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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black">Hi Norm,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black">This is a fascinating observation! If folks reply to you directly (without copy to Tweeters), I’d love to hear any insights you gain.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black">Thanks much,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black">Trileigh<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Lucida Bright",serif;color:#1F4E79">Trileigh Tucker, PhD<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Lucida Bright",serif;color:#1F4E79">Professor Emerita, Environmental Studies, Seattle University<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Lucida Bright",serif;color:#1F4E79">Pelly Valley, West Seattle <o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Lucida Bright",serif;color:#1F4E79">Writer, Photographer, Fine Artist<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Lucida Bright",serif;color:#1F4E79"><a href="http://naturalpresencearts.com/"><span style="color:#033160">NaturalPresenceArts.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><b><span style="color:black">From:
</span></b><span style="color:black">normandlaura donelson via Tweeters <tweeters@u.washington.edu><br>
<b>Date: </b>Friday, June 14, 2024 at 5:48</span><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"> </span><span style="color:black">PM<br>
<b>To: </b>tweeters@u.washington.edu <tweeters@u.washington.edu><br>
<b>Subject: </b>[Tweeters] Dipper Behavior Surprise<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">Yesterday I birded the Oxbow Loop Trail, off Middle Fork Snoqualmie River Road east of North Bend. New trail for me, and I highly recommend it!<br>
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I took the spur trail down to the riverside, and soon spotted a pair of Dippers. They landed on a large rock at midstream, then on a smaller nearby rock. There was some fluttering, then I saw the pair of them floating downstream, one atop the other! There
was still much fluttering from the upper bird, as it tried to hold its position. This only lasted for a few seconds. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">I can only think they were copulating. Have any of you seen this behavior, or heard of it before? The closest I got in a quick online search of the literature was a mention of
an observation in which copulation occurred while the female was standing submerged in the water. If this floating copulation behavior has been seen before (and realistically, I have to suppose it has), I couldn't find evidence of it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black"><br>
I should also note the alternative possibility that it could have been two males in Dipper combat, though nothing about the incident struck me that way.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black"><br>
Interested in any observations you may have,<br>
<br>
Norm Donelson<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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