Winter Birds: Dippers

Last week at Salmon Tours, a volunteer called my attention to an ordinary looking brown bird about six inches long. The extraordinary thing about this bird was that she was wading in the stream, repeatedly dipping her head in the water.  While behaving somewhat like a duck, this bird was obviously a songbird. Fittingly, the name of this bird is the American Dipper.

I read what the Cornell Lab of Ornithology had to say about this bird on its website. I found out the Dipper is America’s only truly aquatic songbird. The Dipper eats the bugs and larvae found in the rocky bottoms of flowing streams. They wade, swim and dive from the air into the water for food. Dippers share habitat with Salmon and depend on the aquatic insects that also feed the fingerling Salmon.  So, like Salmon, Dippers are susceptible to pollution that could eliminate their prey.

Dippers weave a ball- like nest near the fast moving stream.  The female first dips materials into water as she weaves a two layer nest. She creates an outer shell 8-10 inches in diameter made of moss. The inner chamber is a woven cup of 2-3 inches made of grass, leaves and bark. This is an ingenious way to keep her brood dry. Dippers have a clutch of four or five eggs and have one or two broods per year.

American Dippers are monogamous, but couples generally split up for a solitary life after the chicks’ fledging.

Salmon Tours 2012

 WSU has taken on the Salmon Tour program. A few years ago, a group of educators, including me,  organized buses to take participants to Salmon viewing sites in the county. This was a successful program that lasted for about 10 years. For several different reasons, the program in its particular format was abandoned. This year WSU Beach Watcher volunteers acted as Salmon Docents and invited the public to view Salmon at several spots around the county. I participated as a Docent last Saturday at Fish Park in Poulsbo

We Salmon Docents were lucky that it was a cold, crisp but sunny day on Saturday! I joined two other docents on the viewing platform.  There was a fortuitous spot of sun there to warm us up. We had low attendance from fish and Salmon tour participants. It was high tide so it was hard to see fish returning upstream at the estuary. The lack of people could’ve been due to frigid temperatures in the 30’s. 

After about an hour and a half of no action, my cohorts decided to join the docents upstream at Valley Nursery. I decided to hang out in the sun at the platform a little longer. I was glad I did because at about 12:30 I heard the unmistakable sound of excited children running down the path. A mom, three kids plus grandma came to Salmon Tours. Grandma had received an e-mail from the Kingston Chamber about the event.

The two brothers and younger sister were everywhere at once. I apologized for the lack of viewable fish, but they were undeterred, searching high and low. The boys gave me their rapt attention when I began spewing out my Salmon story. They were amazed by the determination of these critters. The boys especially liked hearing about the Chum Salmons camouflage spawning outfit.

Then, as if on cue, a lone Chum Salmon came into view and swam right toward us. The group got to see its markings and even identified the fish as a female by looking at the ID card. I’m only sorry that they didn’t get to see the mass spawning that took place. They were excited none the less.

Do people want to view Salmon? If participation at this year's Salmon Tours is an indication, then no. But I can't help to think, yes they do. They just need to a) know about it b) be asked to sites that actually have fish!

Ideas:

• Create an iconic sign - similar to the "The Salmon are Running" one that is at the Grover's Creek Hatchery. People need to know that this means they can stop and look at Salmon when they see the sign.
• Have docents available on the fishes' schedules - not ours. That may mean that docents will have to be flexible and Salmon Tours won't all be on the same day. May be a little difficult to do - but not impossible.
• Do much more outreach to make sure that people are aware of the Salmon viewing opportunities.

Kitsap Salmon Touring

If you want to see the Chum Salmon returning in their camo outfits, here are viewing opportunities on

Saturday November 19, 10-1. Docents will be there to answer questions.

Valley Nursery in Poulsbo

Fish Park in Poulsbo

Chico Creek

Blackjack Creek – on the Bridge by Kentucky Fried Chicken

See videos of salmon streams

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Paul Dorn is the fish biologist for the Suquamish Tribe, but he is much, much more. He is the go-to guy for all things Salmon in Kitsap County. He always makes time to educate folks about our iconic anadromous friends:  the Salmon.

This is what he was up to on October 7, at the Norm Dicks building in Bremerton. WSU is sponsoring a group of Salmon Docents in the county. Paul was initiating them with a packed day of learning. Teachers often ask me to talk to their students about Salmon, so  I attended Paul’s lecture to  refresh my info.

Paul started by telling us that the Salmon or Oncorhynchus  (Russian - meaning hooked snout) created their own habitat 10,000 years ago after the last Puget Sound glacial event. They made their way down from the north and out to sea through a barren, scraped and scarred habitat. After returning to fresh water to spawn, they died leaving their carcasses to become fertilizer for vegetation and trees that would become the important riparian habitat Salmon need.  Leaves fell into the water feeding the insects that nourish salmon young.  The trees in turn fell into streams building shelter for the newly hatched salmon and forming the riffles and pools so important for salmon streams. As I was listening to Paul, I wondered; “Are we the only species that destroys our habitat instead of nurturing it?”

The Salmon circle continues today with five species of salmon returning to home streams that drain into the Salish Sea.  These are Chum, Chinook, Silver, Pink and Sockeye.  In Kitsap our largest Salmon run consists of Chum Salmon.  We also have hatchery raised Coho, and Chinook Salmon returning to local streams.  Pinks can also be found here and there. 

 Our largest native Chum run returns to Chico Creek. Chum Salmon are nicknamed Dog Salmon because of their large canine teeth that appear at spawning time.  After being out to sea for 2-4 years, something triggers the schools of Salmon to return home to spawn. Scientists think they find their way by using their exquisite sense of smell.  Salmon out smell dogs.  The Salmon’s sense of smell is to dogs’ sense of smell as the dog’s is to humans’ limited ability! Vibrations that are sensed through fishes’ lateral line also guide them home.  

Hanging out in the estuary, the mottled markings of their bodies make Chum look like they are dressed in camouflage gear. They wait for a good rain to allow them up the fresh water stream. Chum is the latest Salmon run: Late November sometimes extending into December. Chum are the most laid back species of the five. They rarely jump, instead choosing to go around and under obstacles. Watching them swim upstream, we see that they can travel with half of their bodies out of the water. This is a good adaptation for spawning in our flat, shallow Kitsap streams. The Salmon do not eat and are already decaying a bit.  The reaction of being in fresh water causes white splotches to appear on their bodies. 

Using her tail, the female disturbs the rocks to build a nest or redd. Meanwhile the males are very aware of what is going on. They viciously compete with each other to fertilize the 3,000 eggs that the female will deposit there. After fertilization the male goes on upstream for further conquests before dying. The female lingers protecting her nest until, exhausted, she dies adding nutrients to the stream that will indirectly nurture her hatchlings. 

Life is happening under those rocks. One day, alevin pop out of the eggs.  Alevin remain in the rocks and do not yet have mouths to in which to eat. Their food hangs on their bellies in a yolk sack. After this yolk sack is absorbed, they wriggle out and start looking for stream bugs to eat. They are not only eating, but being eaten although they now have parr marks along their sides to help them blend into the streambed. 

Chum remain in the stream for only a few months. By March they are making their way to the estuary. They are now smolts, adjusting to being a salt water fish. Chum rely heavily on the rich nutritious soup of the estuary.  They quickly gain weight and grow large enough to school out to sea to dine on sandlance, surf smelt , anchovies and squid. In another 2 – 4 years, at least one pair from each redd will return to repeat the cycle. 

Not only do Chum Salmon depend on the estuary, they need to return to a healthy stream.  A salmon stream needs plenty of oxygen, gravel and woody debris. Spawning Salmon need cold water. . .that is why trees shading the stream are the most important ingredient for salmon habitat. Paul pointed out that our Salmon streams were a source of drinking water for thousands of years. He had a good idea  . . . we should be required to drink out of a Salmon stream once each year. This may make maintaining a clean stream more of a priority for us.