Dipped on the Dipper.

O what a beautiful morning...the great outdoors beckons.

Off down the Manoa Valley with the late breakfast Lark. The plan...or lack of it...was to get a better picture of the Dipper that frustratingly avoids all attempts so far to get a better photograph of it than the last one blogged. What was different?
Well; firstly I decided to walk the opposite bank with its one foot track that leans towards the river at an angle of 45 degrees.
Secondly.. I was carrying a lot of weight on my back...concealment equipment plus the usual camera gear that felt like the pack of an S.A.S trooper but was really a lot lighter.
After trekking what seemed miles but was in fact about half a mile I set things up being careful not to fall into the river.
Patiently I waited...and waited....waited...not one solitary bird was seen. O bloody hell I have the long walk back. It proved a lot worse than the previous one.
During one of my frequent rest periods I saw a Grey Wagtail perched on a fence...ummmmmm I thought..my shot of the day. So it was.
Just before reaching the end of the trail a Dipper shot out of the undergrowth and hurtled off downstream like an Olympic sprinter with the Devil's Hounds at its heels. ...
Well no one wins 'em all I said to myself.