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I can scarcely believe the progress of these young Meadow Pipits.  They hatched only last Thursday and yet have already opened their eyes, and have at least quadrupled in size.  Pin feathers are erupting all over the body. I suspect that the strategy for survival at this age is to  fledge the nest at a very young age, they are extremely vulnerable  at this age and the shorter the time spent in the nest, the better. I will be interested to see how much they have grown in 24 hours when I return later today.

Yesterday was a great day on Dartmoor for one or two different birds and insects. I have been aware of Garden Warbler at Challacombe farm, Dartmoor  for the last couple of years but have rarely had the chance to take a photograph, that is until yesterday when I had some terrific views. It is often stated that a really good diagnostic feature of Garden Warbler is that they don't have any distinguishing marks………… no eye stripes or wing bars, but they do posses a faint eye ring.   They are, however, not drab to my eyes  and in fact quite attractive in a sombre way. They are slightly larger than Willow Warbler for example and have a strong, largish beak, they are in fact very similar, and closely related to Blackcap Warblers but without the cap. Males and females are alike.

 So, after getting this nice image of one of the less often photographed and seen species, (for example for every 1 Garden Warbler there are 10 Blackcaps), I went off to another area of the moor that I haven't  visited for a while. It was very interesting and rewarding, apart from being very pretty as well! Stonechat were breeding and I was obviously smack in the middle of their territory because they were carrying food around. I thought I had found their nest, but no! A very old Hawthorn tree seemed to be the centre of all activity and I couldn't believe my eyes when a really gorgeous Yellowhammer (Emberiza cirlus) appeared very close to me. I am disappointed that I didn't get a better photo. It also amazes me that not more fuss is made of this species, they are so, so pretty. As a boy growing up in the East Midlands we saw them very often and I obviously took them for granted even though they are so spectacular. as you can see.

So, did it get better? Yes it did because I took some lovely shots of the Beautiful Demoiselle. You may remember that I blogged about them the other day and said that they were very similar to the related Banded Demoiselle.