stonechat

and here's my second stonechat. We "tracked" this one along the roadside by driving at about his pace through the reeds, stopping when he stopped and shooting through the window. My guide, who had a more powerful lens than I, got a great close-up of him flying from his previous perch...

Moving on past my busy meeting days ... as a reward for paying attention through long days of lectures, I granted myself one and a half days of guided birding. First day was out on the puszta. The birds there were clearly accustomed to wide open spaces. They didn't like people getting close...

... and Dartford Warbler

some more shots from Whitesands yesterday. Thanks for all your comments this week, much appreciated. Andy.

The female of the pair seen on Hurlstone Point.

If only all birds chose such lofty perches to pose from. This male was with a partner, fluttering around the heather and gorse on the hills out the back of Minehead.

Male, starting to lose his Summer plumage.

A distant shot of this wee bird, so quite a big crop. A species I am seeing less and less of over the past few years. This bird appears to have a lot of ID about its person, too much in my opinion.

Early morning light

As you can probably tell, this was a very grey day but the stonechats were active so you have to take your chances when they come! (the background grey is the sea - brrrr!)

I'm not going to be around on Bird Forum much, this week. Just got back from a few days in Anglesey and off to mid - Wales in a few minutes. I'll catch up at the end of the week. ISO 400, 1/640 @ f6.3 Just thought I'd post this before we leave - one of my favourites from our time on Anglesey.

I caught this Stonechat leaning into the wind, a wily little fella.

Tried to get some pics of stonechats. Until now I've got only shot of the female part.