I recently discovered a new location where a shallow area of a stream merges into a rocky one that is almost like a mountain stream. This is a habitat for dippers, kingfishers and grey wagtails. The latter like to stay right at the transition, where you can now see the reddish colors of the bushes in the background in autumn.

This year I found a nice location where I can see the dipper almost all the time and where the kingfisher shows up regularly. And in between, the grey wagtail keeps coming. These three beautiful birds live along streams and share their reserves. One could almost think that the frequent washing causes the beauty. Or the look in the mirror as in this picture?

Actually I was looking for dippers, when suddenly a grey wagtail flew in front of my camera. These birds living along streams fascinate me every time by their beautiful colors and also by their elegant flight. Because of the current high water it probably had to look for new places, the gravel banks at the shore were deeply under water. The dippers had less problems there and dived for their food.

Beside the quite frequent white wagtail there is also the mountain wagtail in Switzerland, which occurs however some more rarely. It is mostly found on the gravelly banks of watercourses, and contrary to its name, also in the lowlands. While I was watching the kingfishers, I suddenly noticed that there was another bird near the water. Since it did not notice me under the camouflage cover, I was able to photograph it for a few minutes.

Frühmorgens im Winter sass ich getarnt in der Auenlandschaft und beobachtete die Gebirgsstelzen, die im Nebel ihr Frühstück suchten. Dieses Bild ist technisch bestimmt nicht perfekt, aber ich mag die Reflexion des gerade abfliegenden Tieres auf dem Wasser und die Symmetrie des Steines, der fast wie von einer anderen Welt erscheint.