Yellowhammer

It was slightly frosty this morning so I decided to go for an early walk across the fields next to our house, and up onto the Tye.  I walked fairly close to the hedgerow, in the hope of seeing some birds, and I wasn't disappointed when I spotted this lovely little bird whose yellow chest was lit up by the sun.  I didn't know what it was, and sent Alan the photo who looked on the RSPB website and says it's a Yellowhammer which has a red status, so we're quite lucky to have them here.

I walked across the fields, listening to the sound of the Skylarks  - they amaze me that you never spot them on the ground, they just blend in with the grass, but there were lots of them chasing one another.  I stopped to say hello to the horses, before heading back and on my return I saw some other little birds which turned out to be Reed Buntings.

I went home to get the boys and took them out for a walk (minus the camera), and then got ready for work, except it  started raining just as I set off walking for the bus, which wasn't very pleasant.  Fortunately Alan got a call from the garage this afternoon and the car is ready to collect, so we'll go and get it in the morning.

I've started thinking about the woodland bird photography workshop that I'm doing on Saturday with Charlotte and Chris.  In light of the cold temperatures, I've ordered some thermal photography gloves that have removable fingers, and Alan picked up a new Thermos flask so that I can take some soup with me.

Talking of weather, it's just started snowing and the flakes are rather big!  It doesn't seem to be sticking on the road, but it is in the garden.  I wonder if it'll be white in the morning!