My regular readers will know how much I love certain areas of Dartmoor. Some of the scenery can be a bit too stark but the little valleys and wooded areas are just magical and to me very special places. I love the area between Bennet's Cross and Sousons Plantation, it's called Headland Warren I believe. Yesterday I went again to try and photograph Whinchats and Cuckoo's and of course Willow Warbler and Reed Buntings, and along with Chaffinch, certainties in this area. They are not in the least bit hard to find. We are smack in the middle of the breeding season and I have enjoyed, in the short time since being back from Australia, getting to know the territories of a few pairs. I am not a "Twitcher" kind of birder, I have no real desire to keep lists and add to it like some people (who incidentally, I have the greatest respect for). My methods involve finding a territory and sitting quietly concealed to get as intimate as I can with my subject and then learning as much as I can about them. I took the Willow Warbler photographs (above) close to their nest site and I was interested to see that I could, for certain tell the difference between the male and female. The male had much more yellow on it'e plumage whereas the female was devoid of any yellow. Not a revelation but not something I have read about before. This is the female I believe, (below) and the male immediately above with much more noticeable yellow.
Recent Comments