I took a short trip to the River this afternoon, there were things I needed to be home for which cut short my fun! I met up with Tom, a regular reader of the blog. He was trying for Dipper photos and was tucked away nicely in a bag hide. It was a decent lesson because I could see him from 100 yards away and it started me thinking about concealment yet again. I think that with lots of species, just breaking up your body shape is sufficient, Kingfishers for example are very easy to hide from, and Dippers too. It's almost a case of the smaller the bird the less necessary good concealment is. Ducks for example, particularly Goosanders on the river are never fooled and paddle away from you to safety, or use the current to just get to a safe distance. I get the impression that they realise that there is something a bit odd about "that shape" and they are risking nothing, least of all their lives. My "gillie" suit is a great piece off kit and allows you to really blend in and hide which is my preferred approach. Tom and I looked at the Dippers nest and it seems that there has been some work on the nest again with leaves  added. This is good news to say the least.  Lets hope that this time the predator keeps away! 

Afterwards,  Tom went back to his "bag" to try for more Dippers, and I sat by my feeding station placed in the woods.  When I had arrived the feeder was empty, so I expected it to be really busy, but this time, not one single bird came down……… very odd! I needed to get home so left before the action began and went past  Tom again who was still sitting patiently, but without success.  We chatted for a short while and the Male Dipper did a fly past.  I was disappointed for Tom but it worked out well for me because, using some real stealth, I got some really good shots on my walk back.  I was a musician in the Royal Marines, but did a little bit of (reluctant) military training.  It didn't actually involve the commando crawl for me but I have seen enough Royal Marine Commandos doing it, so when needs  be I use it. It worked today and I took lots of shots, but hand held it's always a struggle unless the light is really bright and trust me, with Dippers it rarely is.  Featured above are two shots from that mini session.  I know for certain that this is my breeding pair because even though they were 500 yards from the nest, I recognised the female.  She has some small damage, or a growth on her eye lid and I could see it clearly. This is a useful aid to identification.