Stonechat

 For today I am taking a break from the puffin and other seabird shots and have shared a few images of male and female stonechats. I photographed these on Wooltack Point while waiting for the crossing to Skomer. There were lots of songbirds flying about and singing loudly but most were very difficult to spot let alone photograph. With a bit of patience however I managed to get these shots and I really like the colours with the gorse in full bloom as a backdrop. It is very likely that I was close to the nest in these shots because they commonly nest in gorse, and why not? with its sharp thorns it provides a natural protective barrier to would be predators. They lay 5 or 6 eggs and will generally have 2 or 3 broods in a nesting season. That seems like a lot of work for such little birds.