Sunday, September 27, 2026

Brookfoot, Brighouse

Probable Black-bellied Dipper, Cinclus cinclus cinclus. Upperparts brown, belly black to where it meets the white bib.

The third photo shows a small area of brown at the side of the bib. Certain angles show thin white fringes on some wing coverts and tertials, suggesting a first calendar year (1cy) bird.
All the Dippers I have seen in Yorkshire over 40 years have been on shallow watercourses with exposed stones providing perches. This bird was at the side of a deep wide section of the River Calder.


 

2 comments:

Martynbirder said...

Looks good for a 1st winter Black-bellied Dipper Pete. Dippers are very variable across there vast range but the Scandanavian to NW Russia, Central France, NW Iberia is the only Black-bellied subspecies. If it was adult it would probably show a thin line of brown. Nice one.

Peter Smith said...

Thanks Martyn