YELLOWHAMMER

Yellowhammers are surely one of our most striking native birds. I thought they would look good against a backdrop of flowering oil seed rape so I tracked down a nesting pair on the Marlborough Downs and set up my hide at the field edge just after sunrise. Both parents were bringing a regular supply of insects for their brood to eat, though the female was working considerably harder than her partner! I photographed the male for his bright yellow plumage, almost exactly the same tone as the rape flowers.

F/6.3, 1/1,000th second, ISO 200
Accepted: Narava (Slovenia) 2019