Colorado Trip
October 2024
Rocky Mountain National Park
Backpacking the high country with my camera
Worth it.
Mountain Chickadee
Mallards
Stellers Jay
Mule Deer along the path
Our campsite for the night along with the curious Pine Squirrel
Hairy Woodpecker
Lake Odessa - our second campsite
Beautiful
It was here upon these mirrored waters
I found the American Dipper
The American Dipper
The American Dipper is native to western North America and can be found on boulders or fallen logs along streams in western North America. What makes them so intriguing is their ability to walk underneath the water while forging for aquatic life. According to Cornell Lab of Ornithology, “the American Dipper is North Americas only true aquatic songbird.”
American Dippers feed on a variety of aquatic life, including freshwater snails, small crustaceans, and insect larvae. In a cold mountain lake in October, the bird was most likely collecting snails or other small shelled invertebrates from the rocks below the surface.
*photo credit to my friend Cole