17 April
After a weekend away from Devon, I visited the Dipper nest late in the evening to check on progress. I saw both birds down stream 50 yards or so away and knowing that it was safe to check, had a look to see if any eggs had been laid yet, glad to report that the nest contained 1 egg.
14-APR-2011
14th April
The building and completion of the new nest was continuing today with both birds present. The female was seen carrying her usual beech lives which she dipped in the river. This is interesting behaviour. Both birds seemed more wary than usual and when they flew upstream with some purpose, I took this as a sign that they sensed my presence and I moved away from the nest.
13-APR-2011
13 April
Glad to report that the Dippers are back to nest building to replace their previously predated clutch of chicks. I watched the female carrying nesting material, mainly beech leaves which are used to line the bowl. She was back to the "walk-up', that is to say, landing 20 feet down stream and then making her way carefully back to the nest site. All the time, pausing to check for safety before arriving on the boulder just beneath the nest. This all took place in the morning, afternoons seem to be reserved for feeding because I haven't seen any nest building other than whatsoever but always see them well away from the nest area and feeding avidly.
12-APR-2011
12 April
There was signs of activity at the nest today when I went to check. it's just a week since the eggs were taken by a predator. The nest has been re-lined with beech leaves. One of the birds was sat beneath the nest, tucked under the bank. Later in the afternoon, I saw both both birds together, about 400 mtrs or more from the nest site and feeding in the now shallow fast flowing and clear river.
05-APR-2011
5 April
What a disappointment at the Dippers nest this afternoon. I arrived at the site full of hope but with a bit of fear that whatever had predated the nest on Friday had been back. I jumped down the bank to take a quick peak in the nest, but I didn't need to. My worst fears were confirmed, there on the ground, just in front of the nest, was a smashed egg. I hardly needed to look inside the nest but I did, no eggs left and wet with yolk! Whatever had taken the eggs had made a terrible mess. I feared the worst, Had the........ whatever it was, taken the sitting female? There was no sign of them and I hadn't seen them on the walk up. At the time I had thought that was a good sign. Well as you can see from the picture, they are both safe and on the way back I watched them feeding. They were about as far from the broken nest that they could get. I am not 100% certain that it was my breeding pair but an educated guess would say it was.
05-APR-2011
Broken egg
One of the eggs lies broken on the ground where it was left by the predator, the remains of yolk still showing. Nature can be cruel but I honestly suspected that the nest was not the best structure that i had seen.
3rd of April
I left it until late evening today to visit the nest. It was a nice evening after a heavy April shower. I approached the nest area with the usual walk down the river and was optimistic when I didn't see any Dippers at all. At the nest location, I paused......... still no Dippers, this was either a great sign or a disaster. After a bit of thought, and with no Dippers in sight, I thought it was safe to hop down to the nest to check. To my utter joy, there was now two warm eggs......... she has started incubating and it seems that the earlier disaster and predation has not been utterly damaging!
2nd April
I can't begin to describe how disappointed I was yesterday. When I went to check on the nest for further eggs, the nest was empty! Something has predated the nest, not an egg collector because there was the residue of yolk in the nest. I'm thinking perhaps the stoat or even the Heron that was lurking in front of the nest the other day. We'll never know what but it's very disappointing. The birds were still in the territory about a hundred metres up river, carrying on as normal. I couldn't wait for today to dawn so that I could return to see if she had laid again and I am glad to report that she has laid another egg, so-far-so-good today, but that's not to say that it won't be predated again......... fingers crossed!
31 March
Yesterday, and on the 29th I had visited the nest site in the afternoon, one thing is for sure, there is very little activity around the nest site and in the nest at this time of day and I didn't see the birds in that area at all on those visits. I was beginning to worry that they had deserted this nest?. It appears that most "domestic" activity takes place in the morning, at least that is the case with this pair. Today, even thought the weather was still not really suitable, it was wet and overcast. I felt I must visit in the morning just to reassure myself that everything was progressing as it should be. As soon as I approached the nest I saw one of the pair sat in front of the nest site, a big relief. He or she left and I quickly took up a position in front with a good view, but camouflaged and hidden as usual. After a while the male reappeared and just sat on a boulder in mid-stream, not too far away, where was the female? After around 20 minutes he flew up stream and I was pretty sure that something different was happening. I quickly climbed down and checked the nest. Half expecting the female to emerge, I deliberately made more noise than normal as I didn't want to upset the bird by surprising her on the nest. I need not have worried, she wasn't in the nest......... but there was an egg. It was in the new nest which is lined with beech leaves and, compared to the unused "volley ball" sized one, is just rudimentary, in fact I wouldn't have thought it was finished. I quickly, very quickly took photographs and moved away as soon as I could. There is something special about a bird's nest and I am thrilled to discover that everything is progressing as it should be.
Later on, as I walked back on my way home, I watched both birds feeding in their usual place, at least 300 yards from the nest. If one fact about these birds has surprised me most it is the way they roam quite a distance, and in 12 days of watching I have yet to see them feeding in view of the nest, obviously a ploy.
29 March
Due to bad weather it was very late in the afternoon before I went out to the river to check on the birds. At the nest site, right there in front,was a Heron. These birds are lethal predators and in fact, Britain's largest predator and If I were a Dipper I would keep a low profile and avoid a Heron like the plague. So I wasn't surprised when the birds stayed way up river and didn't come anywhere near the nest while I was there. I did video them feeding though which didn't turn out too bad considering that the light was quite poor. Here is a link to the blog entry and the video.
http://parrotletsuk.typepad.com/wldlife_in_a_suburban_gar/2011/03/ring-flash.html
28-MAR-2011
Dipper - Cinclus cinclus
When I first arrived at the nest site today one of the birds was just in front of the nest site and moved off when it caught sight of me. Because at first, I only caught sight of one bird, I imagined that the other was perhaps sitting on eggs? But no, after just a few seconds, there was the female doing the usual walk up to the nest and the male was keeping watch, as usual on a nearby boulder in mid-stream. The female entered the nest and after a while they left and I managed to take a quick look in the nest. Still no eggs but even more interesting was the absence of the leaves that I had seen the bird carrying just before and lots of other times previously. I was intrigued, I searched around and there it was staring me in the face.......... another nest. It seems that the nest I found before is an old nest and they are now building another hidden behind this one. Not sure what is going on but it's going to interesting to see how this develops.
Saturday 26th March
I was undecided whether to visit the nest today, I thought it might be better for the birds if I left them for a day or so just in case my presence is causing any pressure, which frankly, I doubt. However, I succumbed in the end but just spent a very short time in the area, long enough to check that they are still building and everything is well. I checked to see if she has laid but not yet, this is a surprise. My impression was that she would have by now. As I sat there, the female did a walk up to the nest carrying a leaf which she "softened" by shaking in the way that I had observed the other day.
The female did the usual measured walk towards the nest and I could see that she was carrying a leaf. She then hesitated to soften it by shaking it and dipping it in to the water. On this occasion, it broke up completely and she was left with just a stalk which she dropped in to the river.