There was quite a lot of Dipper activity today. When I arrived on the river I saw a pair quite close to the start of my walk and they moved on down the river as I walked, keeping a safe distance ahead of me. I half expected them to double back as they would do if they were out of their territory but I was pleased when they carried on past the hide. This meant of course that this pair were the resident pair of the "hide stretch" of the river. In it's self quite a discovery.
I was pleased as I sat in the hide because I knew, based on my previous observations over 3 years here, they would have to fly back up to me before too long. There is another Dipper territory down river and they wouldn't stay there for long, and so it proved. It was about 15 minutes or so before they appeared to my right feeding with a lot of enthusiasm.
Eventually one of the pair, I think the female came to the rocks exactly where she had been yesterday and I snapped away happily. It's good when you haven't had to wait too long.
There was the slightest hint of a wing fluttering courtship display which would indicate that things are progressing along the right lines.
They both retreated to the midstream boulder where I had seen them lots of times in previous years. Then suddenly, and this is very interesting, two Dippers flew past me very quickly and I thought they had gone for today. But I was wrong. I looked back to the rock and one bird still remained. I think what had happened was another Dipper had entered the territory and immediately been chased upstream by the dominant male.
After everything had quietened I checked the old nest from two years ago. Amazingly and I am very pleased to report that there was brand new fresh moss in the bowl of the nest meaning of course that they have started to use this nest. This doesn't necessarily mean that they will continue to use this nest but it is great news and a massive step in the right direction.
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