Corn Buntings are currently an endangered species so this picture of a large flock of the birds photographed near Devizes in Wiltshire is good news for the species. Numbers of the birds have plunged in recent years due to intensive farming methods which have seen field margins being ploughed up, leaving the birds nowhere to lay their eggs. In fact numbers of the birds have fallen by nearly 90% over the last 40 years. It is thought that recent schemes which pay farmers to improve their environment are starting to have an effect and numbers of the birds have increased by about 5% over the last three years. These measures include growing fields of spring barley and leaving stubble over the winter rather than ploughing the fields so seeds are available for food.