Over the past couple of weeks we have been working at Labrador Bay to remove a large area of scrub in one of the fields to open up the grassland. Cirl Buntings are residents of much of southern mainland Europe and some select areas of the south of England. The species is not currently endangered however their range within the UK has reduced significantly due to changes in agricultural practices since the early to mid nineties. Cirl Buntings used to be present in many more places in England, as far north as North Wales, and the RSPB is working towards restoring their shrinking range. A reintroduction of Cirls in Cornwall began by the RSPB in 2006 and has proved to be successful, with the target of 40 breeding pairs by 2012 achieved. The work on the reserves here is part of the ongoing effort to support and increase the population and range in England.
The scrub removal work at Labrador Bay benefits Cirl Buntings as their habitat consists of tall hedgerows and trees bordering small areas of open land. The field at Labrador Bay was previously mature woodland, which has now been cleared through the middle of the field. Scrub still comes back so we are working to continue its removal until the land regenerates into grassland. Within the scrub, some Buddleia has also grown back. Although this is known as a plant that is good for butterflies, it is a non-native species and is invasive, so we have cut as much of it as possible with loppers and treated the stems with herbicide to prevent it from coming back up. A lot of tree stumps also had to be cut closer to the ground and re-treated as they were regenerating. So far, we have spent a couple of days undertaking this work. This Thursday was very productive as we had six people (from our regular Thursday work party) and an extra brushcutter. Hopefully with a few more days of work, we can finish scrub clearance in this field and tick off everything else on our list!
While we were there on Thursday, we saw a Kestrel hovering above the cleared area. A Stoat and Wax-capped Fungi has also been spotted there recently, so keep a look out for wildlife if you visit :-)
Mark