Tweeters,

Michael Smith notes Dipper records to above 5,000' elevation in the =
Olympics/Cascades.

Dippers can also occur wherever the rapidly-flowing water courses over =
the rock/gravel streambeds where they like (being anthropomorphic :-)) =
to feed.

A few years back ('89?), I enjoyed watching Dippers come and go from a =
nest near the entrance to the ponds/raceways at Quilcene National Fish =
Hatchery in Jefferson County. The nest, made of moss and attached =
underneath one of the hatchery's walkway structures, was at an elevation =
of much less than *100 feet* (30m). In the late fall and early winter - =
(well, when the water goes back down), you can find them eating salmon =
eggs where the spawning chum salmon dig out the redds of =
previously-spawned fish; the washed-out eggs make great food for Dippers =
and cutthroat. With this week's flooding, maybe we can watch this =
behavior from our living rooms...

I have seen these wonderful cinclids in just about every stream I've =
fished, camped along, worked in, or birded in 'Cascadia', from pretty =
high in the mountains to just about sea level. The east side, too, has =
its share of them. Drifting the Grande Ronde of NE Oregon/SE =
Washington, I've seen them from the Minam River all the way down to the =
Snake. In the summer, they are in the Donner und Blitzen, upstream from =
Malheur NWR at about 4,500' elev., pulling caddis (Trichoptera) larvae =
from the rocks. As a teen-ager, my family 'summered-over' on Elk Creek, =
south of Happy Camp, Calif., and I watched several newly-fledged "Water =
Ousels" and their parents grow up along the streambanks. John Muir, if =
I recall, wrote eloquently about these amazing birds who walk across the =
bottoms of raging streams.

A biologist in Norway once sent me plans for Dipper nest-boxes! A =
German version, and a "good Norweigan" plan. I'll try to find them one =
of these days, and make them available - maybe through the WOS =
newsletter or some such...?

Jon. Anderson
Olympia, Wash.
festuca at olywa.net