Fantastic. Brilliant photos. I have stone chats behind the house. Noisy little so-and-sos. Got a few nice pictures of them during the summer. Will try again when I get a hide in position. Great advice on moving the feeder into position bit by bit.
Hi, Some lovley images there, we have these as Winter visitors in Greece but trying to get close is a little difficult, you gave me a good idea there, thankyou. Russ.
Excellent work again. I find nice piece of flowering gorse works well, pinning (live) mealworms to the gorse thorns the stonechat will often flutter and try and pick off the mealworms rather than land on the gorse.
Gran trabajo Mike con las tarabillas. Personalmente llevo trabajando años con ellas y todos los años entablo una amistad que perdura todo el invierno. Les llevo tenebrios y tras un período de adaptación me reconocen cuando me ven. Posan sin ningún hide de por medio y posan de maravilla, por supuesto también comen.
Excellent video Mike. I see @Fu Alexander has been shooting them in Hong Kong, I have been photographing Siberian Stonechats in Hainan Island, just a short distance away. I have never been able to get them to eat any (dead) mealworms I have left out for them. I like your set up and the idea of moving it incrementally to desired location. Look forward to trying it. Keep them coming.
I love the guidance you give on these posts Mike. Two questions, how do you keep your hands warm (I'm guessing you don't), and how do you obtain the permissions from land owners? I'm quite asthmatic, but I would like to give something outside the garden a try. Thanks for the beautiful photography.
Only ordinary cheap gloves John. Nothing fancy. I knock on doors and ask. Finding out who owns land is the hard part. Sometimes they say no and sometimes yes.
These are brilliant hides, I use exactly the same type for controlling the magpies with an air rifle on the local reserve for the wardens, they are so discrete nobody ever comments on them, and the magpies are oblivious to what's occurring!
