MOST wives would be a bit miffed if their husband went looking for birds on Valentine’s Day.

But the RSPB has put out a call this week for volunteers to take a “romantic” bird watching date together.

The charity wants 100 people – or 50 couples – to help it survey Oxfordshire’s wading birds in their secret hideaways.

Wetland species like lapwings, curlews, red shanks and snipe have been in dramatic decline over the past decade and the RSPB carries out a county-wide survey once every five years to monitor numbers.

Member Rob Lamb and wife Catherine will lead surveys on a secluded stretch of the River Windrush just outside Burford in April, May and June.

He said: “It is really terrific to be out in the late evening as the sun is going down, when no one else is around.

“It’s often quite beautiful, as dusk falls and you hear the cries of these beautiful birds.”

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The 71-year-old writer and painter said he gets an “immense satisfaction” exploring Oxfordshire’s hidden wetlands for the survey.

He said: “These birds appreciate the wilder places, they have a romance of their own. They have wild calls and very secretive ways.

“If you take away these places we will lose these very beautiful creatures.”

Mr and Mrs Lamb, who live near Chipping Norton, regularly go bird watching together.

Mr Lamb added: “You’re not just carrying out your hobby, you’re collecting facts and figures which join with everyone else’s to form this wonderful, massive database so we know what to look for and how to try and save these wonderful creatures.”

Wading birds are threatened largely because of habitat loss like drainage of wetland, he said.

Survey co-ordinator Charlotte Kinnear said: “The importance is that we’re repeating the survey we did 10 years ago.

“It’s the longer-term surveys which are really important and it’s great for Oxfordshire.

“We have these wonderful reserves in Oxfordshire and farms doing work, and the waders benefit.”

A volunteer training event will be held on Saturday, March 7, at Horton-cum-Studley village hall.

To volunteer email anna.broszkiewicz@rspb.org.uk or call 07736 722184.

Factfile

ACROSS England and Wales between 1982 and 2002, Northern Lapwing populations fell by 38 per cent, the common snipe by 61 per cent, the Eurasian Curlew by 40 per cent and the Common Redshank by 29 per cent.

The RSPB launched its Upper Thames Wading Bird Survey in 2005 to monitor how well populations were doing.

It surveys 100 sites on the Thames, Windrush, Cherwell, Thame and Ock across Oxfordshire, and in Gloucestershire where the Thames and Windrush have their sources.

In 2010, the survey found 103 breeding pairs of lapwings, 40 pairs of curlew, 22 of redshank and just 10 pairs of snipe.

All except the snipe had decreased since 2005, and the snipe by just two pairs.

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