October 3, 2016
I live along the South Fork of the Eel River in Northern California and spend a few hours at the river each morning before work photographing the Otters and other Wildlife that lives there. It is my morning meditation. I post what I see on my County Line Wild Facebook page. I have a passion for both Otters and Bald Eagles…
My adventures with Stealthy Otter continued this morning, as I found him again on my long wander. I spotted him fishing in a little cove and decided to get stealthy myself, cutting a wide circle around him and very quietly moving into place further down the river to wait for him to swim closer. And wait, I did. I watched for an hour while he caught fish, quite content to stay where he was, in a spot I could not get pictures. So finally I moved closer, knowing he could spot me. I waited as he swam towards me — 10 feet away — knowing as soon as he rounded the last bush I would have him in my sight to snap that great picture. But, him being Stealthy Otter, he disappeared. Completely. Poof. Gone. I waited another half hour hoping he would show himself, but no. As usual, he wins the game of Otter Hide and Seek.
But then….
This morning I found and stalked an Otter in Benbow on the way to work. I followed him down river for about a half hour and then drove ahead to meet him at the old campground bridge. But when I got there, suddenly it was two Otters I was stalking! I watched them fish for several hours. They knew I was there and posed over and over as they caught fish after fish. That’s right — I’ve found the Pike Minnow schools at last, and so have the Otters. They are just not in my backyard this year. What I witnessed made me feel so much better about our river. Incredibly, there was also an Osprey that let me get very close, and a Kingfisher and a few very strange Duck or Geese type things that flew in. Absolutely magical morning at the river!
Photographs by Talia Rose