A new place along Säveån for White-throated Dipper photography

I got a tip about a stretch of Säveån last weekend. It should be a nice place for White-throated Dipper photography and during spring you’ll have Grey Wagtails. I was also told about a Kingfisher along Göta Älv. The place didn´t seem to be suited for photography but it is always nice when you see a Kingfisher.

During the week I had hope that there would be some nice light during the weekend as the Norwegian weather service YR said sun. So I got a bite puzzled when I looked out during breakfast as the clouds seemed to be thick and heavy. I recheck the YR forecast and it still said sunny. Now I check the Swedish and Danish and they both said cloudy conditions during the whole day. I have lost faith in YR and will from now on check both SMHI and DMI before I decide where to go for my excursions.

Still I wanted to come out just to look at the two places to see what could be done there. So I steered the car toward the Kingfisher site that lies just a kilometer from home. A parked the car and walked over a foot bridge running over the train tracks so I could get access to the bank of Göta Älv. I were now on the opposite side of where the Kingfisher seems to reside. The distance were clearly to long for photography so I grabbed my binocular to just scan the area and see if I could find the small jewel. Nothing so I grabbed my gear and headed back to the car and drove towards Säveån and the stretch that flow from Aspen towards Jonsered.

I have a good knowledge about this area even if I haven´t been here photographing before. The place is just by one of the more beautiful stretches of road around Gothenburg and I tend to go by this road a couple of times each year. I parked the car just by the road and could see the site where the Grey Wagtails will be later on.

A walked over a foot bridge and started to walk towards the stretch of Säveån that acts as a fish ladder for the salmon. It didn´t take long for me to discover the first White-throated Dipper. I got a couple of photos before it took off. A walked the stretch that is just 150-200 meter long and I saw at least 3 or 4 different individuals. Most of them stayed on the opposite side but I found 2 spots with good vision and from which one could take nice photos. What I have in mind is to hopefully get good flight shoots but also photos of their food searching behavior. Sadly the light was as bad as usual so I had to stretch the limits of my equipment.

This photo is the one I like the most from today. I have used a shutter of 1/50s and an aperture of f/8. The long aperture gives the water from Säveån a nice flowing feeling as the rapids where strong here. It is not tack sharp as I had to use my 2x converter.

I will surely go back here because I feel this stretch of Säveån is the right place to photo the bahavior that I like to capture.

Photo Gallery: A new place along Säveån for White-throated Dipper photography