Friday 1 April 2022

Return to Ashes Lane, Day 4. Nesting Dippers.

We woke to another beautiful morning today with mixed sun and clouds and feeling warm in the sun. Following breakfast we set out for one of our favourite walks from the van:down into the valley to Bowston Bridge and along the River Kent to Staveley, returning across the fields.  As we left the campsite we had excellent views of the high Kentmere fells dusted with snow on their tops. We were delighted to spot a kingfisher as it sped past, a living jewel of turquoise and burnt orange, as we sat in the sun at Bowston enjoying our lunch.  We caught up with it again just beyond Cowan Head and were able to watch it through binoculars, perched in a river-side tree.  A short while later we paused again beyond the barn to photograph some wild daffodils or lent lilies. Here we watched a pair of smart grey wagtails or Polly Dishwash as Romanies nicknamed them.  At the same spot I was thrilled to see a pair of dipper on the same territory as they held last year.  They kept disappearing up a side stream where I assume they were nesting.  Shortly after we caught up with a handsome male goosander which, as I didn't have my birding lens with me, posed confidently.  It didn't seem long before we were settled in Wilf's Cafe in Stavely enjoying a well-earned cup of tea and cake.  I popped out to the ouside dining area above the river to see if the pair of dippers were on territory again.  Sure enough these superb birds were nesting in a hole in the wall above the mill race.  What a pleasure it was to watch them buzzing busily back and forth with a beak full of grubs which they catch underwater, zipping up to the nest and virtually falling back out again for another foray, often removing a white faecal sac at the same time.
Making our way across the fields back to the site, I was mentally relishing the pint that awaited me which I enjoyed sitting out side in the warm afternoon sun.
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