I had grossly under-estimated the age of the nestlings in “my” Baker Creek dipper nest. They fledged today…not some weeks into May!
When my wife and first arrived one of the fledglings was on a rock near the bridge, mid-stream and calling for food. At first it was directly below where we stood on the edge of the bridge.
One of the adults noticed us and flew swiftly beneath the bridge and called sharply to the youngster. “Shut up, kid, those are predators!”
The nestling then went silent and began hopping along rocks, getting further from us with each move. The young bird’s gape is pale, inside the beak is bright yellow:
The adult bird:
Towheeblog 
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