Read more: World faces deathly silence' of nature as wildlife disappears, warn experts

Richard Broughton has been nosing around this neighbourhood for 22 years. He gossips about inhabitants past and present, reeling off information about their relationship status, openness to visitors, brawls and neighbourly disputes. They used to have a big punch up in spring here," he says, pointing out where one family's territory ends and the next begins.

Some areas are eerily quiet, with popular old haunts lying uninhabited. I always get a bit of a pang now, walking through here and it's empty. It's like walking down your local high street and seeing your favourite shops are closed and the pub is boarded up."