No, it’s not a typo, the cam site is where I have set up my wildlife camera, there’s a Badger sett nearby so I’m hoping to catch their activity in the area. For a long time I only ever saw one badger or several Badgers but only ever one at a time?
I have now seen two for definite so the cam stays, for now.
So my friends at the cam site were a pair of Stonechats, birds I love to photograph because they have a habit of perching on the top of a high shrub or stem making them easy to get clean shots of but…… this pair have gone even further and they arrive on the Gorse all around the camera every time I go over, often turning up as I get close. It’s been an absolute pleasure getting so close to these beautiful birds and a few others that also appeared from time to time so, this page is all about them.
Having said all that, the best bird to turn up while I was there was a Goldcrest, possibly the closest I’ve ever been to one, still didn’t keep still long enough for a full photo-shoot 🙂
After this wee beauty showed up a few times, i vowed to go over there in better weather and set myself up for a day / afternoon / evening. I treated myself to a portable hide last year so I’m going to give it a go there.
A few others came along from time to time. Great Tit & Robin and there are always Buzzards around here.
The Robin looked like it might have a nest site in the area and would defend any food left like a playground bully.
They would often perch like that but if any other bird went to the food, the Robin dived on it.
The male Stonechat has the darker markings, the female lighter. There’s also a Dunnock that lurks in the bushes and only comes out if I keep VERY still and quiet
They’re another beautiful wee bird but they skulk under shrubs and can be hard to spot.
I’d like to say the female Stonechat was more trusting but when I look at all the shots, it was about evens.
When this first happened, they stayed quite a distance from me but as time went on and i guess they realised I always brought food, they got braver.
This is not a big area but the top of the Gorse was probably another 10-15 feet above me.
As you can see we had a decent bit of snow over a few days and i tried to get them on the snow or as a backdrop.
The deep green of the Gorse stands out well against the snow too.
They seemed to become more trusting, the more often I went over and since I’d seen a Stoat in its pure white coat on the camera, I was checking almost every day now.
In some cases, these birds were within ten feet of me, I was always trying to keep my movements slow or wear my thermal gloves; black so covered hand movements better.
They’d often both drop onto that Gorse bush and watch me messing around at the camera or dropping the food, then I’d back off and wait.
I loved getting shots of the two of them together, shows the colour variation really well.
I thought it made a different shot when they landed on the Gorse above me.
European Robins were designed for photography and I’m sure they know it 🙂
You’ll all be fed up of my use of dreich but, it did rain for a looooong time in January, I thought the cam might get floated off down the burn; the burn is about six feet to the right of that shot.
All of the shots so far were taken in January this year.
As February rolled in the birds were starting to come out to meet me, I guess pretty hungry? The Robin would fly to the bushes nearest where I started my approach, closely followed by the Stonechats.
I’m sure many of us who love nature in general end up talking to plants and animals? Awww come on, you must! 😉
I started talking to these beasties as soon as they showed up, saying hello and so on, they made me smile every time.
I would cross the reed beds after checking the camera and on one particularly chilly and windy morning, this wee Blue Tit almost landed on me as it approached. I had no food in hand, nothing to tempt it in.
There’s very little crop on those, it was that close. So I dropped a few morsels on a fence post.
I am super happy that I got all these opportunities with these normally fairly shy birds but there were a lot of deleted blanks too 🙂
One click too many!
I’m going to drop in a set from Feb 9th here.
Feb 11th was a wet one, it was raining when I was over there.
That second shot makes him look really grumpy, you think? Soaked.
There did come a time when they didn’t show up for a while, having gotten close to them, so to speak, I instantly started to wonder if they were still around, no harm had come to them.
The Robin was almost always there, these on the 13th Feb.
On Feb 14th I saw the male Stonechat with a grub in his beak, he’s hunting bugs again now.
Maybe bringing Mrs Stone a valentine gift? The pair of them stayed at the top of the Gorse as I worked at the cam that day.
It was a sunny day on the 14th, which made a nice change.
Feb 15th was a snowy day and they all came out to meet me! Is there a song there?
That is a two-shot panorama, I was often too close to get them both in the frame.
I loved the shots of Mrs S on a weed stem, nice background. I didn’t see them again until the 18th, there are gaps in my visits 🙂
I think he’s grumpy with the break in visits!
Feb 19th I didn’t see them at the cam site but, as I crossed the reed beds, I spotted them foraging around.
They were starting to forage for themselves out in the reed beds, as it should be but it felt very empty back at the cam site.
I saw them again on the 20th.
That was it until the 28th.
Out in the reeds again, I had been over several times in between and they never turned up at the cam site again.
I have caught glimpses of one or the other from time to time, I still go over to check the camera but the area is now empty, they have all moved on to start their wild lives. I was hugely privileged to get so close, so many times and maybe I’ll get to see them again as the year wears down to Winter again? Meanwhile I have Skylarks galore in the fields and they are wee beggars to get shots of, I’ll never get shots like these. The warblers have started to arrive so i have plenty to keep me busy.
Waiting for Whinchats now 😉
Thank you if you made it all the way through these. Stay safe and well.
patch photos
Scozmo's Photery 