River Otters

What a beautiful autumn day, mid 80's, sunny, light breeze.  Ran into town then drove out to LaPine State Park.  Lots of trails along the river.  I took my lunch and ate along the river.  A few people came and went but it was other wise devoid of people.  Oh, my goodness, the birds were in fine tune and ever so vocal in expressing their joy in the day.

A few years ago, along this same stretch of river I saw several River Otters playing under the ice.  They'd pop up through the ice, spy their buddy, then go back under only to pop up some where else.  They were having such fun.

I had never seen the Otter other than during the winter and was marveling at their ability to stay so hidden during the summer.  Not that I blame them, during the summer, the park is one busy place, but now, with autumn here and the quiet, I was wondering if I might see them.  Darn, I'd no more thought it and sure enough, I heard some splashing.  Ah, it can't be!  I was high up on a bank, looking down on the river.  I stayed quiet and looked and looked.  Finally, I spotted two Otters.  One swam up river past me, the other headed down river.  The river was just clear enough that I was able to watch the one for about 10 minutes.  Just lucky, for sure.  I sat there for another 30 minutes and didn't see another sign of them.

Would love to go back to get photo's, though I doubt I could get close enough to get a good photo. They blend so well with their background, you'd need to be close or have a professional level camera, a good SLR.  I have a good camera, a Sony, but it is an amateurs camera.  We'll see.