It's April. Hydroid's young friends still hide in the pools and slower water.
Their sides now have dark bands or parr
marks to camouflage them and to hide
them from predators.
They dart into the stream to grab small insects that live among the stream's rocks. As they move into the stream, they are wide open for attack. Fry are the favorite food of trout and other large fish. Not everything that looks like a branch is a safe hiding place. 
Some branches turn out to be the legs of
great blue herons. Hydroid also warns the young chinook to beware of
shapes darting out from trees. The shapes could be kingfishers. The
bright blue birds are looking for young fish to feed their own young
this time of year. The young chinook learn how to find food and
avoid danger.
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