That is an awesome observation Russell. I actually found a paper titled
"Dippers in Marine Habitats in Washington" from 1980 in Western Birds, but
can't find a digital copy just yet. I did find two other old accounts of
European Dippers foraging in the intertidal in Great Britain. Like Jackson
Cove, these observations were in sheltered inlets that had freshwater
inputs. There are also a couple of eBird records from the Dungeness Spit,
but hard to say where exactly these birds were observed.

Certainly seems some birds will use these zones in WA. Would love to know
how they deal with the salt, and if it limits how much marine prey they can
consume, since they are so adapted to freshwater.
I had previously wondered if young dippers could disperse between
watersheds on the Peninsula by moving from delta to delta, but didn't think
it was very likely. These observations certainly make me reconsider that.


>>
>> Chris Tonra
>> The Olympic Dipper Project
>> http://www.facebook.com/OlympicDipperResearch
>> Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute
>> Washington D.C./Port Angeles, WA
>> TonraC "at" si.edu****
>>
>
>
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