Day of the Dippers

After getting a tantalizing glimpse of my first pair of Dippers in Scotland last week, I've really been itching to have a better look at these amusing little birds - and to have a chance for at least a record shot or two!

So, today I joined my friend Phil Morgan on a Dipper quest in South Wales. We started off at the National Trust's Aberdulais Falls - a well known site for Dippers. There was certainly no difficulty in tracking down the birds; we had views of a pair on the falls pretty much instantly from our arrival. We also spotted what I think was another individual distantly further up the gorge.

Dipper displaying

It's a great place to get close view of the Dippers - although not ideal for photography, as you are looking down on the birds from above. We also spotted a pair of Grey Wagtails, who seemed to be setting up home inside the wall.

There was quite a bit of work underway at Aberdulais today, and one of the workmen kindly pointed us in the direction of another local spot where he had seen Dippers in the past, so we headed off to check it out. While we didn't see any Dippers ourselves, it did look like there could well be a pair in the area, as there were lots of tell-tale poo-speckled rocks mid-stream. It's a very pleasant spot to visit, though - I enjoyed wandering through the woods, with lots of Grey Wagtails and a couple of Nuthatches to look at.

Our final destination for the day was at another site where Phil has had good luck in the past - and we struck gold, with a pair busily coming and going. I was really chuffed to be able to get right down level with the water to get some eye level shots at last. Today's overcast skies and dull conditions made for slow shutter speeds, but I'm still pleased with these after striking out in Scotland. Think I may have been bitten by the Dipper bug now though - will definitely have to go back on a brighter day in the next few weeks.

Thanks again Phil for a great day out!