16th -23rd June 2023 – Devon

We have been on holiday in south Devon and, although not a birding holiday, there were a few opportunities to photograph some of the delights of nature at this time of the year.

I suppose the most exciting moment was seeing a bird that I had never seen before – a cirl bunting.

The cirl (pronounced sirl) bunting is a small finch-like bird which is a close relative of the yellowhammer.

Cirl buntings 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.

We saw the cirl bunting on a visit to Dawlish Warren Nature Reserve and, although we saw three of them, it was such a fleeting moment which might explain why I have published an out-of-focus photo of the male as my headline photo.

The Dawlish Warren website has this to say about the reserve:

“Dawlish Warren National Nature Reserve is an area of grassland, sand dunes, mudflats and centres on a 1½ mile long sandspit/beach across the mouth of the Exe Estuary.  Dawlish Warren is an important holiday resort and is visited by thousands of people each year.

As part of the Exe Estuary it is one of the most important places for wildfowl and wading birds in the whole of the South West.  Thousands of birds come to feed, on migration, or to spend the winter here.

The dunes and grassland have a host of special plants. Over 600 different types of flowering plants have been recorded on the Warren. This varied Reserve has many different habitats including salt marsh, fresh water ponds, wet meadows and woodland.

The Warren is so important that it is protected for its wildlife by both national and international law.”

Dawlish Nature Reserve

In Devon we were staying in a converted Wesleyan Chapel on the edge of Dartmoor which was well situated to visit Dartmoor, other nature reserves (Stover Country Park and Slapton Ley) and visit a few National Trust properties (Coleton Fishacre, Compton Castle and Castle Drago) with magnificent gardens which were at their very best at this time of the year.

We had really nice weather all week except one morning when we visited Slapton Ley. We did get good views of reed warblers, bullfinches and a few tufted ducks but it should have been a great place to see dragonflies and butterflies. However, it was too early on a grey day to have any joy.

We were luckier with dragonflies and damselflies when visiting Two Bridges on Dartmoor.

The contenders for the most cheerful song birds of our holiday :

Some of the photos from our trip to south Devon: