Monday 28th: This afternoon there was visitor to the garden that, to our recollection, we have never seen before. Unusual in that this bird, a Grey Wagtail, is generally associated with rivers, fast flowing streams and the countryside. To see one padding about in your back garden... a small back garden in the middle of an estate must be very rare indeed. The Grey Wagtail was seen by Mel to be walking and bobbing on the fallen reeds and then standing in the waterfall against the flow looking for water-borne insects. This first video shows the Grey Wagtail amongst the reeds of the pond.
This next video shows the Grey Wagtail standing in the waterfall, against the flow, poking around for tasty insects.
Earlier in the day, 10:50am, Mel spied a Sparrowhawk hiding amongst the conifers, waiting to ambush anything that came her way. This is a different Sparrowhawk to the last one that visited a few weeks ago. That afternoon it was a male, today... a female. This raises the questions; are two rival Sparrowhawks overlapping territories? Are these a pair looking to establish a territory for the winter? Or are they siblings, learning to hunt in a secure environment?
