9/24/15 These photos and video were taken in February of 2015. A pair of brown dippers were already collecting material and building their nest. Over the next few weeks, I returned to the same location every few days where I was able to park right next to the same set of rapids. Eventually the birds became used to the car’s presence. They were extremely wary of me, and would fly off if I approached within around 30 meters. I tried to find the location of the nest, and went upstream and downstream looking for small waterfalls, where they like to construct their nests. I did find a few promising locations, but to no avail. Then last week, as I was editing the video for this post, I found the nest right in front of me, perched upon a small boulder in the center of the stream! My eyes had passed over it time and time again, thinking it to be part of a moss-covered rock. The nest had been right in front of me, growing higher day by day, with the entrance on the other side of the mossy mound. See if you can find it, ha ha! I missed a golden opportunity to film and photograph the raising of their chicks. I could have set up a blind on the other side of the stream, in the thick bamboo. It would have been perfect. I will definitely return next February to see if they return to the same spot.
Notice the white nictitating membrane in the above photo which the dipper uses like goggles when underwater.
MOSTLY BIRDS 