Sunday 30 March 2014

Rivelin Valley on the hunt for Dipper

Since today is mothers day I said I was going to Skype home in the afternoon, which restricted the possibilites of where I could go birding in the morning. I decided to go to the Rivelin Valley to try and track down dipper. It took a while but I eventually found one near one of the bridges. I noticed that it was flying off with moss, so decided to try and track down the nest it seemed to be building. I found it almost straight away, and it was nearly complete, so it was a lovely looking structure. 
I then found the second bird, so settled down to watch them as they hunted and flitted around the river looking for food and material. And as the weather was so nice it really made for a very nice morning. I managed a few record shots, but they were a way away and I did not want to disturb the birds at the nest. 



-Dipper with Nest
That was the 97th species this year. There was plenty of other nice things on the walk too, such as stock dove, siskin having a wash, 5 jays all flying in a line, a grey wagtail at Malin Bridge and a Sparrowhawk calling from one of the trees. It made for a lovely morning, that's for sure.
-Sparrowhawk

Species List: Grey wagtail, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Robin, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Jay, Woodpigeon, Stock Dove, Moorhen, Coot, Mallard, Grey Wagtail, Dipper, Sparrowhawk, Chaffinch, Siskin, 

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