A sunny forecast, so a very early start this morning and I was deep in the Welsh countryside taking photographs by 05:30. I have a number of places that I annually visit in North Wales at this time of year for localised species. With the poor weather over the last couple of weeks I had a bit of catching up to do, I knew that spring was moving on and birds would be feeding their young, you suddenly realise that it is nearly summer and could have missed so much. Even with this in mind, I was slightly surprised to see a family of young Stonechats, they were feeding themselves and were very advanced. I was comparing this to my nestboxes back home where none of the Blue or Great Tits have fledged yet.
I didn't see an adult female Stonechat and had the feeling that she might already be on her second brood, as the male was singing for most of the time I was there.
Juveniles
Male
Female, taken earlier in the year
