While playing tapes, I thought that I heard the clear response of a Pine Grosbeak, but I was unable to find the bird(s) and after conferring with a more experienced birder, I learned that it was possible that I could have been hearing a Cassin's Finch. Search as I might, I was unable to find or hear the bird(s) again.
A little while later, I heard a clear song coming from near Silent Creek. I rushed to the bank's edge, scanning the treetops, hoping for a Pine Grosbeak, but I almost immediately realized the song was all wrong. "Dipper," the voice in the back of my mind told me. I searched the creek, but couldn't spot it. Silence crept in. Suddenly, the song burst forth again, and I looked down to see the Dipper perched on a partially submerged log not 20 feet away!
American Dipper
The little guy saw me, seemed to hesitate, then burst right back into song, bringing a smile to my face. I quickly turned my camera to video mode and captured a couple videos of singing, strutting, and swimming!
Dipper Singing
Dipper Strutting
The conservationist and naturalist John Muir was a great fan of dippers. In his book The Mountains of California he writes: "In a general way his music is that of the streams refined and spiritualized. The deep booming notes of the falls are in it, the trills of rapids, the gurgling of margin eddies, the low whispering of level reaches, and the sweet tinkle of separate drops oozing from the ends of mosses and falling into tranquil pools."
About halfway through the third video you can hear the call of the Gray Jay. I went upstream and found three of them hanging out. These are amazingly quiet birds for Jays, and I enjoyed watching them silently hanging out in a tree. The Canadian Journal of Zoology reports Gray Jay mated pairs as allowing a previous year's fledgling to stay around and help raise the next year's brood. Two-thirds of the time this nanny is a male. I saw three pairs of three Gray Jays today, and it made me wonder if they were all families getting ready to start new broods.
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Gray Jay
As I got closer to the bridge at Whisper Creek, I heard another Dipper, but this one sounded REALLY LOUD, and slightly metallic. When I reached the bridge, I realized that the bird was singing from inside the culvert. The culvert was acting almost like a megaphone, magnifying the volume of this Dipper's song. I couldn't get a clear picture, but I would like to imagine that the bird was impressed with itself.
On the west side of Diamond Lake I had a close encounter with what could have been a Northern Goshawk. A large, dark bird soared downwards across a corner of the lake into the trees. It wasn't flapping, but I got the impression of a large, long tail. And it's flight path was very direct. Of course, it could also have also been a Raven, or a Juvenile Bald Eagle, or really any other large bird.
Overall, while I missed Pine Grosbeak, I had a really great day at Diamond Lake.
Bird List:
9 | Gray Jay |
|---|---|
18 | Mountain Chickadee
There were several flocks moving around.
|
7 | Red-breasted Nuthatch |
1 | Pacific Wren
I was surprised to see it up here in February.
|
2 | American Dipper |
12 | Golden-crowned Kinglet |
2 | Varied Thrush |
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