I LOVE watching the moorland areas between Sabden and Higham. This week I found a pair of stonechats which were breeding among gorse bushes, which are now yellow with flowers.

Stonechats are tough dumpy robin-like little birds measuring about five inches (12.5 centimetres).

Most breed along the coast but there are also a few pairs which nest inland.

The male has a shiny black head and back plus an attractive chestnut-coloured breast and a white rump. The female is duller.

The male perches on the topmost twig, singing away and fluttering high in the air before returning to a perch a little distance away.

The male makes a "chat-chat-chat" call which resembles two pebbles being knocked together. This accounts for the name stonechat.