CORN BUNTINGS AT MAIDEN CASTLE

 Being a birder and amateur photographer I use YouTube quite a bit to pick up hints and tips on my hobby and so I have quite a few YouTubers that I subscribe to one is a fantastic photographer called Mike Lane. He put a video up about videoing and photographing Corn Buntings at a place called Maiden Castle near Dorchester, as this is a bird I've never seen and my birding partner in crime Steve Bool hadn't seen one in years we decided to take a road trip down there to get a look at this now pretty rare and still declining Bunting.

maiden castle

If you read the poster below it gives you a brief over view of the history of the Castle.

Steve and myself had gone to a place earlier in the year where there was supposed to have been good numbers of Corn Buntings, but the day we went was so foggy and visibility so bad that we just turned around and headed back home. On this day though it was very bright and sunny so our hopes were high that we would have good views of the birds if they were there.

The Corn Buntings rapid decline is due to the loss of food sources, reduced weed abundance and the removal of field boundaries which have diminished the availability of seeds and insects which are vital for the birds.

Late nesting Corn Buntings often build their nests in fields which are then destroyed during the harvesting process further impacting their population. Also the use of fertilizers and pesticides can badly effect the insects and seeds the birds rely on and the increased use of herbicides have reduced the diversity of plant life and the availability of suitable nesting and foraging habitat. 

At Maiden Castle though the habitat is perfect for Corn Buntings lots of hedgerow good uncultivated fields and the farmers are on board with the local wildlife authorities to keep the habitat wildlife friendly.

As we reached the car park we were greeted by the song which is said to sound like a jangle of keys of the Corn Bunting they were here, not just that they were everywhere we were both delighted. Steve started taking pictures and a bit of video with his digiscope and I took loads of pics with my camera. 

the corn bunting

emberiza calandra

Here's one of Steve's digiscoped short video's of the bird giving it's famous "jangle of keys" call.

It was just brilliant to be in the company of these cracking birds.

After a while we moved on to explore the area, there was thick hedgerow and gorse there which was alive with birds we soon spotted a whitethroat in amongst some bramble.

whitethroat

handsome warbler

Also there were a good number of Linnets, what a handsome bird the males are, especially perched on the gorse.

male linnet

what a handsome bird

There were also a good number of  Yellowhammers the males are stunning.

stunning male yellowhammer

                         

Just over the hedgerow was a field with quite long grass where we spotted some brown hares which was an added bonus to our day.

brown hare

Here's a couple more species that were seen on the day.

wren

male chaffinch

There are Grey Partridge at this site also another very rare and declining species and although we both heard the birds call we never got to see any, but we were more than happy with seeing the Corn Buntings what a fantastic bird.

Maiden Castle you done us proud. Here's a couple of pic's of the habitat and the digiscope king himself Steve Bool.

Big thanks for Steve for doing the driving on what was a brilliant day.