Dipping in the Torrent

I can hear Duhamel Creek roaring from my home. The spring melt and recent rain have turned quiet little creeks into torrents of water.  It is the season of flooding and landslides.

I visited Cottonwood Falls in Nelson yesterday to see if I could find any American Dippers feeding in the rushing water. And there they were, not only feeding but singing, displaying and feeding young amid the water and rocks. They are incredible little birds! Their drab grey plumage does not do them justice.  They can walk and see under water – even in a spring torrent. They nest under waterfalls, bridges or overhangs in river banks and they have a wonderfully complex song. If a creek were ever to take wing during spring melt, it might just look and sound  like a dipper.

I have posted some of the photos I took yesterday.  I hope you enjoy them.

Looking for food in the torrent

Dipper with food

A Dipper in its element

A Young Dipper

Waiting for possibilities

Rushing water and a Dipper

Cottonwood Falls

all photos and writing copyright Joanne Siderius 2013