Colyford WTW - Sun 5 Dec

News had broken of a possible Eastern Yellow Wagtail at Colyford Water Treatment Works, so after banking some brownie points by going clothes shopping early in the afternoon with Ellie, I set off after a late lunch to try my luck.
I arrived at the WTW at about 3.10pm and walked along the footpath that marks the northern boundary of the site. Viewing was not ideal as I had to look through the fence and trees to actually see the clarifier beds, and I was looking right in to the sun. There were loads of birds around, and before long I had seen several Meadow Pipits and Pied Wagtails, plus a couple of Redwings and Grey Wagtails and a single Water Pipit. At least half a dozen Chiffchaffs were also feeding on the beds, and included one Siberian Chiffchaff. A Goldcrest fed in the trees no more that two feet from my nose, and a Treecreeper was in one of the trees overhead.
But the Eastern Yellow Wagtail was proving to be elusive. However, the arrival of a local Devon birder who had already seen the bird meant some updated information as to which bed the bird was favouring...this was typically the most distant, but within a couple of minutes we had found this really interesting wagtail. It certainly looks good for an Eastern Yellow Wagtail, really pale and greyish with a very well marked head. There are already a few good photos on the web, so we'll see what the final decision is with regard to this bird.
By 4.00pm it was getting pretty cold and dark, so I packed up and came on home.