Written for Micro-Season: “The Wagtail Calls”: Naturalist Weekly.
September 12 to September 16 is the micro-season of “The Wagtail Calls”.
This is the second micro-season of the season of White Dew.
All wagtails are insectivores, have long tails, and perform a similar tail-wagging
behavior from which their name is derived. Wagtails often live near waterways,
roost in trees, and have ground nests.
Japanese Wagtail
The Japanese wagtail (Motacilla grandis) is native to both Japan and Korea. This
bird is about 8 inches long (20 centimeters) and has black upperparts, throats, and
back, with a white underbelly.
I have seen this wee bird. Just when I soaked my feet in this river, one day, the Jaunty
little thing came to show me how birds do it. Lucky for me, I had my camera ready.
Check out this video I posted on Instagram the other day.
A simple dip
Near me he waggles
Next, flies his tail home
*
He water-shimmies—
A real cowboy in the stream
Fast, wee wagtail zooms home
*
Gayly he waggles
Leaves footmarks on the pebbles
Jaunty li’l wagtail
*
© selma
Thanks, Naturalist Weekly, for letting me practice this here.
And thanks to everyone for reading.
Photo: Image by Rajesh Balouria from Pixabay
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What luck to be able to capture this little bird in action. Lovely set of poems
oh so breathtaking this sweet bird and your wonderful poetry Selma❣️
“Jaunty li’l wagtail” is my favorite.❤️
Entertaining little birdie. I can stand for long moments looking out my picture window to watch my avian visitors.
‘My’ creek though is not one I would stick my toes in. Lovely to watch the heron fly following the creeks water course.
Cheers and have sweet dreams.
Beautiful little bird and your poem is amazing.
It’s so cool that you have the video to go along with your poems! Thanks for sharing all this with us!
A nice trio of haiku. Well done, Selma
Nice 🙂
What nice capture the little bird and make the write a poem.
Nice words use in poem.
Oh! So great you got a video, Selma. Beautiful poem too.
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Great video and haiku! I love that you shared the wagtail with us. 🩵
Cute li’l guy. Xoxo 🐦
I love the birds too, Selma. They brighten our lives.
What a lovely bird and beautiful poem. I have a real love for birds and their grace in everything they do. Thank you for this lovely share.
It’s my pleasure Joni. Blessings.
Beautiful trio Selma 💕
So nice of you to say. Bless you. XoXo
This is lovely Selma
Thank you. I’m so glad you liked it. Blessing you. XoXo