Forget the Dippers!

The monthly visit to Cwm Taf Fechan for dippers could not have been better. As well as the net for dippers we also had another net out to catch users of the riparian vegetation. Nothing much was happening. Approximately thirty seconds after Dr O had flippantly pointed out a robin near the net, we were staring, gob smacked, jaws on the ground at an otter snuffling around on the other side of our 30ft net!

It had come from up stream and could have easily passed us by it was so quiet and stealthy. It didn’t seem bothered about our presence, even giving the net pole a relaxed sniff. We were totally unprepared and in spite of it being there for a couple of minutes we didn’t get a picture!

A passing dog walker spooked it, however, and it bolted up the bank and was gone from sight. The aforementioned dog walker, with headphones in and blinkers on, had no idea that the mega mustelid had been there. For us though it was definitely a top notch wildlife encounter!

What a morning!

Oh yes, the birds, we managed to catch another two dippers (both juvs, bring the total to 12) but nowt else. But who cares. We saw an otter.

An otter was here two minutes before.

A dipper. You should have seen the otter though, it was amazing.

A bird ringer and a mist net. We saw an otter you know.

The D-Team

Another month, another visit to Cwm Taf Fechan to catch dippers. The team this time was the same size as the last outing and by the same size we mean four times as big! Eight, 8, of us were at the river hoping for Bronwen y dwr to make a presence in the net. We also had the pleasure of being joined by Trainee Gillian Dinsmore, a native of Scotland but down in the sweet south of Wales on a placement with the WWT.

How many people does it take to catch a dipper?

Steph Tyler (who has probably forgotten more about dippers than most of us will ever know) told us that as the birds will be in moult, they can be very sulky this time of year and not inclined to be too active. Steph was not wrong. After a long wait, with nothing but a bacon buttie, good chat and a grey wag to entertain us we struck camp. We moved on and on seeing a dipper fly a little way down stream we put the net up in a very nice spot and decided to put in to practice something else Steph told us - send a part up and down stream of the net to walk the birds toward it. This we did and were rewarded with a fly over grey wag, followed shortly by a dipper in the net! A lovely juvvy female in moult, with her head and chest adult like and her body still in juvvy plumage.

The rest of the morning proved very frustrating. As we went to take down the net, another dipper came upstream and so quick action was required. In this instance it involved throwing our selves against a near by tree (while mentally shouting "Noooooooo!" Hollywood style) in time enough to see the bird bounce out. The next spot was ideal for dippers and we had two more bounces.



Cwm Taf Fechan`s totals

Dippers 10
Greywags 3(1)
Piedwags 1
Mallard 1
Chaffinch 2
Bacon Butties 3


In Next Month`s Episode of CTF Dippers;
Will Facey have mended his waders so people won`t have to witness him in shorts and wellies at 6am?
Will Haf be pushed in the river?
Will Dr O be persuaded to walk the river?

Damp, Damage and Dippers

With the latter half of this week off, the plan had been for some serious ringing. Unfortunately, the weather has been somewhat… what’s the technical term? Shit? Thursday did see the nets deployed at Taf Fechan in the hope of more dippers. This outing was just The Solman and myself with the rest of the regulars crying off with various excuses that involved “I am on Fair Isle!” (Yawn), something unimportant involving lapwing and “I have a meeting!” (Priorities all wrong there). It proved to be a mixed session.

In the negative column was watching a female mallard pelting up river toward the net. Solman was very excited by this, while I just sighed the sigh of a man accepting the inevitable, which, in this case, was the mallard carrying on up river unimpeded while the net’s mesh was enlarged somewhat. Next up was the best display of bungling idiocy I’ve done in a while as I simultaneously put another hole in the net and my waders while going to extract the last dipper of the day (oh yes more than one). Oh and it hammered down at one stage.

In the positive column, and lets remain positive (waders and nets can be mended. Right?), were of course the birds, the site and the company. Four dippers, a retrap grey wag and two new chaffinches (new for the site) were our reward for a silly o’clock start. We’ve now ringed nine dippers, from at least four pairs, in the reserve with more still to qualify for rings! Quality.

Dippers and Spoggies

Bird ringing is one of those activities that encourages and rewards both exploration and experimentation. With this in our minds and hearts we got our jabs, packed our rucksacks and set off for the wildlands of the Rhondda Valley. On arrival we managed to commision the services of four native sherpas, heralding a warm welcome to 'Gods' Country'.

With the sun in our eyes and the breeze at our backs, we set off to investigate the rivers and streams of Cwmparc in search of the 'White Breast of the Water' bird known locally as 'Bronwen y Dwr'.

Luckily, two of our sherpas were also trainee bird ringers, so Rich and I could 'supervise' their efforts of an ad-hoc net erection safely from the bank. A short 40 minutes and a bacon sandwich later, we decided to let the trainees pack up and try further down-stream.

How many trainees does it take to put up a net?

We decided to demonstrate to our admiring students how a net should be put up in such a situation, stressing the importance of both swiftness and style. Needless to say, shortly afterwards a pair of dippers were caught and ringed.

Shortly after our success, our team fell victim to the social obligations of the in-laws and we lost two of our native tour guides. We decided it would be best to explore the local area in search of the local habitats that served to house the local sand martin population so visible across the valley skies.

On failing to find such habitats, we decided to punish the youngest of our sherpas with a well established procedure known as the 'outdoor head swirly'. This made us all feel much better about the day and restored honour among the ranks

Dunking the doughnut

The local custom of the area involves feeding all travellers and ringing birds in ther gardens. Our sherpas were traditional in such matters and insisted on taking us to their home. We obliged them and hungrily gobbled down the local delicacies of ham and cheese sandwiches, pasties and chocolate chip muffins.

We were told that mist netting was more successfull if accompanied by an episode of Star Trek. This turned out to be true, a short 10' net in the garden caught 3 juvenile house sparrows (spoggies).

On our journey back to the coastal plains of Cardiff, we reflected on our day and agreed that exploration and experimentaion make for a great mornings ringing. Thanks Martin and Teifion (sorry about dunking your head in the stream).

Definitely a Day for Dippers

Yesterday saw a couple of us again attempting our monthly catch of dippers on the Taf Fechan in Merthyr. Our site is where the river runs through the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales’ (WTSWW) reserve of the same name in Merthyr. We’ve met with both success and failure (of sorts) at this site and we hoped for the former this time round. Not only to keep morale high but more importantly a number of trustees and staff of the WTSWW were out with us and we wanted to show them dippers! With nine of us out on site however, we were being rather realistic about our chances.

Minds focussed, we chose our first catching spot with care; a nice shaded stretch of river thanks to a low and connected canopy, perfect for concealing a net and deterring anything flying along the river to fly up and over the net. It also provided a nice watching point. More importantly we’d also seen signs of and the birds themselves. With the net set we sat back with tempered optimism and waited and the Gods of Ringing rewarded us!

A dipper came barrelling up stream, hit the net and… you’ve guessed, it bounced like the proverbial ball. But it didn’t go too far and remained in sight all be it at a distance. A minor adjustment of the net and we were set. We didn’t have to wait long either. First in the net was a lovely female grey wagtail – a first for the site and our second for the year.

DR O with a grey wagtail

While we demonstrated processing this bird (5 female) to the assembled a dipper flew upstream straight into the net and more importantly stuck! Extracted and processed to much acclaim and was released. We decided to not strike camp at this point as the male we had just caught was likely to have a mate. It was a wise decision as we soon were watching our male, his mate and two of their offspring feeding 20m from our net… Dipper number two was soon in the net and this time a juvenile male. We decided at this point that two was enough and we moved on.

Dr O strikes camp after a good catch. Our first was infested with biting midges
and we all dealt with it in different ways - Dr O borrowing this rather fetching hat...!

Number 2. The dipper.


 The main thrust of the visit was to show the trustees the work of the WTSWW and its partners involved in the management of the reserve, and among the party were representatives from Merthyr Tydfil County Bourough Council (who actually own the site) and CCW who’s interest in the site stem from the fact that its part of a SSSI. This involved showing the trustees around a nest box scheme established this year to attract pied flycatchers. Sadly none of these rapidly declining migrants bred at the site this year but you have to at least try - there is always next year! This gave Dr O. an opportunity to ring more pulli toward his endorsement – he is very good at ringing tit pulli! But people wanted more dippers so being the types that do our best to please we had to oblige – well try too.



Sherpa Solman helps Dr O while he demonstrates ringing pulli to the WTSWW trustees


Spot number two was not too far away from the nest boxes. Shaded but without the closed canopy of our first site it was definitely a case of suck it and see; especially as our watch point was exposed to anything flying down stream! Our watch point was strangely familiar being reminiscent of where the hobbits took shelter from the Ring Wraiths! Luckily we just had to contend with inquisitive dogs.

The wait was longer this time so there was plenty of time to discuss the reserves and matters surrounding it. Our candid chatter was abruptly curtailed when not only were two grey wags seen up stream but also two dippers. One of the latter ended up in the net but none of the latter! Buoyed by our success we waited some more but tired as we were we began to lose hope until one of trustees, standing up and looking down stream, froze saying a dipper was working its way up stream. No sooner as she had said this than the bird was in the net! A female with a whopping brood patch!



And Dipper number three!

 

Rich demonstrates Tired Ringer Weighs Dipper,
a lesser-known posture of Yang-style Tai Chi



All in all a result! Three dippers and two grey wagtails (plus X number of tits)! Next month is going to be either elation or disappointment!