21 November 2010

Lapland Buntings at Paviland

Chris Brewer discovered four Lapland Buntings and a Woodlark in the stubble at Paviland this morning. This afternoon Neil Edwards and myself made a visit and were amazed to note no fewer than 26 Lapland Buntings in with the Skylarks, this being an exceptional number of birds within Glamorgan.
View south across Paviland stubble towards Bristol Channel
In addition to a lot of spilt grain, there was an abundance of Field Madder (Sherardia arvensis), which the birds may also have been feeding on given the amount of seed this was producing.
Field Madder flowers and seed capsules
Other arable weeds noted still flowering included Black Nightshade (Solanum nigrum), Field Pansy (Viola arvensis), Corn Marigold (Chrysanthemum segetum), Cut-leaved Dead-nettle (Lamium hybridum), Henbit Dead-nettle (L. amplexicale) and Field Woundwort (Stachys arvensis).

2 comments:

Mark Hipkin said...

Wow! That sounds like a great area. Congratulations Chris, Barry & Neil on a very nice find and amazing record.

Barry Stewart said...

I have been told that the farmer at Paviland is not prepared to allow birdwatchers to walk the stubble fields where the Lapland Buntings were found yesterday. Please do not enter the fields and do not park at Paviland Farm. Both the farm and the stubble land is private. However, it is possible to get good scope views of the field from the coastal path (SS445856) and with a little patience it's likely some of the buntings will show. Note that the nearest parking place is at Pilton Green (SS446871) and that it is a 2km walk to the site from here following the public footpath.