Dipper Success

This week’s photo is of a Dipper I filmed last month that has  fledged its first brood of young and is now incubating a second clutch of eggs. It appears that despite the cold Spring that we have had it does not seem to have affected the local Dippers. In the hIlls there appears to be a dearth of voles this year which is having a detrimental effect on the Long Eared Owls. My normal seven pairs are down to only one pair and these are a month later than normal with the female still incubating eggs. In the garden the male Sparrowhawk has reappeared after a long absence and has already taken a Redpoll as prey. We are still are maintaining our twenty plus species a day feeding rate which has been unbroken since mid November!! During the past week I have been up Pendle Hill again and spent more magical time with a single Dotterel. I have included three photos together with Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail and male Lapwing that I have come across in my recent travels. There is also an extreme close up of the bill of the Dipper crammed full of aquatic insect life. It is not just the Puffin that can carry a bill full of prey without dropping any. Click Here