Bibury is a bit of a hot-spot for Wagtails and always has been. The geography of the village and the sheer abundance of insect life emanating from the shallow, quite fast-flowing River Coln, surrounding woodland and the little marshy nature reserve all combine to provide the perfect Wagtail habitat. I’ve spent the last five years studying the Wagtails here and have managed to work out a number of the territorial perimeters that are so fiercely guarded by the incumbant males, particularly in the Spring. There is one place in particular, near the road bridge adjacent to the trout farm and hotel, where three such territories all come together. Two are held by pairs of Pied Wagtails while the third is the province of a pair of Grey Wagtails. One pair of Pieds occupy a nest-site on the Hotel side of the river and another pair dominate the reserve side of the bridge. Meanwhile, the Greys are firmly ensconced within the grounds of the Trout farm. Corners of the territories meet at the bridge and this is the place where much confrontational tail-wagging, posturing and ariel dog-fights take place, particularly between the males, as all the birds compete for the prolific numbers of insects hovering near or above the river. This year’s situation has been complicated and tempers enflamed by the intrusive behaviour of one of last year’s three surviving Grey Wagtail juveniles and a solitary rogue Pied (White) Wagtail. I got the old digi-scope out for once and took these pictures on 3rd April.