This is a female Stonechat.  When you just look at the pictures  you can obviously appreciate a few  little flaws and perhaps you may say, what a shame that the angle that they were in when photographed was not ideal.  Perhaps you may also say, shame about the background for example. What the pictures don't show nor reflect is the amount of effort that went in to achieving what is, to be honest reasonably good shots but in reality, also quite mediocre, The first thing to say, is this bird was literally only 6 feet from me when the shots were taken. I have been watching a pair of Stonechat on Dartmoor for the last week and hatching a plan to get up and close to them.  As my photography and wildlife watching skills develop I have realised that the only way to get first class sharp images is to be as close as possible to your subject. This is all well and good, but birds do not want you up and close to them! Field-craft and camouflage is 100% paramount. Now this is all well and good, I have a pop-up chair hide which in some circumstances can work very well but out on the moor these Stonechats were not fooled by that at all. So I studied the birds really closely and decided which perches they preferred and when I had made a decision, I built a small "natural" hide from Gorse (ouch, that hurts), bracken and dry grasses. What I hadn't realised was that once under this natural cover, I was looking up in to the sunlight which is always going to make photography hard.  So there I am sat  waiting and within minutes the female Stonechat was in front of me, wow, that is exciting I have to tell you.  Here is a bird that, up until now had only allowed me within 30 feet of her, now coming  really close to me. I snapped away really concentrating and wishing it really was the male! He was never fooled, they are more wary than females in my experience. I plan to return, I have another plan. On the moor, if you are going to fool the birds you must use the available natural cover.  If only I had paid more attention when I served in the Royal Marines.