The Big Sur River

Our campsite looked out on the river and Jon was ecstatic to discover that dippers were common there. Although they are supposed to be rarely seen in this area of California, we regularly saw a pair foraging in the river right next to our trailer. Dippers are songbirds, but unusually, they find their food underwater in fast-flowing mountain streams by swimming and walking on the stream-bottom searching for aquatic insects. Worldwide there are only five species of dippers, each species restricted to one of the Earth’s major mountainous areas. Our dipper is only found in the western mountains. Other notable birds with whom we shared the campground included winter wren, “Oregon” juncos, Stellar jays, chestnut-backed chickadees, Townsend’s warbler, varied thrush (heard but not seen), and acorn woodpeckers. Gobbling turkeys woke Moxie up early each morning.