A white throated dipper with food for its young

..... and a few 'Extras' 


The sun was shining and it occurred to me that it would be a good time to go down to our local river to look for the kingfishers which nest there. The light in the morning is best as it angles down the river, whereas afternoon midday the high bank on the south side brings the water into deep shade. But most importantly there are still a few days left when the leaves of the overhanging trees are still dormant and allow the sun to penetrate. Soon it will be like a jungle there.

I went to the my regular spot where I view the kingfisher nest and sadly realised that there were significant vegetation clearances made by the local wildlife trust which now manages the riverside along that part of the River Frome. I fear the nest has been abandoned as the protecting holly bushes and shrubs have been cut back.

They mean well and have a long term strategy but in the short term there are consequences. The good news was that it wasn’t long before a pair of white throated dippers were in residence, I’ve watched them build nests under the small wooden footbridge over the river. I n fact they were already gathering food in their mouths and flying up the river close to the water and then ascending vertically into the near nest under the bridge. The first picture I got was of a silhouette of its ascent to the nest with a mouth full of insects. I’ve added it as an ‘Extra’.

Then I walked a few hundred yards downstream to see the latest changes to the waterside footpaths and banks. It was surprisingly quiet, with only a couple of other humans. I watched but saw little avian activity except for wrens, blackbirds and crows. No kingfishers. On my return I startled an air of mallards close to the footpath whose wam across the swift flowing swollen river. I stopped to watch them and they then proceed to start mating, which is always rather distressing for the hen duck. I did photograph but have resisted showing the completely submerged hen being mounted but I will show the last moments of the coupling. Within a minute they were swimming side by side again as if nothing had happened!

But my blip is of the dipper, with an ‘Extra’ showing it on its favoured spot, a large log in the middle of the river’s stream about twenty yards from the nest. From here it will often proceed to duck under the water to feed when the flow is lessened, otherwise it has to go to quiet stretches of water downstream.

The main picture was taken when it landed on the old mill race of Capel’s Mill underneath the railway viaduct. It was thwarted by a man standing on the footbridge who was fascinated by the dipper and its flight, but who had no idea he was standing two yards from its nest where it wanted to go to feed its young. I think this is a never ending problem for these dippers but thankfully they seem to survive here year after year.