These
are my final shots of the yellowhammer taken in my back yard across
two days in the second week of May. I searched for more up to date
information via the RSPB. They also class it as a bunting rather than
a finch. They also expect to find it in the hedgerows and open
countryside rather than village gardens. Alas, it is now apparently
in decline and absent in some northerly areas including Scotland
where it used to dwell according to my 1970's/1980's text books.
There
is a video with its song at this link
The
second week of May 2016 continued and multiple young birds were also
spotted in the back yard as well as the yellowhammer youth. Recently,
an outburst of sparrows and starlings has filled the back yard - and
my tree - with an abundance of bird-song.
Here
is one young sparrow sitting in the bird bath shortly before taking a
bath - maybe its first. There were actually two young birds in this
collection, with a father bird in attendance. As you can see here -
if you ignore the starling munching bread below - it had to fill up
every so often before re-filling its youngsters!
Sounds like the Yellowhammer is sticking around. It could be migrating to new locations because of climate change or development in its usual habitat. Maybe there's a bustle in its hedgerow. :D
ReplyDeleteoverdeveloped land probably - we have had a few hundred new homes built along the highway whre they had fields... or maybe just a youth looking for its own territory.
ReplyDeleteWe have a lot of development around here, too. The South Shore is the fastest growing area in the state.
ReplyDelete