Yellowhammers along Dundalk Bay

What a treat to find lots of yellowhammers along Dundalk Bay among all the yellow gorse bushes! It had been a lovely start to the morning … up at 4.30am and off to the saltmarshes in Dundalk Bay for sunrise. After spending sunrise taking some landscape shots we decided that we should walk back to the car along a little lane. I am so glad that I suggested that as it would have been so easy to stay on the beach.

In New Zealand yellowhammers are abundant and fly around in flocks. That’s not the case in Ireland and it’s a real treat to find one or two birds in the countryside. Yellowhammers in Northern Ireland have declined by 65 per cent since 1991. Consequently, it is red-listed as an endangered species by Birdwatch Ireland and RSPB Northern Ireland.

A yellowhammer bird perched on blackberry bushes and surrounded by yellow gorse bushes.
A male yellowhammer



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