(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
The Daily Bucket - otter on Otter Rock [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags']
Date: 2022-12-13
Winter 2022
Salish Sea, Pacific Northwest
Things have been wintry stormy lately around my neighborhood, which means wind, rain, chilly, and dark here in the NW. Not lot to note in the bays for a bucket. Going back a few weeks in my pics I came across a brief otter encounter on a clear calm day, so that’s what I have to share today.
It was very quiet that day, sunny, the water glassy calm. Did I mention sunny? I was watching a Pacific wren hopping around in the driftwood foraging.
Wren in wrack
Then I heard crunching. Backlit in the low sun, an otter had climbed out onto what I call Otter Rock, a big boulder that provides a handy table for otters at all but extreme high tides. When otters catch really big fish it takes a while to eat them. I’ve shared otter meals here at the bucket before, and I think this fish was the same kind, a large sculpin. They must be abundant in this bay.
One-minute video of feasting and his return to the water:
Note how quietly he enters the water and swims. No wonder I didn’t hear him climbing out onto the rock.
The otter paddled toward shore where I was standing watching. I must have been very quiet too because he looked a bit surprised when he swam under a log and approached the beach. Gave me a look, then paddled away to find a better spot elsewhere.
the Look
Otter ripples
Calm late afternoon in winter. Buffies and cormorants farther out in the bay.
🐚
As a sidebar, yesterday the sun came out for a bit and I heard Golden-crowned sparrows singing. They don’t usually do that in winter. Maybe after many weeks of dark overcast weather it felt like spring to them! Still a week or so until days start getting longer.
🫧
THE DAILY BUCKET IS A NATURE REFUGE. WE AMICABLY DISCUSS ANIMALS, WEATHER, CLIMATE, SOIL, PLANTS, WATERS AND NOTE LIFE’S PATTERNS. WE INVITE YOU TO NOTE WHAT YOU ARE SEEING AROUND YOU IN YOUR OWN PART OF THE WORLD, AND TO SHARE YOUR OBSERVATIONS IN THE COMMENTS BELOW. FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE PURPOSE AND HISTORY OF THE DAILY BUCKET FEATURE, CHECK OUT THIS DIARY: DAILY BUCKET PHENOLOGY: 11 YEARS OF RECORDING EARTH'S VITAL SIGNS IN OUR NEIGHBORHOODS
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/12/13/2141574/-The-Daily-Bucket-otter-on-Otter-Rock
Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/
