Day 97: "Well, hold still a second, willya?" Little Dipper was doing the happy dance on a partly submerged twig, flailing bits of grass against the water and bobbing at the knees as is typical for the species. I'm not sure what he was trying to accomplish, but every now and then, he'd stop his activity to stare intently into the water. Could this have been an example of a bird using a tool? I think he might have been trying to get insects to rise to the surface, and apparently with some success.
The American Dipper is also known as a Water Ouzel, although the older name is not often heard these days. While "Dipper" is certainly descriptive of his dance, this little bugger dives and swims like a Puffin, too! It's not uncommon to see them leap into a creek in the high country, disappear from sight and emerge a minute or more later upstream to perch on a rock, bob-bob-bobbing before taking another plunge. They're great fun to watch!
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