Autumn reveals natural hidden gems

Damien Enright on the joys of strolling in the countryside.

IF ONE woke up in the morning in an unfamiliar city having flown in the night before and, upon opening the curtains, saw such a gorgeous lemon-yellow-and-grey bird wagging its long, thin tail one would surely think one has arrived in some exotic clime where at any minute gibbons would come swinging through the trees and flying foxes glide past the windows.In fact, the bird is our native grey wagtail, often mistakenly called a yellow wagtail because they are more yellow than grey. The actual yellow wagtail is an increasingly rare summer visitor from mainland Europe and not as striking as our resident bird, with its grey mantle and jet black bib.

The grey wagtail is “rare” in that it is local. One won’t find it in every garden; it haunts watery places, and loves rushing rivers and streams where it may be seen perched on stones in midwater, wagging its long tail between sallying forth to pick insects out of the air, sometimes dancing in the air as it does so.