Devon bird table webcam 'giving easy access to nature'

Goldfinches, a chaffinch and a great tit have already been spotted on the bird table

A wildlife charity in Devon has installed a webcam on a bird table to give people "easy access to nature".

The Devon Wildlife Trust said the special camera had been installed at one of its reserves in south Devon.

As well as birds during the day, the camera's night-vision system had also seen nocturnal appearances from foxes, badgers and fallow deer, it said.

The charity said it wanted to provide "a fascinating close-up view of the comings and goings" of creatures.

Seeing cirl buntings feeding had been "very encouraging", charity bosses said

Communications manager Jan Coman said: "We believe everybody should have easy access to nature; but not everyone has access to a garden, let alone the resources to set up and maintain a bird table.

"We wanted to give people the pleasure of watching birds, whatever their circumstances.

"Hopefully, our birdfeeder cam will bring a little bit of nature into more people's lives."

Trust bosses said species seen already seen had included great-spotted woodpeckers, goldfinches, great tits, coal tits, dunnocks and robins.

However, staff member Steve Hussey said that the "real star of the show so far" had been cirl buntings, which had been seen "on a couple of occasions over the past weeks".

One of the UK's rarest songbirds, the lowland farmland bird, a relation of the yellowhammer, is predominantly found in Devon in the UK and is currently classified as red conservation status.

Mr Hussey said: "These are rare birds... a lot of conservation effort by the RSPB and others has been dedicated to helping them spread.

"To see them on camera is very encouraging."