If you walk quietly, you might be lucky enough to see one of its most delightful residents, a small dark brown bird with a white front known as the dipper. They are wary of humans but, if you take care not to disturb them, you can watch for quite a while before there is a whir of the short wings and they fly off to a new hunting ground, or even to feed their young. Dippers are smaller than their nearest cousin, the song thrush, but stouter and chunkier. They have a short tail which is cocked like a wren. Dippers live beside or very near to fast-flowing rivers which must have a gravel river bed because these birds feed mainly on the invertebrates, the mayfly and stonefly nymphs and freshwater shrimps, that live in the gravel. They will also eat small fish if they can catch them. The dipper will sit on a rock or riverside tree root, bobbing up and down scanning the surface, hence the name. Then it will plunge into the water, running along the bottom, or even using its wings to 'fly' underwater, turning over the stones to expose the prey. They don't have webbed feet, but dippers have several adaptations to their watery feeding ground. Their long legs and sharp claws can get a grip on the stones even in fast-running water. Unlike many birds, they have solid bones which are better for reducing buoyancy, and they have a large preening gland to keep the dense feathers waterproof. They have nasal flaps that close while underwater, and the eye muscles change focus as the bird passes between air and water. Also, they have very high haemoglobin levels in the blood and so can hold their breath for up to thirty seconds as they hunt underwater. Generally, dippers are found in the western and northern parts of the country where suitable habitats are more common. We have dippers on our river, but their national population is declining as river quality declines. Dippers are territorial, but there is room for several pairs along our river. The nest is a large dome-shaped ball of moss, grasses and leaves, typically tucked into crevices. One favoured nest site is behind a waterfall if there is one. A few years ago a pair nested under the Annie Leigh Browne Bridge in The Byes. Usually there is a clutch of four to five white eggs which take just over a fortnight to hatch, and the chicks fledge after about three weeks. Sometimes there will be a second brood in late summer, but not always. Adults live for two or three years, but there is one recorded case of a bird being recovered nearly nine years after it was ringed as a chick. Our river is lovely, but it isn't perfect, and there are people working to make it healthier for nature, and we hope that dippers remain a common sight along its length.