Since 2017, though, bird populations around the wetlands have declined hugely. That was the year the cell-phone companies decided to provide wireless coverage to the southern beaches, which had up till then been largely left alone. Many new cell towers were erected, with panels directed at the beaches fronting the wetlands. The hotels and beach cafes all installed wi-fi. Bird and insect populations plummeted. Lots of small birds are quite capable of living near man, and many nest quite happily in nearby trees or on the roofs of houses. Swallows, house martins and sparrows all nest near man, and the presence of new buildings should not have been, in itself, a reason for these birds to disappear. In the early years, the eaves of hotels along the beaches were lined with swallow and martin nests, and sparrows nested in the roof-tiles. The semi-built, now derelict, hotel project next to the reed-beds was taken over by colonies of swallows till the new cell-towers went in. By 2019, there were no more swallows or martins nesting in any of these buildings. By 2020, a few sparrows had taken over some of the abandoned swallows’ nests. Now even the nests have crumbled away, except for one row of old swallow nests deep under the wooden eaves of one beachside hotel, which are still occupied by a few sparrows. Since 2021, when 5G came to Samos, the insects have largely vanished. Most of the other small birds that lived along these beaches, the chaffinches, goldfinches, greenfinches, serins, wagtails, yellow wagtails, stonechats, whinchats and little reed warblers, are gone. https://www.activistpost.com/2023/05/5g-emg-rf-how-to-kill-a-wetland-the-2023-spring-migration-on-samos-greece.html