I know there are dippers on the river near where I live but generally they tend to be on clear fast flowing rivers in the woods or on the moors not in the town centre. I was a little surprised to see this pair on a small brook which runs right through the centre of town and for a good portion of this route is enclosed underground. Growing up the Hebble Brook could run any colour of the rainbow as it was used as a dumping ground for waste from the mills and factories that lined its course. Nowadays it’s much cleaner (although in times of heavy rain rust from local iron mines can make it look like tomato soup) and is obviously in a good enough condition to support these dippers. The stream her
One of the few benefits of Facebook is that if you’re in the right groups you can find out what’s about in your area. Recently I’d heard of a Yellow Browed Warbler not too far away and as I had to got to visit our office close by, I thought I’d stop off on the way home and see if I could spot it. These birds are strongly migratory and winter mainly in tropical South East Asia but also in small numbers in western Europe, so one in Yorkshire is quite a rare visitor. They arrive in the UK in late Autumn from the Urals which although a trip of around 3000 km is still a lot shorter than the 5-6000 km trip to Asia! It wasn’t hard to find where it had been spotted as there were around 20 long lense
