The Stonechat image above is from a few days ago. Last year throughout the late summer and Autumn every evening that I walked down a certain path there would be a male Stonechat sitting prominently on a shrub. He was never bothered about my being there and I got many a close up photo. I wonder whether the one here is the same bird, or maybe one of last year’s young. His behaviour was just the same.
Whitethroat in Stonechat Territory
Anyway, the reason for putting him here is to say that yesterday, walking past the same area of shrubs and brambles, what came out and sat on a stalk was not a Stonechat but a Warbler, the first Whitethroat I’ve seen this year.
Maybe we’ll have both Stonechats and Whitethroats in the patch together this year. I hope so. If one of them were a Robin there would almost certainly be a fight for the territory but maybe these two species can co-exist.
For more, from the Woodland Trust, the Whitethroat; from the BTO, the Stonechat.
And now to the Swallows
After a short stroll along the path I decided not to go further but to head for Siddick Pond before going to the nearby supermarket. There was quite a stiff easterly breeze, not very pleasant at all, and few birds to be seen – or even heard. However, the Swallows were still flying up above.
Capturing Swallows, Swifts and Martins with the camera is a skill I do not yet possess. At least not to obtain what I would consider publishable quality images. However, I’ll show the three best that I got yesterday, all of swallows. For the first two (which I think are females) I had forgotten to increase the shutter speed so they were both taken at 1/1250th of a second and not sharp.
The third one is better as by that time I’d remembered to ratchet it up to 1/3200. I think this is a male. See the long streamers.
As I’ve said, I need to get better at this photography of fast moving birds. I can manage the larger, slower species but these hirundines move super-fast. But at least, they’re recognisable.
That’s it for now. Do browse the site. It’s still new but gradually getting more content. And there’s much more to come. You may like Active Dippers on the River Cocker.
