James Blilie came through with a photo contribution, but of course we need more. The captions for James’s photos for today (taken yesterday in Oregon) are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them:
These photos are from this morning (15-Jul-2024), taken on an easy hike to Wahclella Falls in the Columbia River Gorge, near our home.
Our son Jamie is home from WSU Pullman for the summer and is mostly working; but we hike at least once a week on his days off.
This is a pretty easy hike to a spectacular 60-foot high waterfall. It’s close to Portland, Oregon, so it gets lots of traffic. If you don’t like crowds, go any time other than Memorial Day through Labor Day! I was able to exclude the large numbers of tourists by careful framing and waiting.
The creek that goes over the falls is Tanner Creek and it is known by local birders as a good spot to see American Dippers (Cinclus mexicanus; a.k.a. water ouzels). Today fully justified that reputation. We found Dippers all along the stream, including a juvenile bird that was (successfully) begging food from its parent. All the photos of the Dippers are taken by our my son, Jamie, the family wildlife photographer. Dippers get their name from their odd behavior of “dipping” up and down on their legs, perhaps signaling to other birds.
First some stage-setting: Photos of the hike that I took. At the lower end of the trail. A basic view of falls.
Next, some basic portraits of the Dippers.
Then photos of Dippers foraging on rocks in the fast moving water of the stream. The insects or insect larvae they were feeding on seemed to be abundant. In one photo, the bird seems to have shining necklace of water and it shakes the water off its feathers. These birds swim very readily and they are fast under water.
Then photos of the juvenile Dipper begging from its parent. One photo showing it calling for food. The other shows the parent at upper left and the juvenile at lower right:
Finally my photo of the bird photographer (Homo sapiens) at work with the falls behind him.
Equipment:
Jamie: Nikon D5600 (crop factor = 1.5), Sigma 150-600mm 5-6.3 DG OS HSM Lens (225mm-900mm equivalent; quite a sharp lens), Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3G ED lens, Nikkor AF-S VR Micro-NIKKOR 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED Lens (an amazingly sharp lens that goes 1:1 macro and is a great portrait lens)
Me: Olympus OM-D E-M5 (micro 4/3 camera, crop factor = 2.0), LUMIX G X Vario, 12-35mm, f/2.8 ASPH. (24mm-70mm equivalent), LUMIX 35-100mm f/2.8 G Vario (70-200mm equivalent)
Aw, so refreshing …
You know, I’m doing some jogging when I can in the forested areas … not much by comparison, but it’s something…
What lovely photos! And how lucky you are to live near such a wonderful place! Thank you for excluding most of the homo sapiens–except Jamie, of course. Given that I live in south central PA, where we’ve not had rain in a month and everything is parched in temperatures near 100, these photos provide some relief.
I love the photos of beautiful river/gorge setting and the Dippers! Thank you. Brad Day, Boston, MA
I remember appreciating the maiden hair ferns covering rock walls when I hiked parts of the Olympic Peninsula.
Makes me homesick for the Northwest. So beautiful.
As always, thanks James and Jamie. Perfect hot summer morning here in Virginia to cool off with pictures of your wonderful canyon. Reminds me of our waterfalls and cascades in the Shenandoah National Park including the nice pool at the bottom of the falls. Do hikers swim in the pools? Or is water too chilly?
American Dippers are really interesting birds. We had a pair living at Twin Lakes on Orcas Island when we lived there. It was fun watching them do their deep knee bends. That’s the easiest way to spot them.
Thank you for the photographs!
Raised in the eastern US, I was amazed the first time I saw a Dipper foraging in a literally icy stream near Sundance, Utah. How do they tolerate the cold? Amazing birds! Thank you for the great photos.
How beautiful!! I can see why it gets crowded there. Your family picked the perfect place to settle — so close to so much beauty and, of course, we’ve seen your hacienda. Jamie is quite the photographer (takes after his dad). I love the way the bird’s tail juts up — looks sassy! Refreshing to see all the sparkling water and lush greens. Your contributions are always special. Thank you.
Ooooh! Wonderful photos of a most enchanting bird, which I’ve heard called ‘our only aquatic songbird.’ They dip so that they can gauge distance while looking from above the water surface for underwater prey; then they dive in and swim to the prey and catch it. They are only found along perfectly clear streams. Thanks for these photos!
Dressed in his understated brown and grey plumage, the dipper is dapper. Thanks for the lovely photos.
Beautiful photos. The Pacific Northwest is lovely.