River Otters, west Marin County

click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney

So, at first glance one might think that this blog post is going to be about "barbed wire" or fences -- but no, this post is going to be all about that blurry background.   That blurry white strip is Tomales Bay -- gateway to my beloved Lagunitas Creek and happy hunting grounds of to a creature I've never spotted out here before -- the River Otter.

Oh by the way, CLICK to see an old shot with the background IN focus.
Location:   Wilson Hill on Marshall-to-Petaluma Road looking towards Inverness.



click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney

Okay, I'm going to tell you the story of two recent encounters with River Otters (((three individuals each time I spotted them -- it could have been the same individuals))).

So, you know me -- I'm the guy out there at the creek always focusing on colorful ripples and reflections in the morning (((hey, it's a tough job but SOMEONE has to do it)))...

Out of the corner of my left eye I sensed movement -- I diverted my attention from my camera's eyepiece to a spot in the creek about ten feet away.   Three heads sticking out of the water -- they were looking at me and I was looking at them -- I almost pee'd my pants!

I had ABSOLUTELY NO idea of what these creatures were -- it could have been the Loch Ness Monster as far as I was concerned...   But of course, just as soon as these creatures figured out who I was they made a very quick turn and vanished downstream.   Location:   100 yards upstream from the confluence of Devil's Creek.

They were too quick for me (((and I was too astonished))) for me to get a photo, although I did manage to get a few shots of the huge wake they made while making their turns.

So began the mystery of what these critters were.   At first I thought they might be Sea Otters, or even baby Sea Lions -- they had big bulbous noses and little tiny ears like a seal. What threw me off was their long pointed tail -- diamond shaped and thick at the root but tapered to a point.   All I could think about was Nessie, or maybe that three-headed dragon in that old King-Kong movie remake.



click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney

Okay, lets move on three days -- it's Tuesday and Don is out at Nicasio Reservoir spooking around the shoreline.   And there they are -- three more River Otters (((probably the same ones))) swimming around rather peacefully in a shallow corner of the reservoir -- diving here and there and generally looking like they were having a very pleasant morning.

They were about 75 yards away from me, not the 10 feet when I encountered them in the Lagunitas Creek.   They probably sensed my presence because they started to slowly move away, but I got a couple snaps.

So COOL -- I had seen them AGAIN...   I was feeling quite like the adventurous west Marin explorer -- I knew I had stumbled on a story here... Where's my typewriter?

I returned to my car and travelled down the road a few hundred yards, and stopped at another delightful spot -- a fore-bay of Nicasio Reservoir, and guess what -- there those same individuals (((or maybe three different individuals))) were navigating around in the fore-bay.   There is a large culvert that passes under the road from the reservoir to the fore-bay, so I'm assuming that the River Otters passed through that culvert and were checking out the fore-bay.

So -- isn't that a neat experience?   Seeing something rather rare.   Something that a lot of people don't get to see.   Lucky me...



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