Friday, April 12, 2013

Stonechats and redpolls




The winter shades of brown still predominated when we followed the path behind Warkworth sand dunes on the Northumberland coast last weekend. The colours of this cock stonechat toned beautifully with the muted background hues.

























































This is his mate, in more subdued colours.


































On the path behind the dunes high tides in the Aln estuary had left a thick layer of last year's decaying vegetation along the strand line, which had become a feeding ground for a flock of about 20 redpolls. Their plumage (apart from their red crown) matched this background exceptionally well.

4 comments:

  1. Perky little birds, aren't they!

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  2. I just love your tall 'portrait' images of these birds Phil!

    Those Redpolls fill me with joy each time I see one. I'm lucky enough to still have them visiting my garden on a daily basis.

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  3. To our delight, we had them in our garden for the first time this year too Richard - never managed a redstart, though!

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