Dipper: I've been keeping an eye on this marvollous little birds, after seeing several images coming out of Yarrow Valley CP I made a visit several weeks ago and found an active nest site.
Both parents were actively feeding the young in the nest and very active foraging up and down the small stretch of the River Yarrow.
The young must have fledged the nest within the last week, they were photographed on the 18th of April carrying food and now they are rebuilding their nest.
The Dipper is the UK's only aquatic songbird and it's underwater feats are quite amazing, they can hold on to the wet rocks in fast flowing rivers while foraging under water.
The pair were coming back and fourth with a beak full of grass, twigs and moss and I observed them foraging and catching aquatic invertebrates.
Dippers nest very close to water, using cavities in banks, holes in walls or trees. Both sexes build the nest which is large and domed and made from mosses, grasses, leaves and hair.
Dippers lay 4-6 white eggs in March or April which are incubated by the female for 14-16 days. Males may feed the female at the nest and the chicks are fed by both parents and fledge at 20-24 days.
