Dippers

It's that time of year when the young are being fed in the nest and those no longer in the nest are finding their way in the big wild world. Most stay close to their parents while looking for food, and even continue to be fed by them. A case in point is the Dipper.

I was fortunate enough to find an adult and two juveniles along the river nearby. I was actually looking and checking for Spotted Flycatchers in an area I know that they like. On this occasion they still had not arrived, but by standing still and just using my ears to hear the Flycatchers the Dippers flew up stream close to where I was. They obviously didn't notice me and started to look for food. I did my best to keep still, while at the same time shuffling into a position to see if I could take any shots.

I was absolutely delighted to watch the young being fed by the one very active adult bird. They gave me some great moments, very close and I was able to leave them as I found them without any disturbance. I could have stayed longer, but eventually they would have seen me and made off. So I left them to it.

Very well camouflaged juvenile on the the left, with adult busy looking for food.

The juveniles are blue grey colour, but very hard to spot in this plumage. And that's the point.

Feed me feed me

Still hungry!!