A River Walk - 2

From The Raptor

This continues The Raptors walk along a section of river

on Ardnamurchan Estate land.

At one point on my walk the river widened a bit and the ground flattened out allowing a more even flow. It was then that I was buzzed by a fast low flying bird following the twists of the river just as expertly as an RAF pilot flying through the glens. I took a second or two to work out what it was. Well it had to be a dipper. Time to go a bit more quietly, and soon enough, after a few yards, there ahead of me bobbing its head up and down on a rock in the middle of the river was the said bird.

I sat and watched the busy and brave bird turning and looking up and down the river, bobbing in the classic fashion, gauging when to make a dive into the biting cold water and, using its strong wings, swim under the water picking up any insects or tiny fish as it goes, before reappearing and effortlessly leaving the water to alight on another rock, eat its catch and start again.

It then flew past me moving further upstream before landing again. When I located it there were actually two of them, I suppose a pair. They do gather in small flocks of up to nine but here we don't have that many and, as it is now nearly March, we are into their breeding season which goes on until July. There is no marked difference between the sexes, only the young look different being much paler than the beautifully marked adult with its dark upper body and chestnut bib and bright white chest, making it a very distinctive bird to spot.

This river, with it steep gorges, is the perfect environment for the dippers to nest in. They seem to like the daredevil life and build nests under ledges above usually the fastest flowing water available, but this means safety from predators and prying eyes like mine. But it makes fledging for the young an bit of an endevour.

A few moments later and both were gone, flying back up the river in the direction that I had just came from.