I watched a lot of birds in great pleasure when they were feeding in water. Common Kingfisher's lightening fast dive from a perch, Pied Kingfisher's ability to hover above water before the plunge, the limitless patience of a Grey Heron, high speed deep dive of Gannets and underwater spear fishing of Darter are all special bird behaviour I watched in awe. I added Dipper to the top of this list when I was first told about the unusual feeding behaviour of Dippers, by one of my friends at RSPB. A Dipper typically feeds by diving into shallow fast flowing rivers and WALKS underwater in search of insect larvae and freshwater shrimp. Once they get their share they just bob back to the surface like a cork.
Who could imagine that this bird's weird and wonderful behaviour does not belong to the realm of folklore? In fact they are able to walk underwater by utilising the force of the flow, something similar to race car aerodynamics. The water flowing around the body of a Dipper creates enough lift to hold the bird firmly on the river bed while it searches for food.
Soon I was seen looking for Dippers in a stretch of water where every one else has seen Dippers more than a few times. Even though this river in the Glasgow University campus is not far from where I live, my attempts to see one, failed one after another. It was quite frustrating, and an early winter in 2009 forced me to stay indoor for most of the time.
One morning I received a call from my friend at RSPB to see where I am available to shoot some volunteers in snow for a local news letter. Even though I didn't particularly like the idea of spending considerable time in snow, it was one good opportunity to escape my boredom.
It turned out to be a good day in cold. Just after our portrait shooting, my friend showed me a distant plump bird in partially frozen river. I changed my lens instantly to get this shot just before it walked into water again and moved away downstream.
This year I started with tell tale marks of bird droppings on rocks and I found this location. I didn't have to wait long before this beautiful bird appeared from nowhere. It was carrying something in its beak.
It started calling and suddenly this juvenile came into the scene. I guess the nest was beneath where I stood, well hidden in bushes.
It would have been very hungry. It swallowed what the parent bought in and started begging for more.
The parent is now ready for another plunge.
In its favourite hunting ground, the big bird dived into the fast flowing river in search of insect larvae and freshwater shrimps.
Underwater image is not available. I don't have a polarizing filter :-(
After few minutes it bobbed back to the surface. A dipper doesn't seem to have webbed feet, but it appeared as a powerful swimmer.
Food is served.
The young bird is still hungry!! and the whole process started again.
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