Listen to the track:
Cirl Bunting
Cirl buntings are a rare but regular sight at Wembury, especially around Wembury Point. Look for them near the common west of the car park, or feeding in the grass along the clifftop path. The coastal path towards Heybrook Bay is another good area for spotting these birds.
Verse 1
Where cliffs fall to sea and the salt winds roam,
In Wembury’s fields the wild things call home.
Among barley stubble and hawthorn lanes,
The cirl bunting sings its song again.
Chorus
Rattle and whisper, yellow and bold,
Feathers like sunshine, brave in the cold.
Though the ploughs turned deep and the fields ran bare,
The buntings still circle the springtime air.
Verse 2
The hedges once silent now gently hum,
With songs from a bird near lost, near gone.
But farmers and watchers with care and will,
Brought back the voice that the land holds still.
Chorus
Rattle and whisper, yellow and bold,
Feathers like sunshine, brave in the cold.
Though the ploughs turned deep and the fields ran bare,
The buntings still circle the springtime air.
Bridge
Down by the lane where the blackthorn grows,
You might hear the tale the bunting knows.
Not all that's fragile will fade away
Some songs stay rooted like ancient clay.
Verse 3
From Heybrook Bay to the Wembury shore,
They shimmer and flutter, lost no more.
A quiet defiance in every wing,
A promise kept in the song they sing.
Final Chorus
Rattle and whisper, yellow and bold,
Feathers like sunshine, brave in the cold.
Though the world may change and the wild may thin,
The buntings of Wembury still sing within.