From the Glen this afternoon

[sawman]

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/500/nest.jpg
Dipper nest on a washed out part of the river bank

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/500/sandpiper.jpg
Poor pic but the first sandpiper of the year on the river

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/500/peacock3.jpg
I have never known of butterflies to be on the wing in April up in the glen before. Saw Peacock, Tortoishell & a Common White

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/500/wagtail3.jpg
Grey Wagtail
All taken with 300mm lens & cropped apart from the Dipper nest.
Saw my first Swallow of the year in the glen today

[Cobra]

Things are certainly early this year. nice captures, but I can't pinpoint the dippers nest

[sawman]

Things are certainly early this year. nice captures, but I can't pinpoint the dippers nest

The nest when you think about it is meant to be hidden but if you look bang in the middle you will see a mossy dome with a hole near the bottom.
Dippers as you probably know are relatives of the Wren & build the same kind of domed nest. Dippers almost always nest over water & the young go "plop" into the water when they leave the nest. I do not give much for the chances of this one surviving as it is too open to predators.

[RobertP]

I skipped past that first one with no idea what I was looking at:lol:

Obvious now :)

[Cobra]

if you look bang in the middle you will see a mossy dome with a hole near the bottom.
.

Got it !

[sawman]

I skipped past that first one with no idea what I was looking at:lol:

Obvious now :)

Think nothing of it Robert. I have studied Dippers on this river for many years & I found this by accident. They usually nest under bridges etc & the nests are well concealed. This one is very exposed especially as a Sparrowhawk was hunting the riverbank today. Know they are protected but canna figure out why as they are pure killers of our smaller songbirds.

[Janice]

Lovely varied shots, Sawman. I too passed the very camoflauged dippers nest until it was pointed out.

We had a grey wagtail on our little waterfall on our pond a few weeks back...lovely aren't they.


Saw my first Swallow of the year in the glen today

Im saying nothing!! :eek: :nono: :rules: :naughty:

[sawman]

Lovely varied shots, Sawman. I too passed the very camoflauged dippers nest until it was pointed out.

We had a grey wagtail on our little waterfall on our pond a few weeks back...lovely aren't they.




Im saying nothing!! :eek: :nono: :rules: :naughty:

Oh I forgot about you & swallows

[Cobra]

[QUOTE=sawman;238200 a Sparrowhawk was hunting the riverbank today. Know they are protected but canna figure out why as they are pure killers of our smaller songbirds.[/QUOTE]

If you think about it, DEFRA has now protected all NATIVE species ( I can't think of one off hand thats not)
Spars are a lot more common than they ( DEFRA) will admit, several surveys have been carried out buy the falconry community in an effort to get a "wild take" that was revoked some years ago due to their so called rareity. but so far no such luck

[sawman]

I can live with Buzzards, Kestrels. But Sparras are just too much. Put up quite a lot of nest boxes on our hill some years back as we had vitually no "weebirdies" tits etc. Nest boxes were very succesful & so were the hawks that moved in. Know that its natures way but as everything is so out of kilter anyway in this country i cannot see any reason to protect these things as there are not the gamekeepers on the ground now to keep "persecuting" them. Thats my "rant" for the evening!