Winter wagtail

In winter the pied wagtail has, to an extent, adapted to the disappearance of the rocky, often stream-side environment they like. During my lifetime I have seen these attractive black and white birds repeatedly using locations that must provide the food that they require, places such as school playgrounds, tennis courts, car parks and roofs of all descriptions. In recent winters I have found pied wagtails searching the crannies of wood shingles on the roof of the Forestry England visitor centre at Beechenhurst in the Forest of Dean. The photograph shows one of two birds that were carefully scrutinising the roof during a recent visit.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon P950

Pied wagtail and backgrounds

There are, it seems to me, two classic bird photograph backgrounds. One shows the habitat of the bird in the image while the other deeply blurs the background to focus the viewer's attention solely on the bird. Both approaches have their advantages but the second is the easiest to achieve by far. I photographed this pied wagtail as it searched the outdoor cafe area, where we were sitting, for crumbs. In the shot it is perched at the corner of a wooden table and beyond is paving.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Pied and White Wagtails

Two relatively common bird species that are difficult to distinguish are the white wagtail (Motacilla alba) and the pied wagtail (Motacilla yarrelli). The former is highly migratory and widespread across continental Europe, visiting the British Isles in reasonable numbers. The latter is, for the most part, sedentary and breeds in the British Isles and adjacent continental Europe. Both species are the same size and shape and both are black, white and grey. Both have plumage that varies with the sex of the species, the season and the bird's age. Experienced birdwatchers are known to disagree about what they are seeing, especially when it is a first-winter or autumn bird. This photograph shows a bird I photographed foraging on a wood shingle roof. It is, I believe, a pied wagtail. Feel free to disagree.

photos © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2