Stream Walker, 3/5
I like to tell the story Edmund Sawyer, one of our great bird artists of the last century, told me many years ago about the dipper. He was advised by someone who had witnessed the dipper foraging in mid-stream that she was convinced the bird was trying to commit suicide, as it plunged time and again head first into the current, only to bob up a minute or so later. Ed assured her such were the foraging habits of this unusual bird and not to worry as he was unaware of birds ever taking a self destructive action.
Indeed the dipper, a perching bird and a very large member of the wren family, does seem to contradict its initial appearance by being successful at aquatic feeding. Sleek of plumage with strong legs and gripping toes, they scour over shallow submerged river rocks and remove the tiny animals established there. The juxtaposition of the relative delicacy of this bird within the rugged and raging river and stream environments is a compelling image for the inquisitive eye of an artist. — Tony Angell