Monday 11 January 2010

Stonechats On Ice






Last week I revisited a local area where I had previously seen  stonechats and I was determined to obtain some decent images of these beautiful little birds. The severe wintry weather was still with us  and I hoped the birds had survived the Arctic conditions. I know that stonechat are very likely not to survive in prolonged cold spells such as we are currently experiencing. The birds were indeed still around and I was able to obtain some wonderful images of both male and female stonechat as they perched and posed on the vegetation surrounding a largely frozen over lake.
I spent the next hour and a half with the birds as I realised that both birds were visiting a hole in the ice to obtain food. What I observed was amazing behaviour as both birds fed from this hole in the ice. What they were feeding on was a revelation as they extracted their prey from the water and I will keep my readers in suspense until my next posting when I will post more details and images from this memorable visit to my local patch. Meanwhile I am posting a few images of the birds on the ice and posing in the afternoon sun on bankside vegetation.

11 comments:

  1. Brian, these are stunning pictures, thank you.

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  2. Adrian. Thanks for looking and for your kind comments

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  3. Great Pics Brian. They are a stunning species.

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  4. Superb pictures Brian. I've only ever seen these from a great distance.
    Curious to know what they were feeding on now.

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  5. Wonderful use of a camera, these are taken by the dab hand. Tell me, what is your camera and lens?

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  6. Wonder pictures. Look forward to your next post to find out what these little birds were eating.

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  7. Thanks everyone for kind comments. Very much appreciated.... Bob I use a Nikon D300 + 500mm lens. Thanks for looking.

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  8. Can't possibly add anything new to to what I always say on either these great little bird's or the excellent photography so keeping quiet to spare you the boredom Brian.

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  9. Stunning - enough said!
    Can't wait to see what they were feeding on though!

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  10. Brian as always, wonderful. Feeding behaviour is brilliant and I'd be interested to know if this has ever been observed before.

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  11. Great story and unique pictures.

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