For local readers – This weekend we’ll be exhibiting at the Fort Worden Wildlife and Nature Exposition in Port Townsend. Hope you see you there.
This little dipper (or water ousel, as my naturalist-mom called it a generation ago) sat here for quite awhile. Dippers dip – up and down, up and down, almost constantly as if doing a little stationary dance, and this one did just that. It’s mate was close by, and as the dipping went on, the little bird made pleasant and soft chattering calls. Then it left my view by simply launching itself over the log and into the water – sinking out of sight. I thought this was a very ‘dipper like’ scene, so here’s my effort to hold on to that memory. The way the water curls over the partially submerged log made for interesting lighting changes.
Dippers are pretty crazy birds. They live year-round, thought the worst winter storms, around clean and cold high mountain streams, nesting behind waterfalls and always sticking closely to their local stream. Summer or winter, these robin-sized birds make their living by jumping into these chilly, sometimes icy, fast-moving crystal-clear waters to walk along the bottom, kicking over stream stones to find aquatic insects. I’ve heard they even hold their wings outstretched to pin them down in the current – which means they are even more exposed to frigid waters. This river (in September) was probably 50 degrees F, having just been released from a glacier up the hill, and it would be the warmest it would ever experience – so you get my drift about ‘crazy’ birds. But then they have feathers, and we don’t, so comparisons are probably idiotic.
This is an ORIGINAL painting in acrylic on stretched linen canvas. It’s 9″ x 12″ and offered for sale for $140, or $180 framed as you see it. Priority mail shipping will add a bit more, as well as sales tax if you’re in the state of Washington. Email us if you’re interested.
Thanks for reading this week.
Larry Eifert
Click here to go to our main website – packed with jigsaw puzzles, prints and other stuff at larryeifert.com.
Click here to check out what Nancy’s currently doing. She’s currently got a show in Port Townsend at Gallery Nine.
Or, you can always email us to opt in or out of our email family – or just ‘talk’ with us.