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Project Yellowhammer - an update

Yellowhammer by Amy Lewis

Ion reflects on the last 12 months of Project Yellowhammer...are the birds doing well?

By the time you read this, our yellowhammers at The Devil's Spittleful should be proclaiming their ownership of a territory, predominately along the railway embankment as it passes Dropping Well Farm.

How many there will be this season and whether each will attract a mate and breed is something I can only hope the best for. If that sounds overly pessimistic, I really don’t mean it to. Let me explain.

We know from our 2022 breeding bird survey that six pairs bred, with five of them being along the railway. Since then, the only counts I have personally done were during the winter periods of 2023, when the maximum of all birds seen, irrespective of sex or age, was 10 individuals at any one time.

Pin badge - illustration of a yellowhammer with a banner of 'Project Yellowhammer' across the bottom

With the launch of Project Yellowhammer in the spring of 2024, I have, of course, been paying as much extra attention to the birds as my time on the reserve has allowed. The most obvious sign of the continued presence of yellowhammers are the bright yellow males singing their iconic 'little bit of bread and no cheeeeese' song from a conspicuous location, be it the top of a tree, bush or fence post.

Spring last year came in rather quietly, as far as singing males were concerned, with four males being seen on 17th March and then three on 12th April.

Naturally, May and June were times of peak activity. Three singing males on 17th May increased to five on 14th June. Four of the June observations were of males on the railway embankment where it passes Dropping Well Farm. The 5th bird was singing around the old hangers on Dropping Well Farm, where one had been singing in May.

This is interesting, as it shows that now the public no longer access the top of the hill from the track down to Dropping Well Farm itself, the less disturbed hedgerows here are much more suitable for a breeding attempt and this, in turn, may indeed bode well for potential success being achieved on a much less disturbed heath.

The most obvious sign of the continued presence of yellowhammers are the bright yellow males singing their iconic 'little bit of bread and no cheeeeese' song from a conspicuous location, be it the top of a tree, bush or fence post.

I’ve talked about the males, what about the females? During the breeding season they are obviously hidden away, so it’s not surprising that my only sighting was one in July. Sadly, and perhaps worryingly, I saw no sign of juveniles.

With no firm breeding evidence, I put my hopes in seeing the year’s youngsters on the farm over winter. I can report that at least three males, two females, a young male and a young female were spotted on different occasions. Of course, with birds moving around the farm and my visits only being weekly, I have probably (I hope) missed seeing the whole population.

You can see why I said that I may come across as sounding pessimistic. With so small a population, low productivity isn’t a good thing. That's why I am heartened by the greater suitability of Dropping Well and Blackstone Farms to provide additional yellowhammer habitat and pleased that the disturbance continues to decrease as more visitors respond favourably to the engagement around Project Yellowhammer.

There is still plenty of work to do in this regard and there will be many days on the reserve this year to get the message out. But I really do want to take this opportunity to send out a big thank you to everyone who has demonstrated their support so far - by keeping to paths and keeping dogs on leads. Every extra bit of peace and quiet the yellowhammers have gives them a better chance of success. Thank you!

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