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The dipper is an unusual songbird. It dives in cold, swift mountain streams for delectables that are usually found on the stream bed. What it eats depends somewhat on the season: often aquatic arthropods in the summer, fish eggs in the fall and winter, and maybe the odd fry when anchor ice might coat the stream bed.<\/p>\n
This is the season where a dipper goes after fish eggs, and in Kokanee Creek, this usually means the eggs of the Kokanee salmon. After diving for eggs on the stream bed, a dipper surfaces and usually doesn’t swallow them until perched on a rock, the shore, or border ice.<\/p>\n
Kokanee eggs come in two different colours: clear when unfertilized; somewhat golden when fertilized.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A dipper surfaces with an unfertilized egg of a Kokanee salmon.
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A dipper surfaces with two eggs of a Kokanee salmon, one of which may be fertilized.
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Although there might be only a few dippers working the same creek, each is remarkably territorial and will aggressively chase rivals. This dipper is doing the chasing.
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The dipper is an unusual songbird. It dives in cold, swift mountain streams for delectables that are usually found on the stream bed. What it eats depends somewhat on the season: often aquatic arthropods in the summer, fish eggs … Continue reading