We’ve had a lovely little family of pied wagtails nesting under the roof of the barn.
I’m not sure exactly home many chicks fledged, certainly at least one (and sadly one that didn’t make it). The parents certainly grafted, with the male endlessly on the move hunting for food.
The male was ringed, I’m not sure how common a thing that is, I got frustratingly close to working out the ring details, but not close enough.
I so enjoyed their industry and their chatter. I never managed to capture how the male would land on PV panels on the barn roof, give the dipping wag of its tail and slide elegantly down from the top to the bottom of the panel, it amused me for hours, I think he might have enjoyed it too.
When the chicks were hatched the female was hunting too. She got rich picking from the ants that were starting to fly, emerging from a hole in the wall under my office window.
This was just a couple of days before the true ‘flying ant day’ when a swarm emerged.
She just picked them off, there was no escape.
A flying feast.
The chick I did see, hung out in a willow tree, calling for yet more food, the parents both feeding and chasing off persistent predatory magpies.
Then it was quiet, the nest empty, and its residents off on the wing. I hope they will return next year, it’s the first time they nested with us. I like to think (hope) it is because of the changes we’ve made to how we mange both the field and the grass around the house and apple trees, we cut much less, and much later, and I think this is making a big improvement to the number of insect there are around.
Uphilldowndale 
Wagtails are irrepressibly cheerful in my view so I am envious of your visitors. I am interested that you feel that you are getting more insects. We have tried to go down the same route but there has been no improvement in the number of insects as far as I can see. We have had some very odd weather this year though.
Strange weather indeed. It certainly seems like we have more insects (and spiders) but I guess my observations are not very scientific. Maybe I looking for them more! I imagine this will be a second brood for the birds, it seemed to tie in with a large number of chunky dragonflies, which would go a long way to feed a hungry family.
Lovely post and pictures. Lucky you having them nesting then raising young like that. I generally only see them bobbing about on the pavement outside the local shops. xx
Thank you. They sometime have very large roosts in urban and city areas, especially in the winter
I laughed at the thought of a wagtail using your roofline as a slide. I know that mockingbirds often ‘dance’ and sing for the sheer pleasure of it, so why not a wagtail at play? I’m putting out plenty of dried mealworms for the mockingbirds and other insect-eaters with young right now. Dragonflies, mosquitoes, and such are in short supply because of the drought, and it seems that insects generally are keeping a low profile. I’ve found that the lizards will accept mealworms, too, so that’s a plus.
I’m imagining that a lizard might enjoy a mealworm or two, as a bit of a treat, like a bag of popcorn 🙂