All Creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful
The Lord made them all
Each little flower that opens
Each little bird that sings
He made their glowing colours
He made their tiny wings."
Wagtail {Motacilla capensis} - watercolour in Moleskine Folio 200gsm - 12" x 8.5" - Maree©
Gewone kwikkie [Afrikaans]; Umcelu, Umvemve, Umventshana (generic terms for wagtail - [Xhosa]; umVemve (generic term for wagtail - [Zulu]; Kamukombo (generic term for wagtails - [Kwangali]; Motjoli (generic term for wagtails - [South Sotho]; Moletašaka [North Sotho]; Mandzedzerekundze, Matsherhani, N'wapesupesu [Tsonga]; Mokgôrônyane [Tswana]; Kaapse kwikstaart [Dutch]; Bergeronnette du Cap [French]; Kapstelze [German]; Alvéola do Cabo [Portuguese]
Just outside my studio window, our resident Wagtail has been acting like a water bird - wading the soaking lawns, pulling out the insects and having a feast! She stayed, not minding the rain at all, except for the hardest down-pours, during which she disappeared for a while, but was back as soon as it cleared up a bit.
We've been having enormous amounts of rain, the garden is loving it as much as the Wagtail! They've built their nest in an Olive tree inside my bathroom court yard and it amazes me that it is very low and within reaching distance. Very trusting little creatures!
The Wagtail occupies Uganda, eastern DRC and Kenya, but the bulk of its population extends from southern DRC through Zambia and Angola to southern Africa. Here it is especially common across South Africa, Swaziland and Lesotho, while more scarce in Namibia, northern and south-eastern Botswana, Zimbabwe and southern Mozambique. It can occur almost anywhere that has open ground adjacent to water, also favouring the rocky coastline, farms, villages, cultivated land, parks, gardens and urban centres.
Lovely pose and nicely painted. The only wagtail we have round here is the Pied Wagtail, usually in pairs and hoping and bouncing about, tails waging all the time.
ReplyDeleteHi Frank, that tail bouncing is wonderful, isn't it? Her husband wasn't far away, he just didn't crawl the water so much!
ReplyDeleteMaree, love your site! I am also Hedgie----in Hedgesville, WV, US of A! I'm a member of a group called the Eaglet Momsters who support the American Bald Eagle cam at the US Fish&Wildlife Service National Conservation Training Center in Shepherdstown, WV, USA.
ReplyDeleteYou can view our cam and info at:
FWS NCTC Eagle Cam Please come check out our 2010 eaglet Palmer.
Nice to meet you hedgie! Just LOVE your eaglet on the cam, great stuff. And thanks for popping in here!
ReplyDeleteSo glad you checked out our cam, Maree! Our gal should be fledging within the next couple of weeks. This is the second year in a row that we've only had one successful hatch.
ReplyDeleteForgot to tell you that I loved your story about your Hedgie, as well as all of the interesting things you have here!
Thanks hedgie! And I'll pop in from time to time to keep an eye on your gal!
ReplyDeleteI love your watercolor style. I am in the process of learning watercolor (on my own) and I know I will learn a lot from your blogs. Your photography is amazing too.
ReplyDeleteHi Margaret! Great of you to pop in! Welcome to the world of watercolours and I'm glad I can be of inspiration! Have you ever visited my art blog? (http://artandcreativity-maree.blogspot.com) Would love to see you there! You can also pop in to RedBubble for a quick look at more of my art (http://www.redbubble.com/people/MareeClarkson). Have a great day!
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