As I walked home along the river path yesterday there were two young women sitting on the picnic bench. One of them was bobbing her head and shoulders up and down and making her friend laugh. It didn't take me long to realise she was doing a dipper impression! They were watching one standing on a mossy rock doing its signature moves, bending its knees (do you call them that?) and bobbing.
I was happy to know that other people were enjoying their presence too.
I always get excited when I catch a glimpse of them up and down the river. I love their burbling song which you can just about hear above the sound of the water and its fun to see them dive under the surface not knowing quite where they will pop up.
A couple of weeks ago I watched one flying (zooming) above the water and it disappeared into a hole in the riverbank wall.
Was it a nest?
Sure enough as I watched and waited I saw a very busy pair, flying down the river and coming back with beak fulls of dried grasses and leaves.
They bob about on the rocks with it for a bit and then nip into their hole in the wall.
Its nestled in between the moss and liverwort, framed by ferns, brambles, herb robert and golden saxifrage.
I have been keeping an eye on them. It's a pretty good spot, quite high above the waterline to allow for the water to rise as it often does around here and is inaccessible to humans and dogs at least as it's on a steep bank and at a wide point in the river..
I read up about their nesting habits last night. It takes them 3 - 4 weeks to build their nest. They are made of moss, grass stems and leaves, which is what I have been seeing them with in their beaks and then they line the nest with stems, rootlets and hair. They must be getting to the lining stage now. The will female will incubate 4-5 white eggs laid in early April for about 16 days. The babies fledge around three weeks and after that they are still dependent on their parents for another three or four weeks or so. There's going to be lots of action on the river bank.
I'm putting the due date in my diary!
