Stonechats in the Camel estuary sand dunes. 19th June 2021.

Female Stonechat

 

I popped out to the dune system behind Rock at St.Enodoc to check on the sand martin colony a couple of days ago and a pair of stonechats caught my eye and as I watched they were carrying food to a nest site on the ground amongst some bramble.

Never one to miss an opportunity I worked out their usual route to the nest and where I could get some good shots as they went about their daily routine.

Fortunately I've got permission from the landowners and it was an easy place to take my car and use it as a mobile hide. The birds didn't give me a second glance as they were used to vehicles in the area they'd chosen to nest.

Cars are often an easy way to get close to birds without spooking them.

So a beanbag resting on the drivers part-open window and the rest was wait for the action.

The female stonechat was the most co-operative and used an array of perches whereas the male was difficult and often flew directly into the nest without perching. 

Male Stonechat

So I tried an afternoon watch and the light was very harsh so this morning I was there for 06:30 and stayed till 10:30 and got a nice variety of photos.

Here are a few of my preferred ones!

Fulmars, Skylarks & Stonechats

Fulmars

This pair of Fulmars have taken over what looks like a ravens nest on the North Cornish cliffs.

Possibly the raven had built on a traditional Fulmar site and was subsequently ousted. Still from the photographic side of things it was very close and in decent light!

I've also included a few more images from today's trip to the cliffs.

Fulmar

 

 

 

Skylark

Skylark

 

Male Stonechat