Walter Wagtail

I have a single Wagtail who visits my garden most days. I've no idea if it is male or female but I shall assume it is a lonely male in search of a mate. I'm probably completely wrong and it is a very happily single female!

Anyway, I find him quite entertaining as he struts around the garden. You can see why they are called Wagtails with their tail feathers bobbing up and down with every step. Their little spindly legs amuse me too, as well as their heads jerking backwards and forwards.

Watching the bird at the weekend suddenly reminded me of a rhyme my father used to say to me when I was small. I would sit on his lap and he would say, "Walter, Walter Wagtail sat upon a wall. Walter, Walter Wagtail fell down the hole!" As my father said the word "hole", his legs would part and I would drop down the gap. My father would be holding me under my arms to stop me hitting the floor though. He would then pull me up and say the rhyme all over again. I used to shriek with laughter as he would delay the moment he said "hole", so that I never quite knew when I would drop.

At the weekend, Mr Wagtail was sat on my fence posing for ages. What you don't realise from the photo is that he was actually having a Mexican standoff with my cat Dylan who had decided to sit on the patio by the bread I had thrown out there. Dylan, bless him, was convinced the birds wouldn't spot him sat there. It was so cold, he soon gave up and came back indoors though, leaving the birds to their breakfast.