Kennell vale Dipper

I returned to Kennell vale to check out the Dipper at noon yesterday to capture a little more feeding behaviour before the spring tree canopy starts to block out the sunlight on the river.  An hour and three fly-bye's later the first Dipper stopped on a twisted log jamb on a waterfall in front of me to provide the interesting portrait above.

The Vale was looking excellent in the bright midday sunshine and the river had a good flow of water making  'Dipper diving' a bit of a challenge for the birds.

I selected one of the shallow and slower sections of the river and set up my cameras in a holly bush about ten metres from the river bank and a second Dipper arrived to perch on a favoured perch about a metre from the bank post and from there it eventually flew onto a shallow white waterfall area to start its diving activities.

I was pleased with the feeding sequence action provided by this bird and am always amazed how dry they remain during this activity,  Look at the way that a single drop of water stands off of the birds well oiled head plumage in the final shot above!!