Country diary: the dipper's sweet singing lifts the winter gloom

Allendale, Northumberland: The song's fluidity mimics the movement of the river where it lives and is especially cheering on a cold morningThere's very little birdsong in this valley right now. Just thin wisps of notes from the robin, the see-sawing sounds of great tits on warm days or wild bursts from mistle thrushes that, in some years, I've recorded in my diary around Christmas time.There's one bird, though, that sings throughout the year and that is the dipper. I listen for it when I step outside the back door. This song has a fluidity that seems all about the movement of the river where it lives, a stream of calmer moments followed by flurries of repeated notes. It has some of the sweetness of the skylark mixed with the variety of the thrush. In summer, I straighten from working the veg garden to take notice. In winter, when even the sheep are silent, it's especially uplifting. Continue reading...