Sunday 6 July 2014

Nervous and Noisy Stonechats.

 
One species I can almost guarantee to encounter on any of my strolls across local heathland habitats is the STONECHAT (Saxicola torquata). 

Most often located on an elevated perch usually 1m to 1.6m high as it waits and watches for tiny meal on the ground before moving on to another perch to repeat the same vigil or leaping into the air to snatch a flying insect.



Stonechats are a noisy and nervous species and on a recent encounter both a male and female were very vocal, constantly uttering the distinctive 'chack' .. 'chack' call to distract attention from their youngsters who had flown into cover when a Great Spotted Woodpecker alighted in a nearby tree.




On the lookout for any aerial predators.

Not wishing to upset this family any further I kept my distance and quickly captured a few poses using the 450D and 70-300mm lens which have  all been cropped.  FAB.

Linking to I'D-Rather-B-Birdin' and Wild Bird Wednesday.

16 comments:

  1. i love their earthy coloration. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great set of a lovely bird Frank.
    They certainly can be noisy when you get too close to their territory.

    The only time I get to see these with any regularity is when I visit Wales.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You got som excellent shots of this pretty bird. Have a great Sunday.

    ReplyDelete
  4. HI Frank Yes these birds are very vocal when they are protecting something but they are a lovely bird especially the male. Hope you are having a great weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Amazing how birds can land safely on such prickly perches.

    ReplyDelete
  6. More great shots of a stunning little bird that i can watch for hours.

    ReplyDelete
  7. To have this beauty wherever you walk on the trails/habitat, would be an awesome experience. They're very pretty and I can only imagine their song.

    Thanks for linking up this weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Frank, you caught the Stonechats, hard to get one, brilliant photos.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Great shots .. Congratulations and greetings.

    ReplyDelete
  10. The coloring in the male reminds my of our Towhees with the black, white and rust coloration. Are they sparrow sized?...:)JP

    ReplyDelete
  11. They are exotic to me here north of Canada so a treat for me to see them.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Love how alert they look perched up high ... Sounds as if the chat part of their name is appropriate !

    ReplyDelete
  13. The Stonechat does have pretty coloring.. Great photo series! Have a happy week!

    ReplyDelete
  14. What a cute and interesting little bird!

    ReplyDelete

I hope you enjoyed your visit and I always appreciate your comments and feedback.

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails