A female Sparrowhawk (above), is larger than her mate. She needs to consume between 50 and 70 grams of food a day, that's 4 or 5 Blue Tits, or three Greenfinches, or one Dipper! I am glad to say that she didn't catch one of my Dippers today, that would have been quite distressing as I have been getting to know them well over the last 4 weeks. The bird was on the hunt though and as well as seeing her fail in an unsuccessful attempt, I also saw her flying very quickly and low to the  water as if she were actually looking for Dipper or perhaps Grey Wagtail. I had another succesfull day with Dippers and here is a picture of two together.

If you want to read more about my Dipper study then click here, but you will need the password to enter. You can obtain that by e-mailing me on charlesfleming1@mac.com