After a tip-off from Maureen and Gordon
Berry that a ringed Dipper had appeared on the Cowie River in Stonehaven,
myself and Sam decided to try to retrap the bird and see where it had come
from. Dippers aren’t generally known for long-distance movements, and with no
birds having been caught there for several years, it was an interesting
sighting.
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| Maureen and Gordon's ringed dipper which set the ringers in motion © Gordon Berry |
We moved upstream about a kilometre,
to a wide, fairly shallow, rocky area that looked like Dipper heaven. It was
some way from where Gordon had photographed the ringed bird, but we were
hopeful it would be around there somewhere. After resetting a net here (with
the rain still falling), we didn’t have to wait long before we caught our first
Dipper - a fine 1st winter female, but not the ringed individual we were after.
Then came another, this time an adult male, but unringed as well.
Third time lucky - the ringed bird, an adult female. A quick text to Raymond with the ring number and we got her details - ringed as a chick at Cullerlie, around 20km inland from here, back in the spring of 2011. A good movement for a Dipper, and at 5+ years old, a good age too, with the oldest recorded in Britain at 8+ years old.
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| The second and third birds that were caught in quick succession, the third being the retrap we were after |
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The
retrap bird. This is a clear adult with no contrast between juvenile and adult
feathers in the greater coverts.
|
Soon after this we caught a fourth
bird - a young male. There’s a good chance that these four birds constitute 2
pairs using the river.
A successful day in the end, with 3
new birds ringed and an excellent recovery - worth getting a soaking for. A big
thank you to Maureen and Gordon for the tip-off, and sorry we didn’t catch
while you were with us!
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| The same adult retrap bird. Dippers can be sexed using wing length - with a short wing of 88mm this bird is a female. |
Alex & Sam
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