Farmland birds are in decline across Britain and indeed pretty much everywhere in the world I have been. When I am back in the UK I am able to take a lot of walks through arable farmland which still has a decent population of some farmland species that are in decline across their ranges so over the last week I have been able to study Corn Bunting and Eurasian Skylark on their breeding grounds while attempting to get an idea of the local population size of these birds. In the case of the Skylarks it is rather difficult to assess the population due to the fact that there seems to be a bird popping up out of the wheat at every other step, but in the case of the Corn Buntings it is easier and I have found at least 15 territories within a short walk of the house.

We are experiencing some very warm and sunny weather in Southeast England right now so that when I went for a walk yesterday morning it was already rather hot by 9.30am and the light was very intense making photography very difficult indeed. However, the sunshine seemed to be appreciated by the local Corn Bunting population with many males sitting out on their song posts calling away, making them very easy to spot but from their elevated perches they can see far and wide so it took some stalking through weeds to get close enough to photograph them.

Corn Bunting

Corn Bunting

The Corn Buntings in this area really seem to favour small isolated trees/bushes as their songposts which is not the case in other areas; Corn Buntings seem to have very localized preferences in many aspects of their ecology. You can see more of my Corn Bunting photographs with some more notes on their ecology here – Corn Bunting Photo Gallery.

While walking through the farmland here I see plenty of Linnets, Common Whitethroats, Swifts and Goldfinches along the way. I was very pleased to find at least 2 pairs of Western Yellow Wagtails nesting too; one pair in a pea crop and another pair in a field of onions. There are also a few pairs of Barn Swallows which are nesting in sheds that are used for housing ponies.

Goldfinch

On a sunny day another delight of a walk through arable fields are the flowers which grow in the field boundaries and along the public footpaths. There is a huge field of poppies and other wild flowers here at the moment which is hosting large numbers of Skylarks and several pairs of Corn Buntings but the flowers themselves made for some nice photos.

Although Skylarks are really common in the fields here they are also hard to approach and photograph. Listening to Skylarks in song flight is a sound that always makes me feel at home as I grew up with them singing outside the house but yesterday I really listened to the songs and could easily detect some mimicry. There were lots of phrases of mimicry of the screech of Common Swift and also the scolding call of Common Whitethroat mixed up in the skylark songs. Little bits of Linnet call and Goldfinch could also be heard; I will listen to them further to see what else I can hear. Finally one bird let me get reasonably close, although it remained hidden, for this photo.

Eurasian Skylark

It is worth looking out for your local farmland birds as they may not be around for much longer at the rate they are declining in most parts of the world as agriculture intensifies and uses more and more chemicals.