On my walk ... the dipper

 

Until recently I have lived my entire life on the chalk dominated counties of Hampshire and Dorset where the rivers have a gentle flow and do not have rocky beds. As a result they are not the kind of rivers one finds dippers on and my only encounters with this remarkable bird had been whilst on holiday in the north of England and in Wales. Consequently I was delighted to find I now live in an area where dippers also live and that they can be seen frequently on the River Sid.

My first sighting of the local dippers was last week when I found the strip of woodland that runs between the river and Margaret's Meadow. A delightful wooded valley area where one can get right down to the bank of the river and as I wandered through I saw a dipper on a rock in the river just twenty feet or so from me. Surprisingly it was not 'dipping' but stood motionless as I watched it for a few minutes. It seemed to be waiting for me to photograph it but, naturally, I did not have my camera with me! After a while it got fed up with waiting for me to take a snap and flew off up stream.

Earlier this week I went back to the same spot, this time armed with my camera, which I thought might be a favourite preening point for the bird but despite waiting almost an hour the dipper did not return and I 'dipped' out on my photo. 

I thought the lower reaches of the river in The Byes would be too disturbed by all the walkers and dogs that use the area to suit the dipper so I was surprised to find one mooching around by the weir near the southern entrance. This time I had my camera, this time it was even closer, but it was raining and the bird was very active. Despite getting more and more soaked by the rain I waited and eventually the bird decided to do some preening and some drying out of its feathers and, bingo, I got my snap. Due to the adverse weather it is a bit blurred but it will do for me until I get another opportunity and I am pretty sure that will come one day soon.