SAD FAREWELL TO A CLEETHORPES SONG THRUSH

The Cleethorpes thrush whose cheerful notes are being heard no more

WHAT is believed to have been the last singing song thrush in the Croft Baker ward of Cleethorpes is presumed dead.

For most of February and the first half of March, the bird  had been a singing star in its chosen territory - the gardens of  Sherburn Street, Highgate, Lindsey Road and Parker Street.

Perched high on its favourite trees, its clear, cheerful  notes had dominated the dawn chorus, and it sang for most of the day, pausing only to feed on worms and insects on the lawns below.

But since Monday, there has been no sight nor sound of it.

It is thought the bird may have fallen victim to a cat or some other predator - perhaps a  passing sparrowhawk.

As elsewhere in the UK, loss of hedges and other habitat - resulting from ill-considered planning consents - has resulted in a steep decline in North East Lincolnshire's thrush population.

A few pairs perhaps  still  nest  in  the grounds of Grimsby Crematorium, Cleethorpes Country Park, plus villages and leafier parts of the borough, but it has now almost certainly been lost to most of the wards in Grimsby and Cleethorpes.