2 Weeks in North Wales Pt 3 of 6 Stonechats in flight and Dippers

 After waking up to a sunny morning we decided to pack up our kit and grab some lunch for later in the day and our plan for the day was to visit Dyserth falls which was about 4 miles away from where we were staying. On the way there we stopped off at an area of scrub land near the sea and sand dunes very close to a golf coarse making this a great place to catch up with Stonechats and usually at this time of year they are fledglings around but after and hour or so of walking around seeing nothing we spotted a Male Stonechat very close to us and then up popped a female with a fledgling and both came very close allowing some beautiful close photographs/footage of them with the habitat in the background.  For more information on the Stonechat click here http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/s/stonechat/index.aspx 

 One observation from seeing them in the area is that they seem less flighty than in early spring and have a smaller circle of fear allowing for some great closeups with a small lens. I think in 2012 I will be back in early spring to try and follow this pair of Stonechats if they return to the area as I have seen them in the breeding 2 years running with successful broods and this pair I have been checking on since March.

  One of the things I wanted to achieve this time with the Stonechats was to photograph them in flight with the feathers showing but the young Stonechat nearly obliged in the strong winds but decided to disappear back into the safety of the brambles.

I managed to get a shot of the female as she flew off to catch some food for the fledgling's and before it began to warm up and as it was predicted to be the hottest day of the year I wanted to get to Dyserth falls to film the Dippers on the river and do some exploring in the woodland and streams in the area.

Thanks for reading my blog

Stay wild, be happy and be safe
 

Mike