Today I drove straight from work to visit a nature reserve in Stroud which is accessed from a road below the Waitrose carpark. This is the most reliable place I know locally where one can see a dipper and is somewhere I visit each year around this time.
After parking in the pay and display car park I made my way past Waitrose and down some steps to cross the road into the reserve. You then have to follow a path which takes you back to the main road, over a canal bridge then back down another path along the canal to reach the start of the reserve. From here a rather muddy path leads alongside the river Frome for about half a mile where it ends. If you look carefully there is a very good chance of seeing a dipper, and possibly a grey wagtail too.
As I walked along the riverbank, I soon saw a grey wagtail searching for insects amongst the vegetation and tree roots, it flitted back and forth across the river before flying downstream. The grey and lemon colours and long tail make this one of my favourite birds.
I saw a man coming towards me and when I enquired if he had seen a dipper, he informed me that there were a pair of dippers further along near a site where some workmen were reconstructing a boardwalk.
I soon came across signs of construction, although it appeared that the workmen were still on their lunch break as they were no where to be seen. I scanned the banks and almost straightaway spotted a dipper bobbing up and down on a branch/root sticking out from the bank opposite. The bird's dark body blended in with the dark coloured mud of the riverbank but its white bib gave its presence away. l watched it as it occasionally dipped its beak into the water, or stood or swam on the surface and sometimes below the surface. After a short time it flew back in the direction I had come from.
The good thing about this reserve is that much of the river can be seen from the path, although sometimes partially obscured by tall grasses or brambles or some small trees. This gives quite a bit of cover but at the same time good visibility when looking for the dipper. Therefore I soon re-found the bird, still on the opposite bank, perching alternately on small stones, pieces of branches etc. in between its foraging in the water
The river is shaded by tall trees and vegetation both sides so it can feel quite dark, especially on an overcast day, and as it seemed as if it might rain, I decided to return to the car park after a successful visit.
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