South Devon and more specifically the South Hams is a beautiful , picturesque part of this glorious country that we call home. We decided at the last minute this morning to take a trip there specifically to look for Cirl Buntings– Emberiza cirlus one of Britains most endangered and rare birds. They are at the most northerly edge of their range here at this location in South West England, and in spite of being a very rare species in the UK they are said to be easy to observe at Prawle Point.
Before we left though, I decided to have a look out at Exminster Marsh just to see if I could get a better photo opportunity of a Hobby. That didn’t happen today but I bumped into a couple of “Twitchers” who were very excited to point out a Golden Plover. Discussions and much debate arrived at the conclusion that this bird was in fact an American Golden Plover–Pluvialis dominica and not Pluvialis apricaria The American is an extremely rare bird for the UK and probably the first UK sighting this year. I took a few distant shots and I have posted one here just for interests sake.
The rain started to come down (you can see it in the picture), so I decided to come home for breakfast and get myself sorted for the trip to South Devon.
After a drive of 35 miles or so we eventually found ourselves at East Prawle, a quaint little English village, not very welcoming though as the local dog took an instant dislike to me and but for some tactful cowardly behaviour on my part, I would have been a potential rabies casualty!!!
The walk down to the shore via a narrow, flower wreathed country lane proved to be a great start to the walk with a few butterfly species amongst the host of traditional English wildflowers. Theses included Holly Blue, and Wall as well as Small Copper and Orange Tipp. The scenery was breath taking and it wasn’t long before we arrived on the shoreline and I suspected that I could see my first ever Cirl Bunting. To cut a long story short, we managed to see Stonechat, Wheatear, Swallows, Martins, Whitethroat and this lovely Cirl Bunting.

I have to say that I was very impressed with Cirl Buntings. They are quite abundant and once you knew what to listen out for you could find them relatively easily. They appear to be the most abundant species in that locality. Stonechats are also very obvious and I took this stunning picture of a male who just wanted to pose. I just had to post it for you to see and to remind me of how beautiful he was.
The walk also gave us the opportunity to see a Grey Seal just off shore. Seals, though not rare are not that often seen in England so it was a treat to see one today.