Dipper

Today I decided to post a single photo from our hike up Deep Lake. One of the amazing features of the lake is that it drains underground and reappears a couple miles away down the mountain. This shot is from the second pool. Like the other two, this one is fed from an underground stream that is not visible to the viewer.

When we got to the pool we stopped to rest and enjoy the beauty of the crystal clear water below. I caught sight of this water ouzel or American Dipper on the other side of the lake and decided to take his picture. These birds are so plain in appearance that it would be understandable for people to ignore them. Instead their unique habit of walking along the stream bottom under water, summer and winter, has earned them the admiration of many bird watchers.

They are called dippers because of their strange propensity to bob up and down as they stand by a stream or lake edge.