To KB57,
You are right, and I didn't cite the article specifically to prove that 4G is causing birds to disappear. But what it does show is that man-made frequencies are disrupting birds' ability to migrate. If you are interested in this topic, look at
www.emf-portal.org and do a search, e.g. birds + migration + EMF. There are some interesting studies of other migratory creatures, including krill.
I've had a look at the portal - thanks, there is some interesting research there. I'm not trying to denigrate your argument, as there is clearly potentially a causal link, with the mechanism being disruption to the magnetic receptor in birds. It's not the same as the correlation with stork population and birth rate! But the Nature paper doesn't just fail to support your argument, it points the finger at other causative agents, in the form of lower frequency signals from AM radio etc. It is very easy to misinterpret a scientific paper - the press are expert at it (!), even Natural England published some guidelines on effects of solar farms which quoted a paper as evidence that bats may mistake the panels for water and fly into them - when I read the paper it said nothing of the sort.
A search of the EMF-portal does turn up some interesting papers, although what seems clear is that there is considerable debate within the scientific community about the links between EMR and human health / environmental effects - it still seems a controversial area. I knew a scientist some years ago who had researched effects of EMR from high-voltage powerlines on algae, with completely inconclusive results.
With respect to bird migration, I remember speculation back in the '70s when yellow-browed warblers started to turn up more frequently in UK, that their reverse migration was due to some sort of secret Soviet weapons testing. Maybe there is a grain of truth in this, but I'm guessing Siberia probably doesn't have great 4G coverage yet.
Clearly migrating birds have to navigate through a whole lot of human-induced electromagnetic clutter, as well as brightly lit cities, communication towers etc. Bright lights are known to disorient migrating birds with potentially fatal consequences (strangely, a fact recognised more in North America than Europe), so it will be difficult to disaggregate EMR effects from light pollution.
I think I've said what I want to in the two responses above. I really really think we shouldn't be pushing on with a potentially unsafe technology which may cause damage we can never undo unless independent research demonstrates that it is safe for us and nature. I know I'm in over my head but I truly miss waking up to birdsong, and where I live there has not been any for over a year.
I agree that we should be applying the precautionary principle where new technology is concerned, as prescribed in the Birds and Habitats Directives, and it is true that the whole communications technology thing appears outside of anyone's (national Govt., EU etc.) control. Given that we're willing to (possibly!) increase our cancer risk in order to play games on our mobiles, I don't think we're in control as individuals either...
I think the slight scepticism (mixed, I must say, with interest!) that your observations have engendered comes from the fact that they aren't shared by others, such as Jos in Lithuania. For my part, my village in NE England went from having virtually no mobile phone signal to 4G last year, and I have to say if anything the garden house sparrows have increased in number, I woke up to a singing blackcap throughout the spring. These - like yours - are not quantitative observations, and can't be used to say that 4G is harmless.
Your observations could perhaps be explained by other hypotheses - for example, the large scale illegal trapping of songbirds in the Eastern Mediterranean flyway. Overexploited populations don't always just gradually decline, they can seem OK for a while and then crash. So maybe you need to find some friendly academics to help.
As others have suggested, it would be necessary to look at quantitative bird data from sites before and after 4G implementation to find correlations, while keeping an open mind about causes. This is actually something that a GIS expert, ecologist and statistician should be able to look at quite easily on an international level, provided you are able to access spatial data from mobile phone companies or governments showing extent and date of introduction of 4G.
