Corn Buntings are a familiar sight in mid-Bucks, particularly around the Pitstone, Ivinghoe and Princes Risborough areas. But generally, they have become scarcer and localised in the county since the 1970s. North of Aylesbury they have had very little presence in records since 2020, with only isolated sightings in the Milton Keynes Unitary Authority in recent years.
Like their more vibrant Yellowhammer cousins, Corn Buntings thrive around farmland, scrub and grassland, much of which is at the mercy of urban sprawl and development throughout the county but also very much under recorded.
With the supportive funding of the Bucks Bird Club and Chiltern Conservation board, in 2023 myself, Hasan Al-Farhan, Simon Nichols, Nick Marriner, and Pete Edwards initiated a survey project for the species, seeking out new sites around and further from their already known strongholds in the county during the summer months. We also encouraged fellow Bucks birders to search for their own Corn Buntings locally or beyond, noting any signs of breeding or territorial behaviour.
This work was intended to form not only a comprehensive and up-to-date understanding of their presence in the county, but also a foundation for potential future conservation work for the species. Such conservation work would be carried out in liaison with farmers and other landowners to increase productivity and suitability of breeding sites and potential winter feeding sites.
Alongside field coverage, Hasan Al-Farhan created a comprehensive map and spreadsheet collating all Corn Bunting records from the county between 2020 and 2023, in both summer and winter periods. Close to the Northants/Bucks border, a count of 5 from Tove Valley on 02/02/22 remains the most northerly record of the species in the county since 2020, and singles from Marlow in April and August 2022 were the most southerly records during the same period.
In 2023 small numbers were found in two additional locations near Pitstone Village, with 3 birds on June 11th just outside the village, and 3 to the southwest of Steps Hill on June 6th. Between Ivinghoe Beacon and the Beds border near Dunstable, singles or pairs were discovered at 8 locations where there had previously been no winter records (from 2020 onwards) in May and June. To the east of Ivinghoe Aston, there was a promising count of 12 birds on June 10th, and up to 3 birds closer to Ivinghoe Beacon. Another previously infrequently covered area - Edlesborough - yielded up to 7 birds in June 2023.
North of Marsworth where 5 had previously been recorded in November 2020, singles were reported from the Cheddington area in June 2023. Rowsham, where breeding has occurred in previous years produced a lone juvenile on August 9th-10th 2023 - this was thought to be a dispersing individual visiting the area.
Further west, there was a slight increase in numbers recorded in the Upper Winchendon area. A single had been recorded here in May 2020 and in 2023, at least 3 birds were found on June 30th, including at least 2 singing around grassland and farmland on the outskirts of the village. 5 had been recorded a little further to the south on May 24th, including 3 males and 2 females.
Shabbington had previously produced up to 5 birds in June 2022 but only singles were recorded in 2023 here and no winter records dating back to 2020. To the northwest of Thame, a single was found on June 28th 2023, around where there had previously been up to 5 birds recorded in the previous three years but no winter records during that period.
Overall, the collation of previous records and new data from the 2023 surveying period has shown that the Ivinghoe and Bledlow areas are still very much our county strongholds for the species. But records of smaller numbers in other locations nearby and further to the west show we may still only be scratching the surface of Corn Bunting distribution in the county.
Going forward, this is a great opportunity for us to help plug the gaps between these sites, finding out more about their preferred habitats and hopefully discovering new breeding sites. We would strongly encourage anyone visiting Buckinghamshire’s rural areas to submit any records of this species to Going Birding.
- Listen out in particular for singing birds giving their “jingling key-like” song
- Flyovers are also very much worth submitting, particularly in later summer when dispersing juveniles may make their way into previously uncharted areas in their records.
During this initial survey phase, other Amber and Red-listed species including Marsh Tit, Willow Warbler and Meadow Pipit were also recorded. So even a fruitless venture for Corn Buntings may still produce some very important summer records for the county’s database.
As Bucks rapidly changes, our grassland and farmland habitats have become more important than ever, not just for Corn Buntings but for many other Amber or Red-listed species like Yellowhammer and Skylark.
The next steps of this project are still in the early stages, but we hope that in the not too distant years to come, this will be just the beginning of a bright and productive future for this charismatic rural species, supported by birders and landowners alike.
A big thank you to everyone that took the time to aid with this project. Please keep up your good work and further searches for Corn Buntings into 2025!