Up close and personal with an ARMENIAN STONECHAT

Spent just under an hour with an ARMENIAN-TYPE STONECHAT at the weekend, the bird performing proudly in the sunshine in St Warna's Cove, St Agnes, on SCILLY. It was favouring the sheltered beach (along with a good number of St Agnes residents and a Siberian Chiffchaff), presumably because of the rich pickings the rotting seaweed attracts. It was a first-winter male 'CASPIAN STONECHAT' - only the fourth record for Britain - and typified by its characteristic wheatear-like tail pattern, with extensive white inner webs. The rump and uppertail-coverts were still very warm coloured. It represented a British first for me and my only new bird of the year for Scilly. The following images were acquired but frustratingly, none of the open tail..........