Finding the White-throated Dipper on the Dâmbovița, at Rucăr
A bird I first saw in a YouTube Short turned out to live on the river behind my in-laws' house in Rucăr. This is how I found the white-throated dipper on the Dâmbovița — the distant August record photograph, and the morning in October when I finally got close.
I first heard about the dipper from a Short on YouTube. I saw it there and was delighted by it, but I never imagined I would one day find it on the river behind my in-laws' house in Rucăr.
August: a first glimpse, and the wrong lens
One summer afternoon in August, I went out to test an old camera — a Canon PowerShot G1. Coming out of my in-laws' garden towards the Dâmbovița, I noticed a brown bird with a white patch jumping into the water. I knew immediately what it was: the white-throated dipper, known in Romanian as mierla de apă or pescărelul negru.
And, as wildlife photographers know too well, the lens I had mounted instead of the telephoto was the Olympus M.Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro. I could only take a distant record photograph — just enough to confirm that I had really seen a dipper.
That is the photograph above — the bird small in the frame, the river and the far bank filling the rest of it. Not a photograph I would show anyone, but the one that proved the bird was really there.
After that, on every weekend visit to my in-laws, I came with the hope of seeing it again.
18 October: finally, more than a few seconds
On the morning of 18 October, I finally went out specifically to look for it. It was exactly where I had first seen it — but this time I did not spot it at once; I only noticed it when it flew. I followed where it went, walked upstream after it, and finally got more than a few seconds with this magnificent bird.
It is a joy to watch it do its little bob. It flew onto a fence, then onto a roof, then back to the water.
This bird is extremely well camouflaged. If it sits still on the riverbed or on the bank, you can barely see it — and without the white patch on its chest it would be very hard to notice at all.
Sometimes a bird you first discover on YouTube turns out to be much closer than you would think. In my case, on the river behind the garden.
Continue exploring
Questions about the photos, the settings or the gear?
Write to me below — I read every message and reply when I'm back from the field. You can also email me directly at nick.usor.peter@gmail.com.
Wild By Nick — Field Notes. Photographs and words by Nick Ungureanu.