Penninis, St Mary's - Wryneck

Whilst I was attempting to shelter from the heavy rain, I found the leeward side of a large rock. This Wryneck sought the same in a small cave in the rocks!

Eventually sensing it was dry enough to recommence feeding, out he popped!

Business as usual until the next squall?

Penninis, St Mary's - Snow Bunting

Started the day walking to / around Penninis Head and eventually caught up with the Snow Bunting which had been reported earlier...

In one of the fields adjacent to King Edward's Road, not the easiest of locations but faithful to the same spot in between squalls!

It came ridiculously close at times!

Constantly eating the contents of seed pots, as seen below...

I wonder how many tiny seeds are consumed in a day??

St. Mary's - Penninis - Ortolan Bunting take 2

The Ortolan Bunting was causing the customary blockage of pedestrians this morning and I got one or two opportunities to take some pics under delightful blue skies...

Never easy to pin down with a clean background...

But close-up crops keep clutter to a minimum...

And nice to get the lichen covered wall shot again!

Blue skies this time and with news of the Tawny Pipit showing well at the airfield, another good bird beckoned...

St Mary's - Penninis - Ortolan Bunting

The bags were dumped in the room, a few essentials bought from the Co op and then I headed up the coast path to Penninis to see the (normally) showy Ortolan Bunting? Except it wasn't doing anything today apart from hiding from the endless stream of walkers and dogs...  It took me well over an hour to locate it and then it was a matter of getting down low to capture it on the narrow path!

There was a bit of a verge which gave decent 'grassy' views...

Picking off seeds from the vegetation...

And giving some nice frame filling opportunities despite the side lighting!

It hopped up on the nearby wall to escape passers by, showing the potential for a different though more distant image...

But that's one for another day? I had a boat to catch....