Grey wagtail

Our day started with the Big Garden Birdwatch, which we do every year. Despite the much milder temperatures we recorded a fairly representative set of birds, with fifteen species in total, and very good numbers of greenfinches (12), goldfinches (10), collared doves (21), woodpigeons (16) and blackbirds (12). As expected, many of our more sporadic birds didn't turn up, but it was good to see a pair of stock doves (see extra), the smaller, shyer and prettier cousin of wood pigeons.

In the afternoon Chris and I took advantage of the sunshine to walk to Thorpe Hall, where he's seen a rather confiding kingfisher. However, today there was no sign of one, so we walked down to the river to see if the water rail was still around - but that was absent too. Fortunately this grey wagtail was busy feeding on the edge of the Rowing Lake, and was too preoccupied to take much notice of us. Grey wagtails mostly breed on small, fast-flowing watercourses with exposed rocks and wooded banks, but every winter we have at least one that turns up locally.