Dipper Fieldwork in North East Durham.

A few quick notes on 3 interesting bits of  Dipper behaviour this Month and an insight into some of the amateur Studies & Conservation we carry out as Durham Bird Club Members.

1.
Dusk Dipper cutting off 1.8km in overland flight
18th March 2017
Dipper flew 60' above water, rose further over road & farmhouse on a flightline that cut off 1.8km from his waterway route. Using OS maps I have worked out the bird was well in excess of 100' above the waterway as he crossed overland.
High flying & cutting corners appear par for the course , but this seems an extreme shortcut. A close inspection reveals a large railway tunnel - I presume the bird was heading here to roost for the night as there was very little cover on the stretch he left out on his detour.


2.
Dipper dispute - pair chasing 1km from stream, high over fields.
19th March 2017
Bizarre Dipper interaction the following day in a different 10km square.

I was startled by a loud warbling song moving quickly through the garden of The Manor House - the penny dropped Dipper !
The songster was aggressively pursuing a second bird 6 to 8 feet above it.
The pursuer was relentless & matched every twist & turn - it sped up to block the fleeing bird each time it tried to lose height.
The birds continued over open sheep fields over the A1 Motorway !
& field on the north side until they were 1km away from the stream
(at 1Km+ when lost to view) they rose to a tremendous height (100'+)
It was clear the songster was driving the other bird off, it appeared very aggressive.
What was strange was I made my way down to the stream almost immediately - a downhill walk of about 100metres. I could hear a singing Dipper clearly & a pair were sat close together.
I think the population is now so buoyant that birds are possibly struggling to find space for a territory here resulting in such a bizarre chase.

3.
Double Dipper nest: Pair building, with 2 nests 6' apart
29th March 2017
I visited a very well known & regular nest site - mainly to keep out of the rain ! to see a Dipper pair nest building. The birds were building in regular spot in gaps in the brickwork.
It soon became clear that they were taking materials to 2 separate holes & building in both. 
Each bird was not tied to a particular cavity.
Chesterbirder knows this beat & has suggested it may well be a polygamous male, as he has noted 3 birds here.
Certainly one to follow up on.

Two nests being built only 6 feet apart

General Dipper Info
21st March 2017
Our local birds have been breeding about a decade - the status before this is sketchy. The burn has been a black toxic sewer in its time - before the industrial era it may well have bred on the lower stretches - lack of bridges will have limited nesting opportunities....?

Nesting not synchronised at all
First birds now sitting,

others yet to start building.

Nice fresh clutch - birds generally prefer Beech leaves to line nest - this contains Oak & Iris leaves.

A Local nest expert tells me its important to get boxes in situ early during the winter....
We Installed a GreyWag box on 21st April & it had full Dipper clutch 4 wks later
A purpose built Dipper box put up at same time stood empty on the opposite wall !

23rd March 2017

What a great job Northumbrian Water have done. Local waterways very healthy nowadays.
Dipper in picture feeding at their final effluent outfall. (Sedgeletch). The Otter, though only rarely seen, is another species to have come on leaps & bounds locally.

A couple of images of 2015-2016 Dipper nests

An unusual nest in a vertical soil bank - more suited to Kingfisher than Dipper. I walked past this in the beck - the nest was belly height - I was called back on the telephone by the Mrs.... She had clocked it after watching the bird.... This nest fledged 4 young.

Typical open topped box under a bridge - a little too open this one & predated  by Magpies

Dippers now a familiar sight on our Beck.... sorry Burn
Handful of nestboxes enabled them to establish a toe hold & now a healthy  population

This 1 went up 8 year ago & has fledged them each season

Dippers, an interesting bird to watch year round.

The Browney & Deerness have decent Dipper populations too - yet seem seldom visited by birdwatchers....

Please feel free to comment or leave a question on here or Email stevieevans1 AT icloud.com

Durham Bird Club is a registered charity involved in Studying & Conserving the wild birds in the Watsonian Vice County of Durham (the old County between the Tyne & Tees )

Wait 'ere. We are Chatting

After 3 Goodies yesterday, the chances of anything remotely interesting today were slim...
But i was drawn like the moth to the lamp to try to find singing Chiffchaff  - no luck there, but not to worry, theyre not a real spring migrant anyway....

But Wait Here whats this.............
Wheatear !

The honour of the first local Wheatear going to GS, with another close by.
Superb little birds and we have to opportunity to catch up with them in passing for weeks yet, right into May.

Our reporter Way out West tells of a fair few out that way along with a pair of Ring Ousel this morning.




Stonechat
After the passage Stchyenchat at home i was reminded to have a look at a regular spot on the coast, which holds resident birds.

The cock singing on arrival, initially no sign of the hen.

A second male bird was quickly seen off and the female came out to investigate.

Heres the pair in a bramble patch used for nesting last year, were they were just starting over again.

Others:-
last evening, coming back from the wilds of Tanfield, stopped off for the last of the light at The Olde Bridge, Dipper pair flew over head ( 40' above river ) chasing off an intruder, also Grey Wagtail, Heron, Cormorant and a distance downstream view of the Otters head and tail. The Dipper was still singing and bathing/preeening as the light was going and one last scan with the scope produced a Green Sand roosting on rocks in the middle of the river.

Other Spring visitors on the patch include Shoveller and Chiffchaff