I’ve tried to spend a great deal of time in the outdoors.

Most of that here in the Times News region.

I also enjoyed the Assateague Island area, South “Jersey” in and around Cape May, and recently two trips to Wyoming.

In those countless hours of nature snooping, I have been able to witness many types of birds, mammals, reptiles, etc. but even better, some interactions which were quite exciting.

I’ve witnessed “whitetails” fighting, hawks catching prey, bald eagles feeding their young in the nest, a rattlesnake coiling a few feet in front of me.

One cool, but sunny November morning I sat next to a tree trunk and watched a porcupine waddle slowly to me. It got close enough that I touched it on the nose with a short stick when it finally stopped and reversed its course.

I’ve had dozens of exciting encounters. Most of these “nature shows” were only a matter of RP, RT. (right place, right time.)

In my recent four-day visit to the northern area of Yellowstone National Park I was actually hoping to find one “cool” bird species.

This cool bird (literally and figuratively) is the American dipper. It is a year-round resident in the mountainous west where clear, cold mountain streams exist.

I spoke to friends, Fran, Ken, and Dave who’ve seen them and their helpful tips had me searching at the most likely habitats.

Dippers are not a showy bird like the mountain or Eastern bluebirds, but a basically gray bird with a brownish head. They are a little smaller than a robin with a peculiar short tail. Their feeding and breeding habitats are cold, rushing mountain streams.

They’ll fly a short distance, land on a rock or log in the stream and begin walking UNDER the water looking for larval invertebrates to eat.

I was able to photograph one of them but photos cannot fully illustrate their unique feeding technique A video of their feeding would be most educational. I know I was excited to see them in action. I’ve seen Louisiana water thrushes and solitary sandpiper locally, they too will feed near and in our streams, but never do they literally walk under the water as these “water ouzels” do.

The “water ouzels” have feathers oilier than ducks, a third clear eyelid (nictitating membrane), feathered eyelids, and feet adapted to cling onto wet slippery stones on the stream bottoms. I found one on a rushing, bank-full mountain stream and was amazed at its success with navigating such a volume of water.

The nature show I wasn’t expecting was from a male dusky grouse. I found one perched on a spruce tree limb and photographed it.

Its color pattern was perfect for blending in to its surroundings. The other one was displaying on the side of the Blacktail Road.

He wasn’t displaying for my benefit but for an unseen female nearby. His “show” was amazing.

I’ve watched our local gobblers strut, with wings drooping, tail feathers fanned, and using that “cocky strut.”

I’ve seen ruffed grouse displaying similarly with their band of neck feathers “ruffed” and tail spread as well. But this dusky grouse, a bit larger than our ruffed grouse goes well beyond that. It has a neck patch where the feathers part and a bright area of skin is expose.

They also completely fan out their tail feathers, strut, head drooping, and then make a unique hooting sound. They also have bright feathers above their eyes which the male displays in his nature show.

From watching these two grouse, it was obvious they are less leery of humans that our ruffed grouse. I hope my pictures help you appreciate these two species that produced a nature show for me a few weeks ago.

Test Your Outdoor Knowledge: Pennsylvania Game Commission personnel now estimate there are ____ black bears living in our state. A. 100,000 B. 20,000 C. 10,000 D. 4,000

Last Week’s Trivia Answer: Not only does the male red-eyed vireo sing tirelessly all day long, it can be still heard singing well into late August.