Birding and Dipping Dippers

I have been “birding” lately.  There is so much more to the activity than the word  implies.

Take watching dippers in winter for instance.    Dippers sing in winter -the burbling and  strident chase call and the  soft warble offered by a lone bird.  And dippers dip.  They don’t just stand – they bob up and down. They dip their heads under water and often swim totally under water to find food.  And they bob along like a cork in the rapids.

Watching dippers goes beyond ticking their name off on a list and moving on.

I keep lists, take photos and relish finding uncommon birds, animals and plants, but I always try to remember that it is the moment, the experience and the joy of sharing that  moment that is really important. The moment is all we really have. It is probably best to enjoy it.

Dipper submerging its head to feed

A swimming dipper

A Dipper surfaces with a Kokanee Salmon egg

A dipping Dipper

Dipper on winter Kokanee Creek

all photos and writing copyright J.A. Siderius 2014.