Yellowhammer is a bird that should be common in the farmland close to where I come from in Northwest Kent. There is a mixture of arable and pasture with plenty of hedgerows which should supply this species with a suitable habitat, but I can walk a long way without hearing its distinct call. Around 25 years ago Yellowhammers were fairly abundant in this area where there was suitable habitat, which seemed to be anywhere where arable and pasture were side-by-side and there were a few bushes to act as song posts, but like so many farmland birds there seems to have been a huge decline in Yellowhammers in this area.

However there is one area, locally, where there is still a healthy population of Yellowhammers and a few mornings ago I made a quick visit to Castle Farm near Lullingstone along the Darent Valley where suddenly Yellowhammers become fairly common and it did not take long before I found my first one.

Although the overcast and breezy conditions at the end of July were not ideal for finding birds I came across at least 3 calling males and saw a female which seemed to be attending a nest.

The fact that there are no Yellowhammers in the surrounding area yet they are common in this small part of the Darent Valley suggests that the local population has retracted to a small source population in ideal habitat and that surrounding areas formerly held sink populations that have now disappeared. Hopefully the mixed farming at Castle Farm, consisting of cattle pasture, small wheat fields, hops, barley and lavender will continue and can support the local Yellowhammer population; it would also be nice to think that one day the surrounding habitat may again be suitable for supporting Yellowhammers.