Ringed Dipper

Went for a walk round my patch at the weekend, and was pleased to find a singing male Dipper in the woodland. Even more exciting, after taking some photos I realised it was ringed! After taking a closer look at some of my picturess, I can see the last few digits look like R771, but there many be another number after that. My ringing trainer rings Dippers in the nest down at Lathkill Dale, so it’s possibly one he’s done. We think young Dippers come to our local woodland after being pushed off their breeding site by the adults, and come here to proclaim a territory. Unfortunately there are very few places a Dipper would be able to breed here, and usually the river pretty much dries up in spring.
As well as this, there are now over 20 Mandarin Ducks and I also saw a Grey Wagtail and several Redwing and Fieldfare going over.