31st July 2020 - Labrador Bay and Dunsford Wood, Devon

 

At the start of the year we planned our main holiday for the year, this year it was to have been Madagascar, a wonderful itinerary would have seen us turning up at Heathrow this evening for a flight to Nairobi, to connect on Saturday to Antananarivo.  In February the world changed and all those plans went up in smoke.  We needed to get away and with the easing of lockdown found a cottage just outside Okehampton in Devon.  We set off early to ensure we missed the traffic that was going to be heavy and the first stop was just outside Teignmouth, Labrador Bay, a site managed by the RSPB for one of the country's rarest breeding birds, the Cirl Bunting.

The Cirl Bunting is a small finch-like bird which is a close relative of the yellowhammer.  They were once widespread and common across much of southern England, but in recent years, they have become rare and only found in south Devon, mostly confined to coastal farmland between Plymouth and Exeter.  The loss of food sources and nesting sites had caused this dramatic decline.

During the winter, Cirl Buntings forage in weedy stubble fields, feeding on seeds and spilt grain. In the summer, they nest in hedges or scrub, and forage in unimproved grassland full of invertebrates - grasshoppers are a particularly valuable food for chicks.  As Cirl Buntings are very sedentary (they only move up to 2 km between their breeding and wintering areas), it is vital all these habitats are close to each other.

Changes in agriculture during the 20th century have made farms more productive, but these changes have meant Cirl Buntings have struggled to find food and nesting sites. Technological advances such as autumn-sown cereals replacing spring-sown varieties, more efficient machinery resulting in less spilt grain, increased fertiliser and pesticide use and hedge removal to create larger fields have all had an impact. 

A widespread trend towards specialised farms has seen farms in the west of the country converting to mainly grass and farms in the east growing arable crops. This has resulted in a reduction of mixed farms, which makes life very difficult for a species like the cirl bunting which needs both grass and arable habitats close to each other.

In Devon, small traditionally-managed coastal farms have persisted, the exposed coastal environment making spring crops a more viable option than winter cropping. This has made this area more appealing to Cirl Buntings.

In 2008 The RSPB brought land at Labrador Bay (the bay in the photo above) to make it the United Kingdoms's only Cirl Bunting reserve.  This year according to the notice board 30 pairs have bred which is a good healthy number.  

I haven't seen Cirl Bunting in the United Kingdom sine the early nineties, then it would be around the cliff tops at Wembury in south west Devon.  I have seen them in France and Portugal but I wanted to catch up with an English bird.  I was a little doubtful we would see them today, we are going into August and I wondered if they would be silent and hiding to moult.  Having been driving for two and three quarter hours a cup of tea and a stretch of the legs was the priority.  As we drank I heard the familiar song of the Cirl Bunting from the hedge around the car park.  I could just see the bird but as I went to get the camera it was gone.  A good start though.

After tea we walked onto the grassland behind the car park and walked along the track, as we passed a clump of hedge and one sang again.  Walking back Helen found it at the top of the bush,  my first English Cirl Bunting for probably 30 years!

You can see it must have been a busy breeding season, the plumage looks a little worse for wear

The head is thrown back in song just like the Corn Bunting and Yellowhammer

In spring, males have a striking black chin, eye stripe and crown and yellow stripes on head and yellow underparts. Female and juveniles look similar to yellowhammers, but have bolder head markings and streaked grey/brown rumps.

It wasn't really doing much just stationary in the bush and sing every so often.  I just took the opportunity to photograph the bird.

There was very little else about, Gatekeepers and Meadow Browns were abundant over the bramble bushes, so we decided to move on and attempt to find another south west specialty.

Our destination was Dunsford Wood, on the south east side of Dartmoor, a Devon Wildlife Trust Reserve, the trails wind alongside the River Teign.

We were not too far along the path when Helen pointed out our first Dipper.  Despite the number of people and dogs walking along the trail it appeared quite at ease.

It did though move on and we couldn't locate it.  

The water here is tinted with a brown colour like tannin, but is more likely a residue of the iron in the granite that forms the bedrock of the river.

A little further we came across another Dipper.

The classic Dipper pose on a rock with running water

It then flew down river as we walked up river and found yet another.

A characteristic activity of a perched dipper is a rapid series of bowing movements, becoming more frequent and intense when birds are agitated or during territorial disputes. 

Moving through the water hunting the water insects

There was little else about but it was a lovely walk winding through the trees with the sound of the river running over rocks and rapids.  In a quieter stretch of water in an area you would not expect to find a dipper we came across our forth of the walk, this time perched on a branch in the water and it was preening

Here you can see the white eye lid Dippers will blink rapidly, showing the white upper surface of the eyelid.  They also have a third, transparent eyelid called a 'nictitating membrane' that they can close, enabling them to see underwater.

Extensive preening to ensure the feathers are in good condition to allow the bird to hunt in the fast flowing cold water

Then some gymnastic activities

On one leg!

and more wing flapping

Walking back we came across a Dipper in a location close to where we had seen one earlier so had to assume it was one of the four we had seen

There is that white eye lid again

It had been a good start to our week in Devon, from Dunsford we made our way to Okehampton and after picking up supplies we made our way to our cottage to the north of the town alongside the Okement River.  I was hoping we would see more Dipper there and we were also told of an otter on the river too!