Black Redstart by Adrian Dancy

 

 

Black Redstarts are such photographic birds and have a habit of affording new and exciting opportunities with every encounter. Although often nervous, they can be very approachable with patience and fieldcraft. Adrian Dancy evidently knows his local birds well, identifying this pristine male as a second-year which reared two broods in Manchester this summer, saying of the bird: "This male has just undergone moult; before he could not be distinguished from the female by plumage".

In their first summer, many male Black Redstarts retain a female-like plumage. However, when moulting in their second autumn, these younger males will acquire their full adult male plumage for the first time. And what a plumage it is! As well as the bird's beautiful appearance and its pensive pose, the diffuse surroundings with soft pinks, purples, yellows and greys make for a truly eye-catching image and a very deserving POTW winner.

 

Other notable images

 

Blackburnian Warbler, Bryher, Isles of Scilly (Richard Stonier).

Blackburnian Warbler, Bryher, Isles of Scilly (Simon King).

Common Yellowthroat, Stokkseyri, Suðurland (Alex Máni Guðríðarson).

Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Stokkseyri, Suðurland (Alex Máni Guðríðarson).

Long-tailed Duck, Fair Isle, Shetland (Georgia Platt).

Grey Phalarope, Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, Northumberland (Alan Jack).

Pectoral Sandpiper (left) and Ruff, Dernford Farm Reservoir, Cambridgeshire (Jon Heath).

Avocet, Marano Lagunare, Friuli-Venezia Giulia (Raffaele Cargnelutti).

Red-footed Falcon, Elmley NNR, Kent (Steven Ashton).

Rook, Youghal, Cork (Tom Kennedy).

European Stonechat, Walthamstow Wetlands LWT, London (Phil Aylen).

Dartford Warbler, Plemont, Jersey (Andrew Hall).

Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler, St Kilda, Outer Hebrides (Craig Nisbet).

Yellow-browed Warbler, Norwick, Unst, Shetland (Craig Bell).

Snow Bunting, Lundy, Devon (Tom Wright).