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11/11/2017

Willy Wag Tails


WILLY WAGTAIL Rhipidura leucophrys

 

Adjoining the Kilmore Sewerage Ponds out at Willowmavin, is a paddock belonging to "Trust For Nature". It is a small allotment, perhaps20 to 40 acres in size. It contains quite a lot of timber and is generally ungrazed land.


It is a pretty spot, very quiet, and being adjacent
 to the to the sewerage ponds, there is plenty of water.

The Willy wag tails were very busy. I watched a pair for quite a while, flying up and down to a forked branch. It took a few minutes before I realized they were building a nest. It seemed a little exposed, in the fork of a branch, quite a distance from the trunk, out on the end of the limb.  One, I assumed to be the male, would wind some cob webs into the nest. He would stand back a little, whilst his mate would sit on the nest, as if to see that it was the right size and shape for her.



One of the birds had his whole head covered in spider's silk. When I looked closely, spider web was a major part of the construction of the nest.

 I have just finished reading a wonderful book called 'Bird Minds'  by an Australian writer Gisela Kaplan, which beautifully describes birds flying, as they carry cob webs for their nests.




Between visits, Mrs. Wagtail, seemed to be trying the nest for size and comfort.





A little distance away, I came across another pair. These were busy feeding  a couple of, almost fully fledged chicks.

Whilst they were aware I was watching, they seemed unconcerned. Each took a turn to stand watch, while the other flew off to gather food for the young.









They would then swap positions. The first watching whilst the first went off to forage.














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