Saturday 11 November 2017

A Willy Wag Tale

 
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(Image of Willy Wagtail bird from Google)

In mid October we discovered this nest made from spider webs on the front verandah.  Mr and Mrs Willy Wag-tail took turns at sitting on the eggs, but as they chose to build above the busiest traffic area on our entire property, they seemed to be spending more time watching their nest from the trees nearby and scolding us with their cranky twitchy grumbles every time we or the dogs walked below.
I really doubted the success of this season's hatching, but within a few weeks little black heads started to appear above the rim of the nest.

I'm always concerned that they build their nest too small for the capacity of family they raise. The original inventors of the 'Tiny House' movement.
In years past their nests in the apple tree, have provided good reason for my concern, with a baby bird plummeting to the ground long before it was ready to fly.

So I was prepared for premature tumbles this year, but yesterday all three, one by one, fluttered out into the world beyond.
Today they are all flying about the garden with both parents attending to their demands.
Now I can relax until it all happens again next year, and I wonder which location they might choose.


9 comments:

  1. Wonderful! Lovely that all three made it out into the wider world safe and sound. Meg:)

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  2. How cute they are, Sally. Glad you can relax now :-)

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  3. Aw, babies. So sweet! I'm glad they stayed in the nest, until it was time to fly. My mum was telling me about some willy wagtails, that have started to nest under her verandah. Only there's two sets of parents.

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    1. That sounds very unusual Chris. The parents are both so protective and take in turns to sit on the eggs, so I wonder if there are two nests under your mum's verandah.

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    2. Yep, two nests. She thought it might be one set of parents, manning two separate nests - but wasn't sure. She's going to do a covert observation operation soon, on exactly how many willy wagatails she notices, and hopefully get back to me.

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  4. Hi Sally, Bob and I have the biggest Willy Wag Tail we have ever seen who graces us with his sweet presence every day. We affectionately call him 'Fatty' and he is a whopper. There are lots of his progeny around but none quite as big as our darling 'Fatty'. Willy Wag Tails are very important to me and my paternal family because I am an Aboriginal Elder of the Peramangk Mob of South Australia and the Willy Wag Tail or Jitta Jitta as he is known to us is one of our Totem creatures. Jitta Jitta is to be treated with respect because he is also known as The Stealer of Secrets and so voices are always lowered when Jitta Jitta comes visiting. I have a small gold Jitta Jitta I wear on a gold chain.

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    1. Merryl I often think of you when I see the Willy Wagtails. Jitta Jitta is the perfect name for them as their call is jitta jitta. I also think of my dear old mum, they were her favorite bird to watch. The keeper of secrets sounds perfect, I always knew they were special.

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