Wagtails Poem by Alison Gaff

Wagtails come in three different types
But all share that long iconic tail
There's pied and grey and yellow too
All look dainty and quite frail

The pied is the most common one
In shades of black and grey
They are constantly bobbing up and down
Then with a flick they fly away

There often seen by roadsides
Playing chicken with the traffic
They quickly pick up the dazed insects
As they are really calorific

The grey is the most graceful one
With its white throat and yellow chest
He loves fast running water
Bobbing for dragonfly nymphs is the best

Now the yellow wagtail is often found
In meadows and pastures damp and wet
And if there is cattle in the field
More insects and grubs they'll get

Nesting for the pied wagtalis, could be anywhere
Underneath a tile or a crevice in a tree
They'll line it with moss and spider webs
So well hidden, you can't see

The yellow and the grey ones
Nest in a moulded grassy cup
Hiding 'neath the thicket hedge
Till the chicks are all grown up.