As we sat under a hawthorn this week a bird moved up the far side of the bush sat atop and sang his heart out. A repeated ‘A little bit of bread and no cheeeeeeze” was the signature tune of this Yellow Bunting.
This is a farmland species that is not as common as it once was, but still has a reasonable representation in Norfolk.
As I walked out of the door the other day the sky was blue and the bright sun was casting long crisp shadows out over the newly sown winter wheat. The still air was full of birdsong. Skylarks, Chaffinch, Song Thrush and Blackbird all chivvied one another for top spot in the morning chorus.
The most prominent song however was a resident perched atop the Elm in the north of the garden. Reciting his ‘ Little bit of Bread and no Cheee’eze’ the bright Yellowhammer was singing as though his life depended on it… which … in a way … I guess it does!
Letter From Norfolk 