Another cloudy start to the day but as we headed to South Yorkshire the sun came out
with blue skies & a temperature of 9°C rising to 13°C by lunch time. We were in the Dearne
Valley at the RSPB Old Moor Nature Reserve which is near Barnsley.
We were hopeful of seeing a bird which has become very rare locally & we have not seen
before the Yellowhammer. This bird is a member of the Bunting family & should be seen in
farmland country & hedgerows.
From the car park we first checked out the feeders seeing Goldfinch,Greenfinch,Tree Sparrow
& Reed Bunting. Then we headed for the area called Tree Sparrow Farm which is known for being
the best spot for the Yellowhammers. My dad checked out the hedgerow seeing hen Pheasant & a
couple of Redwings, we stayed for a while but were not seeing our birds. Then from a hedge two or three birds came out, Yellowhammers at last feeding on the ground, I called my dad over & we
managed to get some decent snaps.
We moved around the reserve seeing many more birds, reports to follow, then having our lunch
at the visitor cafe before heading home. As we approached Bradford the cloud returned with drizzle
& the temperature fell to 10°C & by the time we got home it was down to 8°C, what a difference a
few miles can make.
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| Yellowhammer |
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| Well worth our wait to finally see some Yellowhammers |
Great photos lads, we used to watch Yellowhammers down Queensbury railway station in the 1960s and they were pretty common at EGP till around 20yrs ago.
ReplyDeleteThanks Brian,Its a shame we don't see the yellowhammers locally anymore & it seems Twite are going the same way, at least we managed to see them a few times at Fly Flatts.
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