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What do 3 Creek Ranch anglers and birdwatchers have in common? How about a bird that 'flies' underwater.

Earlier this week, as I was walking along lower Spring Creek, I was delighted to watch for several minutes a small bird wading in the water. It perched on emergent rocks and then altogether disappeared under the water for what seemed like minutes—only to resurface with a nice-sized mayfly nymph in its bill. The bird, of course, is the one and only American Dipper, a small, dark-gray bird with one of the most unusual foraging strategies of any songbird in the world. The longer I watched this entertaining little bird swimming and diving, the more I realized how the restoration and conservation work we’ve done on our creeks has created a stronger connection between anglers and birdwatchers. Huh? First, back to the dipper. Dippers get their name from the characteristic up-and-down ‘bobbing’ of their entire body once they land. This fairly drab, little bird is only found near faster-moving rocky streams, and is often seen casually gleaning insects from streamside rocks, even zipping off a branch to catch flying insects on the wing. But most of the time dippers forage underwater for submerged aquatic insects. Dippers actually dive and ‘fly’ underwater using powerful beats of their wings to swim or even ‘walk’ along the bottom of the creek catching aquatic insects off rocks. Dippers have been known to forage along the bottom of streams in which the current is too fast and the water too deep for people to stand! Along with this amazing adaptation to ‘swim’ underwater, dippers have soft, dense feathers that are near impossible to saturate. They also have a third goggle-like eyelid, or ‘nictitating membrane’ that can be drawn across the eye to protect it from dirt and grit suspended in the water, as well as a small ‘flap’ that covers their nostrils to keep water out. Dippers are not threatened or at risk of dying out, but they are sensitive to water quality and are only found along clean water systems. Dippers do not migrate and will continue to dive and forage in frigid, icy waters all winter long. Now, back to the connection between all of our serious and not-so-serious anglers and birdwatchers at 3 Creek Ranch: Dippers are totally dependent upon stream health and productivity, meaning that they must rely on both submerged and flying terrestrial forms of aquatic insects. Thus, the food preferences of my beloved dippers completely overlap that of Jim’s beloved Snake River fine-spotted cutthroat trout. Although the degree of competition between these birds and fishes is far from being understood, the need to preserve their common habitat necessitates the unspoken bond between the birdwatchers and anglers of 3 Creek Ranch. Just one more reason why all 3 Creek Ranch homeowners should be genuinely proud of the conservation work they have accomplished on this beautiful landscape we call home.

Respectfully,
Roger Smith
Resident Naturalist

3 Creek Ranch