Wild Isles – Farming and Conservation in England
Did you see the incredible people farming for wildlife on the Grassland’s episode of Wild Isles? As more than 70% of our land in the UK is farmed, the biggest opportunity we have to help our grasslands is to support nature-friendly farming methods. We know that most farmers care deeply about nature, recognise the value it holds and want to make space for it to thrive. But at the moment, leaders don’t provide enough support for farmers to manage their land for nature and to balance this with the need for affordable, healthy and sustainable food. Working in partnership, farmers, volunteers and conservation charities can help bring back lost biodiversity across farmland landscapes through nature-friendly farming. Through this collaborative approach, together we’ve managed to restore threatened Cirl Bunting populations across Devon and beyond.
Photo above: Male Cirl Bunting perched on a song post by Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)
What are the RSPB doing to help?
RSPB Labrador Bay in Devon is part of a working farm grazed by cattle in the summer and sheep and Dartmoor Ponies in the winter/spring. The nature reserve was purchased in 2008 to help secure the future of the Cirl Bunting, a rare little bird whose population is almost entirely restricted to south Devon.
Eighty years ago, Cirl Buntings were widespread across southern England, but by 1989 they were down to only 118 pairs mainly confined to Devon - they had vanished from Cornwall and Somerset. These plummeting numbers were due to changes in land management practises, which made it hard for the Cirls to find food and suitable nest sites.
In 1992 the Countryside Stewardship Scheme (a Government-funded agri-environment scheme, CSS) launched a Cirl Bunting 'special project' option for farmers. This was developed Under guidance from the RSPB, and encouraged farmers to grow low input spring barley crops which, after harvest, were left as weedy stubbles until the end of March. This created a vital source of winter seed food for the Cirls.
In 1993 the RSPB employed a Cirl Bunting Project Officer in the south west, Cath Jeffs, to work directly with farmers and landowners to encourage them to provide more homes for the Cirl Buntings. By 1998 Cirl Bunting numbers increased to 450 pairs and in 2016 they hit the 1000 pair mark.
Photo above: RSPB Labrador Bay nature reserve by Rob Scott (rspb-images.com)
Following this most recent national survey, annual monitoring has been conducted by volunteers to keep an eye on the numbers and range of Cirl Bunting. Kerri Watson, RSPB Cirl Country Farmland Conservation Adviser, said: “We are so grateful to all our survey volunteers for their time spent looking for these beautiful birds, where would be without you? With threats such as climate change, development, and uncertainties around the future of agri-environmental funding, the scheme is vital for monitoring the continued success or otherwise of the species and associated wildlife such as rare arable plants”.
Devon-based RSPB Operations Director, Nick Bruce-White, said: “The Cirl Bunting Recovery Project is one of my proudest RSPB achievements. The RSPB provided the groundwork and science for the cirl recovery project, advising farmers on how to provide homes for the birds and winter feeding, but all the delivery came from Devon farmers,” Nick champions. “This really warms my heart because many people think of farming as a problem, and some practises are poor for wildlife. But farming is the solution to getting biodiversity back into the countryside - over 80% of Devon is farmed.”
Photo above: RSPB Volunteer, John White, spreading seed mix at RSPB Labrador Bay by Rob Scott (rspb-images.com)
With government support the RSPB want to help farmers shape more nature friendly, wildlife rich, and environmentally sustainable farmed countryside.
Cirls need three things to survive and thrive:
This is why RSPB Labrador Bay is so important – it provides this mixed landscape, and it is continually managed for the Cirls, with around 30 pairs breeding onsite. The RSPB maintain the landscape for the Cirls through a farming tenancy with Peter French, a passionate nature-friendly Devon farmer. And from November-April Dartmoor ponies also graze the reserve, looked after by a partnership between RSPB Volunteers and the Dartmoor Pony Heritage Trust. The ponies manage the scrub in steeper fields where a tractor couldn’t access and they’re a brilliant conservation management tool. These ponies are also browsers as well as grazers, eating the scrub, gorse, brambles, and grass - creating a rich mosaic of habitat age and structure which is suitable for the Cirl Bunting. Singing Cirls have now been recorded in one field specifically grazed by the ponies, where the habitat there had previously been unsuitable. This demonstrates that conservation grazing suits these special birds and is opening more homes for them.
Photo above: Dartmoor Ponies grazing at RSPB Labrador Bay by Rachel Aucott
For a chance to see and hear Cirl Buntings at RSPB Labrador Bay, join in a Cirl Bunting Guided Walk here.
Surveying the Cirls
Every year a growing team of volunteers come together to survey the Devon Cirl Bunting population. In 2021, Cirl Bunting were present in 58% of the squares that were surveyed and, in 2022, cirl bunting were present in 63% of the squares surveyed, 336 territories in total. We are hoping for an equally positive response this season; volunteers from previous surveys are already booking their survey tetrads for 2023 and we are hopeful that even more tetrads can be covered this season.
On the 2021 Cirl Bunting Survey, volunteers Tracy and Simon Gould, made the fantastic discovery of the very first Cirl Bunting on farmland at Shillingford Organics. Owner, Martyn Bragg, has been carefully managing this field to give Cirl Buntings a home for the past 23 years and at last they arrived. Martyn said: “Finally, after a 23 year wait, we have wonderful news with confirmed sightings of Cirl Buntings in one of our fields, surrounding hedges, and woodland. I’m over the moon that our efforts to create the right feeding ground and home for these beautiful birds, has at last paid off". Wonderful proof that if you build it, the Cirls will come…eventually.
Photo above: Adult male Cirl Bunting feeding in stubble by Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)
Tracy and Simon Gould, RSPB Cirl Bunting Survey Volunteers, said: “We signed up to carry out the RSPB survey initially for the 2sq km square containing both our home, and our local veg box grower - Shillingford Organics. We were delighted to encounter our first singing male Cirl Bunting at Martyn’s farm, announcing his presence in ‘bold as brass’ fashion, from the dip of a telegraph wire above a wide hedge line.”
Find out how you can help survey the Cirls this year, below.
What can I do to help?
If you would like to know more about the project or would like to take part in the monitoring surveys in Devon and Cornwall please visit our website: bit.ly/RSPBCirlHub
Here volunteers can select a square local to their home on the RSPB’s survey map and plan a survey route through their chosen patch along Public Rights of Way and covering the areas that Cirl Buntings are likely to make their homes. The surveys run between April-August every year.
No specialist skills are needed to take part, and there will opportunities to attend a free training event at either Labrador Bay (22nd April) near Teignmouth, St-Just-in-Roseland near Truro (6th May) Southdown near Marlborough (13th May). The Cirl Action Hub also offers guidance on how to identify cirls by sight and sound.
Photo above: RSPB Labrador Bay Nature Reserve by Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)
Don’t live in Devon or Cornwall?
Together, we have the power to make a real difference to our grasslands and their precious wildlife – as shoppers, farmers, businesses and leaders. Find out more about how buying Fair to Nature food products can help here
Want to create a mini garden grassland? We’ve lots of tips and tricks for creating wildflower meadow on our website! Create a wildflower meadow | The RSPB
Let’s pass our wild isles on to the next generation in better shape than we inherited them.
Photo above: Wild flower meadow at the end of a suburban garden by Nick Upton (rspb-images.com)