I had a couple of hours surveying one of the tetrads I'm doing for the BTO Bird Atlas Project. A tetrad is a 2km x 2km square based 0n the ordnance survey maps. The one I walked round to day is centred on Studdal and Ashley, so it is almost all farmland, with s couple of wooded areas and some gardens and houses in the village.
Although I didn't find anything that surprised me, it is always nice to come across Yellowhammers, as they are nowhere near as common as they were when I was young. I love to here the "a little bit of bread and (no) cheese" song. The "no" is optional, some songs have it and some don't.
The females are much duller than the male. This pair were busying themselves along a hedge and fence by the Roman Road.
As she took of I took one quick snap and was rather surprised that she was flying with her wings closed. A series of shots of small birds in flight, difficult to do, often finds some very strange positions and shapes , that just aren't apparent as you watch the bird fly. Other "good" birds in the tetrad were a couple of singing Corn Buntings and on "purring" Turtle Dove.
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