Farm Talk - Robin vs Wagtail

Camera: Fuji FinePix 2800ZOOM

I posted this article before, in Sept 2008, don't know how many people would go that far back in the archives, but at the moment I've got a very similar scenario going on between my Robins and Cape Wagtails, vying for the best nesting spot in my Fan Palm tree, so I thought I would just publish it again. Luckily, as yet, there have been no fatalities so I'm hoping they'll be able to sort out their differences.

Up until the end of April 2003, we had lived on our smallholding (8,5ha) in Tarlton since 1975. Over the years, I had established a lush garden with numerous indigenous trees and various types of ivies, one of which covered the kitchen wall on the South side of the house and in which the Wagtails made their home. I also had a resident pair of Cape Robins, nesting in the ivy creeping up a dead tree trunk opposite the Wagtails. I dearly loved my Cape Robins, who would take mince out of my hands at the kitchen window, but I must inform you that they are utter terrorists as far as the Wagtails are concerned!

Over a period of 2 weeks, I watched in fascination as both the Robin and Wagtail parents fed their chicks. (After a long, careful search I located the Wagtail nest in the ivy on the kitchen wall – the Robins’ nest was much lower opposite them and more obvious). Both sets of parents scurried hurriedly for the available cache of insects and the Robins, who would dive-bomb and chase them at every opportunity, constantly harassed worms, with one hitch – the Wagtails.



Then, one morning, I heard the Wagtails’ panicky cries and to my utter horror, found the Robin plucking the Wagtail chicks from their nest, dropping them, bleeding and fatally injured. The gentler Wagtails could do nothing but scurry helplessly about. I tried to rescue the unfortunate Wagtail chicks, but to no avail – they were already dying.

The only conclusion I could come to was that the Robins regarded the kitchen window and my mince meals as their domain and begrudged the Wagtails being anywhere in the vicinity!

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A bit of Marketing

As some of you might (or might not!) know, I am an artist by profession and, being absolutely enthralled by Nature, it is natural for me to sketch and paint the beauty I find in our natural world. Who can fail to marvel at the shape of a leaf, the sleek power of a cheetah, the dance of the wind over a grassland? I thank the Universe for this most amazing inspiration, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and for the blue dream of sky and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes.

Albert Einstein said, “A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.” I SO agree with him!

I display and have my artwork for sale on various websites. At RedBubble you have a choice of Greeting cards, Photographic prints, Matted prints, Framed prints, Posters, T-shirts and iPhone covers. If you're interested in buying some of my original artworks, feel free to look around in my Sales Blog. This is not a hard-sell site! Please feel free to browse and leave your comments - I'd love to hear from you! Or perhaps you just like browsing art, in which case you can visit me at Art & Creativity - My Sketchbook, where I post a wide selection of art on a regular basis.

 

Thank you for stopping by and, as always, I really enjoy your comments!

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Wagtail - A Wader?

"All things bright and beautiful
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.

Farm Talk - Robin vs Wagtail

WELCOME to my Nature Blog! Here I will share my life on my little piece of African soil, an 8,5ha smallholding situated in Tarlton (Gauteng,South Africa). Join me in celebrating all Mother Nature has to offer. I believe every creature, large or small, every plant, rock, mountain, river, or sea that has come into being has the right to exist in its place, to be respected and to fulfil its role within the community of life. I respect Mother Earth in all her many forms and pledge to harm no thing and no one and to safeguard the fertility of the soils, the purity of water and air, and the health of natural communities inhabiting this planet.

Camera: Fuji FinePix 2800ZOOM

Up until the end of April 2003, we had lived on our smallholding (8,5ha) in Tarlton since 1975. Over the years, I had established a lush garden with numerous indigenous trees and various types of ivies, one of which covered the kitchen wall on the South side of the house and in which the Wagtails made their home. I also had a resident pair of Cape Robins, nesting in the ivy creeping up a dead tree trunk opposite the Wagtails. I dearly loved my Cape Robins, who would take mince out of my hands at the kitchen window, but I must inform you that they are utter terrorists as far as the Wagtails are concerned!

Over a period of 2 weeks, I watched in fascination as both the Robin and Wagtail parents fed their chicks. (After a long, careful search I located the Wagtail nest in the ivy on the kitchen wall – the Robins’ nest was much lower opposite them and more obvious). Both sets of parents scurried hurriedly for the available cache of insects and worms, with one hitch - the Robins would dive-bomb and chase the Wagtails at every opportunity – making it very difficult for the Wagtails to feed their chicks in peace.

Then, one morning, I heard the Wagtails’ panicky cries and to my utter horror, found the Robin plucking the Wagtail chicks from their nest, dropping them, bleeding and fatally injured. The gentler Wagtails could do nothing but scurry helplessly about. I tried to rescue the unfortunate Wagtail chicks, but to no avail – they were already dying.

The only conclusion I could come to was that the Robins regarded the kitchen window and my mince meals as their domain and begrudged the Wagtails being anywhere in the vicinity!

.