I started my wildlife day early and before 8 I was sat in my hide hoping for a Kingfisher experience. The Grey Wagtails have been giving me such great photo opportunities and I make no apologies for posting yet more photos of them. The great thing about wildlife photography is that every outing offers something different depending on the prevailing light and this morning, as the sun started to get higher there was a glorious brightness. My strategically placed log looked so inviting and it was only a matter of seconds really before the Grey Wagtail male was perched in my viewfinder so to speak. Seeing this pair of Grey Wagtails so often this last weeks has been a real treat. “Make hay while the sun shines” is an English proverb and I certainly am going to get as many shots of these “celebrity” birds while I can. When I first saw them last week it was just the female that I seemed to see. Then the male appeared but I didn’t get many pictures of him at first. They are obviously paired up and call to each other constantly but only once have I seen them within a few feet of each other. I am using these wagtails as an opportunity to improve my technique and have tried with different lenses and settings as well as fill flash. However, bright light certainly makes photography easier.In this first shot today he left the log to look for insects amongst the streamside vegetation.

During this interesting session, the Little Egret did a spot of fishing and I watched him/her catch and eat a small fish but unfortunately he did not show well enough to get a good photo. There is also a resident pair of Mallard Ducks. I thought that this was an interesting shot of the drake bathing.

Later in the afternoon I went out to Dawlish Warren to try and find Sanderling to photograph but surprisingly I didn’t find any at all. I probably arrived at the wrong time of the tide. Birds that I did see included, Greenfinch, Linnet, Northern Wheatear, Sandwhich Tern, greater Spotted Woodpecker and Chiffchaff. There are a several resident Magpie and I took a few shots of them. I quite like this species contrary to most other peoples opinions. They are intelligent and quite attractively marked but their habit of eating songbird eggs and chicks makes them unpopular. As a youth, my brother had apet Magpie which was a great character. It would mimic the dog barking as well as tease the dog by calling her. It also coughed like my mother who I remember had bronchitus at the time. It also pecked at you at any opportunity!

I took an almost brilliant image of a Blue Tit – Cyanistes caeruleus. If only it had shown it’s head.