Andrés Luis Dominguez Blanco's Image

Andrés had seen stonechats hunting insects in a meadow near his home. So he asked his father to drive him there in order to use the car as a hiding place for taking photographs. Looking through an open window, he watched this particular stonechat perch on a plant. As the bird maintained perfect balance, Andrés made the perfect frame.

The stonechat is a small bird with a call that sounds like two stones tapping together, hence its name. It is widespread throughout the heaths and bogs of southern Europe, feeding on insects, seeds and fruit like blackberries. Some – including the one pictured – are resident all year round, while others fly to northern Africa for winter.