The Deskbound Birder: Labrador Bay RSPB Reserve, Teignmouth

Wednesday, 30 January 2019

Labrador Bay RSPB Reserve, Teignmouth - 30th Januray

On a cold and snowy late-January day I headed down to Devon for a brief survey, knowing that the drive would be almost six hours return and with some time to spare I headed to look for Cirl Bunting at the RSPB's reserve at Labrador Bay. The reserve is located on a beautiful stretch of Devonshire coastline a few miles south of Teignmouth and, as well as being picturesque, is home to a thriving population of Cirl Bunting, a bird I have not seen in the UK for a good few years. I arrived on site at just gone 10:00 and after a short walk encountered my first flock of around 25 Cirl Bunting feeding in a weedy field. A short way on I came across another, similar sized, but more confiding flock and spent an hour or so with this flock enjoying the stunning males and subtle females as they fed in the weedy fields at this beautiful reserve. All too soon it was time to head off to do a bat survey at a demolition site - a marked contrast to Labrador Bay.