Grey Wagtail

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 Last week when I was on a mission to photograph dippers by the river I heard another bird that is often found by fast flowing rivers and that is the grey wagtail.


We haver three sorts of wagtail in this part of the world. Pied wagtail are black and white (we sometimes see these in the garden and they use a variety of common habitats). Yellow wagtail are very yellow with a yellow head ( a scarce summer migrant and I have never seen one here.) Grey wagtails are sometimes confused with the yellow ones but have only  a yellow rump. Grey wagtails are the ones with the longest tail and the shortest legs of all the wagtails. They really do wag their tails as they stand on a rock by the river. Like the dipper they have an explosive "metallic" call that is audible above the noise of the river. They live off river invertebrates. The one in the photo appears to have caught some sort of mayfly. Male birds have a black bib in  the breeding season so I am guessing that the bird in the photograph is a female.

Diary
Still dry but chilly with overnight temps of only 2C. I set all my camera traps near the house to look for stoats. I did get a fleeting glimpse of a stoat but not good enough to post. Several wood mice, a handful of rabbits and the cat from the farm down the road! A dawn chorus of sorts seems to get going at around 0530 hrs. Lots of woodpecker drumming but they seem to have a lie in and don't get going until after breakfast!


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