A Black-bellied Dipper at The Rye

16th March 2020

A Black-bellied Dipper had taken up residence at The Rye, a park in High Wycombe. This dipper is different from the UK Dipper or White-throated Dipper Cinclus cinclus subspecies gularis, which is both resident and sedentary and restricted to the western half of the UK. The Black-bellied Dipper is the nominate race from Scandinavia which is migratory and sometimes reaches the UK during the winter months.

Its favoured spot at The Rye was an 8-foot high man-made waterfall, which was full of moss-covered boulders and other moisture-loving plants and looked as if it had been designed for the Chelsea Flower Show. It spent much of its time sitting up high on the waterfall giving ample time to get those settings right.

Then every five minutes it would drop down into the stream below and feed for a few minutes. The water wasn't deep enough for it to do their characteristic walk under water, but instead it fed by just putting its head under water and seemed to find plenty to eat.

Wow, what a fantastic way to start the day and now to pop over the border into Oxfordshire to fly a kite!!!