I have found a completely new Dippers nest this year at
Watersmeet. I think it was the adult
birds first breeding season and was very surprised at where they had built the
nest, considering the amount of human ‘traffic’ walking by, (without realising
it was there). The nest build took about 5 days from start to finish! This was
followed by a period of relative inactivity while the parents took turns to
‘sit’ only changing about every 2 hours or so. Please click link below to read more.
On the 16th May, the chicks had obviously hatched
as the adults were kept very busy bringing in food for them. At times, they
were coming in every minute with an assortment of insects, larva and the occasional
juicy caterpillar! The adult’s activity would stop most days between 1.00 &
2.00 pm to have rest. I regularly had one of them sat right in front of me, on
rock struggling to stay awake. This pattern continued for about 2 weeks; however,
I then noticed that the male adult only made an appearance in the early morning
and late evening, only occasionally bringing in food for the chicks. Much to
the annoyance of mum, who more than once attacked him for doing so, they
actually ended up beak to beak on more than one occasion and fell into the
river. I have not witnessed this reaction before between parent birds and I did
wonder if perhaps she thought he was an intruder. As there was another nest nearby
further upstream and they are territorial. It was definitely ‘her’ mate though
as he had a prominent mark on his otherwise white breast plumage.
After 3 weeks, I could now clearly hear the chicks calling
for food and leaning out of the nest when the parents arrived. The adults could
no longer enter the nest but instead hovered at the entrance to pass the food.At 20 days, the adult would often sit outside the nest, apparently calling the chicks, perhaps to fledge. It was on one of these occasions that I listened to an adult ‘sing’ in the early morning for about an hour. I have never heard this before and it sounded very similar to a male Blackbird.
By day 23 mum was starting to look a bit jaded not the usual
pristine plumage that Dippers keep themselves. On several occasions, one chick
made a full appearance nearly falling out of the nest, resulting in a desperate
scramble to get back in! It was on one
of these moments that an intruder made an appearance, much to the annoyance of
the parent birds, this ended up with 3 Dippers in a mid-air ‘dog fight’ the
resident birds eventually saw of the interloper.
On day 27 (quite late not to have fledged, they usually
fledge between 21 – 24 days) there was a definite change in activity, the
adults had almost stopped feeding runs and both the juveniles were showing
well. I now suspected fledging was imminent. So on day 28 I woke up early and arrived
at about 5.30 am. Just in time to watch both chicks fledge! I managed to take
stills and video of the moment, happy days!Both chicks looked healthy and well fed, however one was very nervous of its new surroundings at first at took some time to venture away from the nest. The other however was a lot braver and started to explore the riverbed almost straight away. Already trying to feed itself, but picking dead leaves more often than not. Both chicks have the familiar grey plumage with brownish wing tips and yellowish/white breast at this stage. The adults occasionally kept them fed, which they would normally do for about a week. The more nervous chick eventually got a helping push from one the adults, before making its first flight and crash landing!
I usually have (time permitting) wildlife projects going at
different times of the year and have found watching and photographing the
Dippers this spring fascinating. I have managed to get all the shots I wanted
including the birds in flight! This was not easy considering they often ‘skim’
along the water, not much slower than Kingfishers do.
All the images are available to purchase either online at
Or at
Exmoor Photography Gallery & Camera Shop
The High StreetPorlock
Somerset
TA24 8PT
T: 01643 862026
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