It was nice to find a couple of fledged Wheatears at the Bill Quarry this evening - the second year in succession that there's been a successful outcome here...
...the youngsters might have looked plump and tidy but the male's looking decidedly shoddy and scrawny after his efforts over the last few weeks:
It was also nice to finally confirm from the part-read ring number that the female of the pair is indeed one of last year's youngsters; sadly, the male's never been trapped so we can't prove he's the same individual in both breeding attempts but, this being Portland where incest's evidently a deeply ingrained facet of local culture, we wouldn't mind betting that's the case © Martin Cade:
 |
