Dippers in the Driving Seat!

Nest boxes made from recycled car seats get the green light from Irish Dippers

Nearly all BirdWatch Ireland staff based in the Midlands Office in Banagher have, at some point in the past 10 years, helped out with a Dipper study on rivers and streams rising in the Slieve Blooms on the Offaly/Laois border.  This study, led by Senior Conservation Officer Alex Copland, aims to annually monitor the breeding and wintering ecology of this charismatic little bird through a programme of surveying, ringing and nest recording.

Adult Irish Dipper in typical habitat
(Photo: Michael Finn)

The Irish Dipper is one of only four recognised subspecies (races) of bird unique to Ireland (the others being Red Grouse, Coal Tit and Jay).  It is on the Green List, with a stable population.  Nevertheless, it is an excellent indicator for the quality of water our upland streams and rivers.  Also, working with Dippers offers staff some light relief from dealing with species such as Corncrake or Curlew that urgently need targeted conservation actions due to worrying population declines.

As part of the Slieve Bloom Dipper Study, Offaly County Council funded a survey looking at bird life on bridges in the area, and recommendations were made in relation to providing nest sites at several bridges where nesting opportunities for Dippers were considered to be limited.  Following the completion of this work, during a visit to BirdWatch Ireland HQ in Wicklow, Alex noticed some unusual-looking nesting boxes in the Wings shop store.  These boxes, made out of recycled car seats, were designed for use by Grey Wagtails, a species also regularly encountered nesting on the bridges being studied for Dippers.  However, the box looked just about right for Dippers as well!

 
Alex Copland with one of the recycled car seat nestboxes,
used by a pair of Dippers to raise their brood this summer
(Photo: Derek Fanning)

Since the size and design of the nest boxes used had not been used for Dipper in the past, a trial batch of three of these nest boxes was put up in 2011.  This would allow the suitability for nesting to be assessed.  According to literature, the nest box design used was small for Dippers and the nest box material was, to say the least, unusual!  These might limit both the occupancy of the box or, more importantly, affect the eggs and/or chicks inside if the thermal insulation properties of the box were not appropriate to nesting Dippers.

Amazingly, in the 2011 breeding season two of the three nest boxes were used by Dippers.  Even better, both occupied boxes successfully fledged chicks: a brood of three and a brood of five – one of only 3 five-chick broods recorded during the year.  Derek Fanning, a local writer and journalist for the Midland Tribune, accompanied Alex when checking the boxes and ringing the chicks.  "I could feel the sleeping chicks," he wrote.  “It felt very warm and cosy; these creatures were as snug as a bug in a rug and you would crawl in and join them if you could."  Clearly the boxes are a success!

Alex holding a Dipper nestling that he has just ringed
(Photo: Derek Fanning)

Amanda Pedlow, Heritage Officer with Offaly County Council, who funded the purchase of the nest boxes and arranged permission for them to be put up on the bridges, was delighted with the outcome: "These results are very encouraging and we would be pleased to work with BirdWatch Ireland to erect further boxes on appropriate bridges."

For Alex, this is one of the highlights of ten years of working on Dippers.  "We had no idea if the boxes would work," he said, "but the idea of putting up nesting boxes made from such an odd recycled material was just too good an opportunity to miss.  I’m hugely grateful to Offaly County Council for supporting this work, and can’t wait to get some more up and see how the boxes, and Dippers, do next year."

If you'd like to try to encourage Dippers (or indeed Grey Wagtails) to nest along a river or stream near you, you can order a recycled car seat nestbox from BirdWatch Ireland's online shop for €20, plus P&P.