I had a group today in Al Borlin Park and after we finished our plant
monitoring work we had lunch in an unofficial river beach area which has a
tangle of fallen trees going out into the river. As eight students all sat
on the tree trunks and ate their lunches they were joined by a dipper, who
flew up and quite fearlessly landed in the middle of the group, bobbing in
its accustomed way and then jumping into the water, flying underwater
upstream, then popping out like a cork and landing back between the kids.
Nobody moved a muscle as this grey ambassador went diving 3 more times, each
time coming up with some small snack which it ate with relish amidst the
kids. As if that was not entrancing enough, it let loose with its lovely
tinkle of a song before fluttering downstream. The students were amazed by
this water loving bird and the bird books flew off the shelves when we got
back to class. Mean old Rob would not tell them the birds name and they had
to puzzle it out themselves.

Rob Sandelin
Naturalist, Writer, Teacher
The Environmental Science School