I wanted to share two final pics of American Dippers I took last week-end. This shows an American Dipper I found in Salida that adapted to it's situation. The bridge where it is nesting is curved on the underside and has no walls perpendicular to the water on which to firmly attach a nest so this bird built it's nest in a crack in the bridge where some of the cement has fallen apart. Since there is a lot of kayaking under this bridge and a walking trail under one sde, it is also best that the nest is in the nest is in the center where it has some protection.
The second pic is just an enlargement of the top pic showing the dipper with the nest above it (where the arrow points). I took pic of nest from about 75 feet away, again handheld.
The bottom pic shows this American Dipper from a closer perspective. Check out it's toenails! This pic will enlarge for a good close-up view of the eye and toes, just double-click on it. It flew in to forage along the rocks near me and was 10-15 feet away when I got this pic (again handheld). The third eyelid is almost closed in this pic as the bird has just come out of the water with an insect in its bill that it took to apparent nestlings--I was too far away, the water and people too loud for me to hear nestlings as I did at the Coaldale area nest. SeEtta
I wanted to share two final pics of American Dippers I took last week-end. This shows an American Dipper I found in Salida that adapted to it's situation. The bridge where it is nesting is curved on the underside and has no walls perpendicular to the water on which to firmly attach a nest so this bird built it's nest in a crack in the bridge where some of the cement has fallen apart. Since there is a lot of kayaking under this bridge and a walking trail under one sde, it is also best that the nest is in the nest is in the center where it has some protection.
The second pic is just an enlargement of the top pic showing the dipper with the nest above it (where the arrow points). I took pic of nest from about 75 feet away, again handheld.
The bottom pic shows this American Dipper from a closer perspective. Check out it's toenails! This pic will enlarge for a good close-up view of the eye and toes, just double-click on it. It flew in to forage along the rocks near me and was 10-15 feet away when I got this pic (again handheld). The third eyelid is almost closed in this pic as the bird has just come out of the water with an insect in its bill that it took to apparent nestlings--I was too far away, the water and people too loud for me to hear nestlings as I did at the Coaldale area nest. SeEtta
Comments