The White-throated Dippers of Jonsered

We got some centimeter of snow during the night and the thought to visit the White-throated Dippers at the stream in Jonsered seemed to be the right choice for the day. When I spoke to some bird watchers during Saturday they told me that the Dippers sang nicely at Grevedämmet in Mölndal.

I did a short stop at Grevedämmet during Saturday without any luck and wanted to see what Jonsered could bring. I like both places but I feel that Jonsered brings a little more to the scene than the narrow channel in Grevedämmet. You can get closer to the Dippers in Grevedämmet but that isn´t always what I want. I also knew that there had been recent sightings of the Common Kingfisher in Jonsered but that would be a big bonus as I went there for the Dippers.

The setting was really nice with the snow on the ground and my hope to get some nice wintery photos of the Dippers might bear fruit. It didn´t take long before I saw the first Dipper. It sat nicely just a couple meters out in the stream so I placed myself there and started to take photos. The Dipper was searching for food and made a little show for me. Soon another Dipper appeared and chased the first off. It seemed like they were fighting for the better spots in the stream.

This picture is a one is showing a behavior I haven´t seen before. The Dipper put the head into the water while searching for food. That is at least what I think. Most often they just jump out into the stream or fly off to a place where they plunge into the water.

I stayed put for almost an hour watching the interaction between the Dippers before I heard some singing. I located the bird and did this short recording.

Video: Singing White-throated Dipper

I like hearing the stream together with the bird song. I really hope that some of the Dippers will stay and breed here in Jonsered as I would like to get summer photos of them. I don´t know if they do so it will be a wait and see mission for me.

After Jonsered I went to the Fish Harbor to see if anything was happening there but I felt yesterday was much better there. Still I got some interesting photos and you can see two of them in the gallery.

I hope you enjoy both the video and the pictures.

Photo Gallery: The White-throated Dippers of Jonsered