HUNTING THE BUNTING

South Devon is the only place in britain where the Cirl Bunting breeds,last week I was lucky enough to find Prawle Point,you need a degree in navigation or a good sat nav to find it,amongst the maze of narrow steep sided country lanes.Having found the NTcar park down a long even narrower lane we set off along the coast path toward Start Point.It was not long before the first bird was heard singing but this one remained unseen .A few yards further and there he was sitting up proudly proclaiming his territory.Moving on ,as they say,and  on a hedge not a few yards away were four more and one of them was more than happy to be photographed,unfortunately against the light,but never mind.There were other birds about too, a couple of buzzards,ravens,yellowhammers and goldfinches to name a few.Back in the field near the car park some seed had been put down and another pair of birds were feasting alongside house sparrows and chaffinches.Cirl Buntings used to be much more widespread and were last recorded breeding in Kent in 1958 near Maidstone and a male bird was seen annually near St Margarets Bay in the sixties,so who knows they may return one day.