Yesterday's great outing was spoilt by a raging toothache which cut short a smashing afternoon with some really good close up views of both Dippers and a pair of Grey Wagtails as a bonus.  After 3 weeks of observations I am getting to know the Dippers well.  I can see that their behaviour is changing and the male is becoming much more vocal than the female.  He reminds me of an excited schoolboy as he races up and down the river patrolling his territory.  He stops off here and there and does a bit of Dipping, and lots of singing.  He always  calls loudly as he flies by.  A Dipper's call is a short clicking, high pitched singly syllable note repeated quickly over and over.  It is remeniscent of a Grey Wagtail and Kingfisher which is not coincidental.  Their calls are thought to have evolved to be at a frequency that can be discerned above the low pitched rumble of tumbling water. As I hear both Grey Wagtails and Dippers so often I noted yesterday that the Wagtail's call is much more musical and slightly longer than the Dipper's. Yesterday I had some very close views of both Dipper and Wagtail, once the male Dipper was that close to me that I couldn't get the camera to focus. Another incident involved both male and female posturing to each other and then one pursued the other in their mating flight, where they zoom around, one just inches from the others tail.  They fly very quickly then  swerving to fly in the opposite direction, quite a spectacle as I have said before. I did manage a photo of this but this is pushing my photographic skill to the limit.

One thing that is intriguing me is the absence of any nest building.  I would have hoped after so much time watching, to have seen them carrying nesting material. This is the only way that I am going to be able to find their nest site.  I will be a little bit disappointed if I don't. The nest, by the way can be in a variety of situations.  Sometimes even behind a waterfall. There are numerous good places where a nest could be hidden and that is what makes it impossible to find the site by chance. Only watching from a distance will reveal their site of choice. In the meantime enjoy these latest pictures and please check back for the latest instalment.