Juvenile Pied Wagtail, originally uploaded by andyskelton-a Blog a day http://andrewskelton.net.
The Pied Wagtail that used to visit our garden during the winter months has been conspicuous by it’s absence for several months now. I really wasn’t pleased with the pictures I posted of it, the lighting was very poor.
Of the many positive things about the UK, the lighting conditions for a wildlife photographer during the winter months isn’t one of them. We have seen more of our fair share of sunny days this year and as chronicled during the last two blog entries, the rain that had been present for most of Sunday had been dissipated by the strong May sunshine.
I spotted this little fellow after listening to a talk given by the Keepers at the elephant enclosure. The water that had been provided for the elephants to bathe in, as well as play in, was also the breeding ground for numerous insects types. The juvenile Pied Wagtails had obviously learnt quickly that these would be easy pickings as a number of them were stationed around the pool. The one pictured was quite well aware of me but was unconcerned, something that always helps when photographing wildlife.
I do feel I’ve taken some images of this bird that does it justice.. so that’s one down, only another 10,000 other birds varieties to go.
