One of the birds I enjoy watching is the American Dipper, particularly in the winter. Even with its small size, its easily recognizable from a distance due to it's bobbing up and down during pauses between feeding. Putting the dipper and a Spotted Sandpiper together would give any contestants on the TV show Dancing with the Stars run for their money.Producing more oil then most birds, helps keeps the water off when seeking food underwater. Not a drop remains when it pops out of water, which comes in handy diving underwater all year around.
In the case of the attached picture, the dipper was in a small pool of water surrounded by snow and ice. Spent close to an hour watching it and taking its pictures while it caught several small fishes. As it fished and ate I kept taking pictures while close to the ground. I wanted it to move close to the dry grass next to the water, within time it did. It dived into the water and seconds later it was on the ice with a fish in its bill. As it gave the fish few shakes with its eyelids closed, with the light reflecting off the ripples to its front I grabbed the attached image.
Until next moment,
Amar