The work of the RSPB in South West England

By Tony Whitehead – 9^th October

Tony can always be relied upon to provide an interesting and informative talk, and this one was no exception.

He began by reminding us that the Marine Bill was coming up for discussion imminently and as no marine protection currently exists in UK waters we needed to send our voting cards in as soon as possible.

He then went on to discuss the various projects in progress around the South West, beginning with the Choughs on the Lizard in Cornwall - 2 pairs bred this last summer raising 9 chicks. The birds are spreading out well over the area, and although there are currently more males than females, their progress is encouraging.

Greylake. This reserve was purchased 2 years ago with assistance from Heritage Lottery Funding, and habitat improvement has brought in breeding waders, including 9 pairs of redshank and 10 - 12 pairs of snipe.

Ham Wall. A vast reed bed has been created from 4,000 years worth of old peat workings which clearly showed layers of clay and peat built up over decades. The newly improved wetland now has breeding bearded tits, amongst other species. Bittern winter, but are not breeding yet, although there are hopes this will occur in the future. Ham Wall is the best place to see hobbies in the summer, sometimes as many as 40 birds are observed circling overhead. The reserve has had great success with the production of its reed compost, this was available free at first, but now it is sold to the visiting public. Ham Wall has also had an excellent year with its Schools work; over 2,500 children have visited during the academic year.

Cirl Buntings. This species has now been found at Little Haldon. The name 'cirl' means 'chirp' possibly relating to their winter high pitched 'seep' call. The birds form flocks in winter. George Montague described the presence of Cirl Buntings in the UK from early 1800, there are no records of them prior to this date - how did they come here? In 1989 there were fewer than 120 in South Devon - the loss of mixed farms and winter stubbles is blamed for the dramatic contraction of the species during the period 1968 - 89, then in 1989 the introduction of 'set aside' created fallow land which halted the decline. The RSPB has been trying to understand their ecology - and working with farmers and Defra to put measures in place to help the cirl bunting. Farmers are paid for their loss of profit in this countryside stewardship scheme. The skill of researchers in raising the profile of the cirl bunting during the period 1995 - 2000 has been a great success and more and more farmers are now involved. Winter stubbles are essential for winter food supplies and in the summer rich grassland provides invertebrates for feeding the young. Hedges and scrub provide nesting sites and farmers are paid to leave stubbles over winter (wheat doesn't grow well there anyway).

The cirl bunting population was estimated at 700 pairs in 2003 and has grown at a rate of about 100 pairs per year over recent years. There are still some issues, this is a sedentary bird and it is not spreading out to new areas. Therefore a translocation project has been commenced, and birds have now successfully bred in Cornwall. It is however a bird whose nests are incredibly hard to find. Research continues across southern England.

Tony mentioned that development plans for parts of Teignbridge and Torquay are causing concern and asked us to help RSPB in objecting to these.

Liz Saunders