Grey Wagtail on my Garden

[Ely Teehankee]

First time for me to have a visit of a migratory Grey Wagtail (Motacilla cinerea) 176mm (7 inches) on my garden. It was a pleasant surprise as I was meeting some people when it landed on the second layer of the waterfall. I excused myself and set up my camera & tripod and these are the pictures that I got.



Canon EOS 1D Mark IV, Canon EF 800mm f5.6L IS USM, Gitzo GT3530LS tripod, M-3.6 Mongoose Gimbal Action Head. Manual exposure in available light.



Grey Wagtail landed and started eating the moss that has gathered on the concrete platform.
1/200 sec., f/7.1, ISO 1600




A second one arrived but was chased out by the first one.
1/250 sec., f/8, ISO 1600




Yellow-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus goiavier) 190 mm ( 7 1/2 inches)
This bird took a plunge at the flower pot that was partially filled with water and he liked it.
1/160 sec., f/8, ISO 1600




He decided to take a longer bath inside it and came out looking like this.
1/160 sec., f/8, ISO 1600



This Grey Wagtail looks different from the usual ones that I see. Probably a juvenile.
1/200 sec., f/7.1, ISO 1600




It looks like he enjoyed eating the moss.
1/200 sec., f/7.1, ISO 1600

[Tirso Paris]

Beautiful captures of the wagtails and the bulbul Ely. Very sharp and perfect exposures.

[Tateo Osawa]

Very nice shots of the wagtails Ely, ! beautiful I like first and second photo very much.

[Ely Teehankee]

Oct 8, 2012 12:35:20 GMT Tirso Paris said:

Beautiful captures of the wagtails and the bulbul Ely. Very sharp and perfect exposures.

Thank you Tirso. Remember the Wagtail that we saw in Majayjay. That was a distant shot so I am quite happy being able to take this at 10.8 meters.

[Ely Teehankee]

Oct 8, 2012 14:37:19 GMT Tateo Osawa said:

Very nice shots of the wagtails Ely, ! beautiful I like first and second photo very much.

Thank you Tateo. It is now October and the raining season, I think, is about to end. We will all have a better birding opportunity.

[Godfrey "Godo" Jakosalem]

Great set Sir Ely!

[Ely Teehankee]

Oct 9, 2012 0:22:23 GMT Godfrey "Godo" Jakosalem said:

Great set Sir Ely!

Thank you Godo. I am looking forward to see you when you come to Manila for the bird fair.

[Dennis Alfaro]

Love the pic 1 & 2! the background added some effect to the image.

[Ely Teehankee]

Oct 9, 2012 7:39:01 GMT Dennis Alfaro said:

Love the pic 1 & 2! the background added some effect to the image.

Thank you Dennis. That is part of the waterfall. The purpose of the waterfall is to aerate the water to give more oxygen to the fish.

[Mark Itol]

Beautiful images, Ely! Well done!

[Ely Teehankee]

Oct 9, 2012 13:29:07 GMT Mark Itol said:

Beautiful images, Ely! Well done!

Thank you Mark. It was fun to have been able to do that. It was also made possible that the bird came back after his first trip.

[Michael R. Anton]

Nice captures of the Wagtail, Ely!

[Ely Teehankee]

Oct 10, 2012 7:24:05 GMT Michael R. Anton said:

Nice captures of the Wagtail, Ely!

Thank you Mike. Strange but wonderful occurrence having a visit from a Grey Wagtail.

[Edwin Matias]

Sir Ely,

Great Series, esp the Wagtail.

Regards,
Edwin

[Ely Teehankee]

Oct 12, 2012 5:43:46 GMT Edwin Matias said:

Sir Ely,

Great Series, esp the Wagtail.

Regards,
Edwin

Thank you Edwin. That was really by chance that the Grey Wagtail passed by. It was really a pleasant surprise to me.