DARTMOOR ponies have been playing a vital role in helping to boost numbers of cirl buntings at Labrador Bay.

In a partnership between the RSPB, Dartmoor Pony Heritage Trust and Dartmoor farmers Margaret Rogers and Michael Lamb from Widecombe-in-the-Moor, ponies have been brought to the coast as conservation grazers.

This has helped ensure that numbers of the rare birds on the site have more than quadrupled in the last decade.

Cath Jeff, from the RSPB, explained: ‘The RSPB has been loaning Dartmoor ponies to graze the steep but flower-rich fields at its coastal reserve, Labrador Bay between Shaldon and Maidencombe since winter 2009.

‘Without this vital grazing, this special habitat would disappear under bracken and scrub and its value for our wonderful Devon wildlife would be diminished.’

First recorded in Devon, the population of cirl buntings underwent a dramatic decline.By the early 1990s there were fewer than 120 pairs and only found in South Devon.

Since then a species recovery project has seen numbers increase and in 2016, 1,000 pairs were recorded.

At Labrador Bay numbers have increased from three pairs before the area was bought by the RSPB in 2008 to almost 30 pairs.

Cath added: ‘The Labrador Bay Reserve has played a major part in the recovery and is a wonderful place for people to experience these still rare birds.

‘However, it’s not just the birds that people like to see as the Dartmoor ponies have become a real visitor favourite.’

Dartmoor ponies are suited to the environment because they are robust and hardy, graze a broad variety of plants and thrive on the sparse, steep grassland and will even munch the scrub. They have been ideal where grassland is under restoration and unsuitable for other stock such as cattle or sheep.

Owners Margaret and Michael select ponies of the right age and attitude for the site.

Margaret said: ‘We provide sensible ponies that are trained to follow a bucket, can be handled in a pen but are not friendly with walkers or dogs.’