Yellow Hammer

[alison]

Sonny took this photo today. I have never seen one of these before. How sweet he is. Sonny said he is about the size of a sparrow and looking at him he has similar colouring on his wings as a sparrow. It is lovely to be able to get such lovely shots of birds that are all around us yet we don't often see them.

[seanmckinney]

Nah some one been larking about with a paint brush

[Anyanka]

Fabulous photo, again. I've never seen a Yellowhammer; aren't they one of the rarer species - even up your way?

[alison]

Haven't got a clue. I am sure he was local taking it though. I think it was at Barnbow (where they used to make all the tanks etc for the military) There is a lot of open ground there and he got a few different species than we have in the garden. It is only a matter of minutes away from us so you would expect to see the same kind of birds, but we have not seen one here. I must admit though that over the past year we are getting a lot more variety in the garden, and that can only be good.

[alison]

Sonny has just told me that on the RSPB website they say that the yellowhammer is a species that is on the red list meaning that they are in decline and need conservation but are a resident bird found all over the country. Have a look at the link.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/birds/guide/y/yellowhammer/index.asp

[Anyanka]

Thank you, Alison! Have bookmarked that website now, fabulous lots of information for bird lovers on there!
I didn't know that Yellowhammers are supposed to be resident all over the UK. Definitely have never seen one. -

Like you, we are getting more variety in our garden too, and delighted with it. I wonder whether it's a good sign, i.e. bird numbers are on the increase or a bad sign, i.e. they have been driven out of their previous habitat (lots of building new houses round here) and gardens are the last sanctuary. Until told differently, I will choose the former - optimistic - option.