GC7B22T Nature Bats Last...DoIuPzPeElRsS
Type: Traditional | Size: Regular | Difficulty: | Terrain:
By: poudrecacher @ | Hide Date: 08/21/2017 | Status: Available
Country: United States | State: Colorado
Coordinates: N40° 41.086 W105° 22.765 | Last updated: 08/30/2019 | Fav points: 0
       

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American dippers are aquatic birds.  American dippers are songbirds.  And, indeed, American dippers are our only aquatic songbird.  Usually first noticed bobbing, or dipping, on a rock in a stream thus their name, dipper.  Dippers primarily feed underwater on aquatic insects which makes this species a good indicator of high water quality...no insects, no groceries.

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Welcome to Poudre Canyon and the Poudre River.  This should be a quick cache and dash...no grind to find at this site.  Plenty of swag for the youngins.  From the cattle guard at the mouth of the canyon, drive west 14.3 miles and park on the asphalt pullover on the right.  Driving up you will notice the Ouzel Picnic Area (has bathrooms) on your right before you get to Mishawaka...dippers were called water ouzels back in the day.  No need to go down the bank nor across the highway.  Due to the high ridge to the south, our waypoint may be off.  When you find the cache, if you mark a more accurate waypoint, please include it in your log for us and others...thanks.  We suggest you try to find the dipper nest across the river on a rock ledge. They successfully raised two broods this summer. We have photos taken by professional conservation photographer Michael Forsberg from Lincoln, Nebraska of this nest included with the swag. As for our American dippers, Scottish-American naturalist 'John of the Mountains' Muir wrote..."Among all the mountain birds, none has cheered me so much in my lonely wanderings, none so unfailingly."  Enjoy your stay and all the other cool caches along the only nationally designated 'Wild and Scenic River' in Colorado!  

CONGRATULATIONS GO OUT TO GEORGIE FOR THE FTF!

06/10/2019 By BentureTime
Found! Super fun!! Thank you!

01/27/2019 By Geo-Brick
In good condition. Whoever left the yo-yo's, thank you! My kids enjoyed finding those. TFTC.

Mary from Geo-Brick

09/30/2018 By ArkF
Thanks for the nice cache. It is in good condition. I made life harder for myself by not reading the description and going down the bank, but it all worked out. Tried finding the nest for a little while, but couldn't spot the right rock ledge. Very nice day in the canyon.

04/03/2018 By 13shell
Picking up a few caches on my way out to Oregon, TFTC!

02/16/2018 By keelut
Another beautiful spot to grab a smiley. TFTC TNLNSL Dippin bugs

11/27/2017 By DBsearching
Quick park and grab.
SL as DBsearching or DBs.
TFTC

10/14/2017 By MinnesotaLoons
That took me way to long to find but I’m glad I kept going. Caution! There are diapers in them thar woods. People can be such pigs. SL TFTC

10/06/2017 By Denali41
The songbird family Cinclidae includes the Dipper species of the world. The family has always been one of my favorites. It contains five species of Dippers. Denali50 and I have had the pleasure of seeing four of these five species--the American Dipper (that nests in Poudre Canyon, including a nesting locality very close to this cache!); the White-throated Dipper of Europe and portions of Asia; the Brown Dipper of eastern Asia; and the White-capped Dipper of northwestern South America. We've never visited the restricted range of the Rufous-throated Dipper in the Andes of southern Bolivia and northern Argentina and would love to travel to this area and see that species some day. All the dippers behave in a similar fashion and have similar ecologies as aquatic specialists. They are extremely interesting birds!

So when poudrecacher's cache on the dippers of Poudre Canyon was published I became excited. But today was the first opportunity I had to stop at the cache location and find it. Thanks for another fine lesson in natural history, poudrecacher!