Hi Claire - welcome to the Community! I'm in Felixstowe.
I don't know what has happened to our yellowhammers. I've never seen one here but I used to see them occasionally in the country lanes - however, I now haven't seen one for some years. I know their population has decreased in recent years -to the point of their being a red-listed bird, sadly.
Our herring gulls are red listed birds. Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.
There will still be Yellowhammers in the Bury-St-Edmunds and Felixstowe areas, but, like in many parts go the UK, they are now in fairly low density. I didn't visit the Felixstowe area last year, but I did see Yellowhammers in the Brecks (so not too far from Bury).
If you spend time searching farmland and/or heathland habitat you will find them, but it might take a fair bit of searching (April to May is probably the easiest time because that's when the males are singing).
Most recent national population estimates for the UK (2009) put the population at about 700,000 breeding pairs, with the 2007-2011 Bird Atlas showing distribution losses around London and in upland areas.
They are still widely distributed elsewhere, and were confirmed breeding in almost all 10km squares in Suffolk at the time of the recent Atlas. They are Red Listed because of recent population declines of over 50% since c1970.
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Do you visit Suffolk every year, Roy? Or are you from Suffolk? I notice you've spelt Bury St Edmunds correctly!!
Just thought I'd mention that Lakenheath Fen had a yellowhammer sighted on the reserve yesterday.
Clare Bailey said:Do you visit Suffolk every year, Roy? Or are you from Suffolk?
I'm more sedentary than I used to be, but will typically visit Suffolk for birding at least a few times during the year.
I'm from north-east London, raised in Waltham Forest and now living a few miles outside Greater London in south-east Hertfordshire.
Very few Yellowhammers in my area now, but they can still be found if searched for.
Thanks for the info Clare and Roy. I would be interested to hear from anyone who may know why there has been a decline. This is a bird that was very familiar to me, growing up on a farm at the edge of West Suffolk, and during the years that I lived in the Cambridgeshire fens. I moved to Bury st Edmunds in 2011, and they were about every summer until last year. Summer is just not the same without them :-(