Stonechat still with chicks in late August.

Stonechat are common breeding birds in Devon but perhaps not in August. I was told of a nest that contained youngsters somewhere on Dartmoor and with the breeding season almost completely over elsewhere I thought I would go and see if I could find it. I had been given good directions but it was still quite hard to find the nest. I found the area and the territory without too much difficulty, apart from quite a hike and a lot of physical effort. When I got there I found the pair of birds just where I was told they would be. I had a cursory look around but I was conscious that I was disturbing them so I decided to sit well away and watch where they were going. I noted there favourite perches where they were sighting flying insects which they would then catch on the wing and usually fly back, flycatcher-like to the perch they had flown from. This was obviously a great photo opportunity, the light was perfect, the background even better and I would have been really disappointed if I hadn't been able to get some good photographs. Half of the difficulty of good bird photography is finding your subject and then having good light and a good background. It isn't too often that all these factors are in place but in this case they were. After a couple of hours it was time to go home and before I departed I just went for a quick look again and this time I found it immediately. It contained 3 fully feathered youngsters and I moved away quickly so as as not to cause any disturbance. It was exciting to find the nest and a great education to find the nest and have a quick look. An extremely rewarding day.