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Dippers (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter keps
- Start date
Dippers will very aggressively defend their territory throughout the year.
Probably - I suppose a threat gesture. Presumably two of the birds are a pair.
No idea what's going down here but it's a super picture Keps.
I think Dippers normally pair for life, so I suspect not. They are extremely territorial and, whenever birds from two territories meet they are very aggressive towards one another, often chasing and singing vigorously. I suspect you've captured that sort of situation here.
Many thanks Andrew for your comments - and yes at one stage I saw one of the birds fly at speed towards another and knock it off it stance!
If it's ok I will post an air fight I caught on Monday!
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Here it is
That's a great picture!
Many thanks
Now that you mention it - I have never heard dippers sing as loudly as they did today.. not bad singers by the way. The only singing aquatic bird on these islands I just discovered( you learn something new every day).
Andrea Collins
Well-known member
Some dippers remain paired over the winter and occupy the same territory together. Other individuals may challenge resident birds to try and take over the territory so maybe your three birds were a resident pair and a challenger. Even first winter birds may make a challenge for a territory though rarely successfully.
I watched a similar interaction on the River Duddon in England a couple of days ago but your photos are far better than mine. The action happened so fast I could barely keep the birds in the viewfinder let alone keep the focus in the right place.
I watched a similar interaction on the River Duddon in England a couple of days ago but your photos are far better than mine. The action happened so fast I could barely keep the birds in the viewfinder let alone keep the focus in the right place.
Andrea Collins
Well-known member
Having had a quick read, it looks as though the bird on the right in your first photo is the aggressor, attempting to take over the territory. The resident bird sings in response to the threat. The closer the aggressor gets the louder the resident bird sings.
Many thanks to all for the very informative comments.
As a matter of interest - this is the photo of the 2 fighting dippers above taken literally a second before they took to the air
, on Flickr And this one a minute or so later.
KenM
Well-known member
FWIW keps, living in London no surprises, any Dipper encounters would only ever be made in the hill country of the North West, with numerous visits over the years them being occasionally seen (quite a novelty for a London Lad) darting up river only to be lost in the shaded reaches of a snake bend, or bobbing up and down on a stepping stone before plunging into silvered stream, without ever consciously thinking about calls or song!
Fast forward the decades until a few years back (a cold November day), I was found propping up the bridge parapet in Ludlow Shropshire, idly staring into the almost deafening roar of the river, when I heard a vibrant virtuoso burst, so liquid clear and unexpected that I was temporarily “immobilised”. The bird was singing beneath the bridge arch upon which I was slumped, clearly the acoustics were so superb, I could not compute what I was hearing!
Sounding like (to my ear)...a cross between Reed Warbler and Nightingale, I was totally bemused that such a rich almost equatorial sound could be heard under grey leaden skies in middle England on such a day. When all was “revealed” as it arrowed from neath the arch, I was somewhat staggered that a bird which wasn’t even on my “minds ear” radar should deliver par excellence. :t:
Fast forward the decades until a few years back (a cold November day), I was found propping up the bridge parapet in Ludlow Shropshire, idly staring into the almost deafening roar of the river, when I heard a vibrant virtuoso burst, so liquid clear and unexpected that I was temporarily “immobilised”. The bird was singing beneath the bridge arch upon which I was slumped, clearly the acoustics were so superb, I could not compute what I was hearing!
Sounding like (to my ear)...a cross between Reed Warbler and Nightingale, I was totally bemused that such a rich almost equatorial sound could be heard under grey leaden skies in middle England on such a day. When all was “revealed” as it arrowed from neath the arch, I was somewhat staggered that a bird which wasn’t even on my “minds ear” radar should deliver par excellence. :t:
Hi KenM,
Good to read your above record.
We've had 3 Dippers along the River Rea in Birmingham this winter.
A totally new sighting and experience to me.
Good you thought 'Sounding like (to my ear)...a cross between Reed Warbler and Nightingale'
I'm very familiar with Reed Warbler and Nightingale singing and have to agree that sometimes the Dippers song was exactly this.
Nice one!
