A Puddle of Otters

It was cloudy this morning and the water wasn't perfectly smooth so I almost didn't go out kayaking but I'm glad I did. When I first got down to the water I saw a few otters in the water. I thought it was a threesome that I think of as siblings (although I have no evidence of that). Then more began popping up. It's always hard to count them in the water when they're hunting because they constantly dive and resurface.

One of them came out on shore just below me to eat its fish. They don't seem to eat underwater. They can eat while floating on the surface but often they'll come out on shore for chewier items.

I watched them for a little bit but they were moving away so I went back to setting up my kayak. As I was carrying the kayak down to the water to launch I saw there was a group of otters on the island just offshore. I launched the kayak but stayed at a distance and got out my camera. It was hard to tell how many there were, especially at first when "puddle" seemed like quite an appropriate term for a group of otters.

I was far enough away they didn't seem to be worried about me, but gradually more of them became aware of me.

And soon the puddle flowed away into the ocean.

I think I count 16 otters in the photos although it's a little hard to tell. That's definitely the biggest group I've seen, especially out of the water. I assume this is spring socializing leading to mating season. I would not have guessed we have that many otters in the harbor. Usually I see single otters or maybe 2 or 3. But river otters can have quite a large range so maybe some of these came from outside the harbor.

I was going to combine these with other otter photos I've accumulated lately, but these ones seemed a good enough story on their own so I'll post the others separately.

Seals and Stars

I've only been out kayaking a couple of times this spring. The first time I didn't take my camera. The second time I did and I was happy to see quite a few harbor seals both in and out of the water.

The tide was very low which was good for spotting sea stars. I didn't see many Ochre Stars (the purple and orange ones) which I remember as being the most common when I was younger. But I did see quite a few Leather Stars.

Notice the Sea Sack at the top right. They are a type of algae (sea weed). They fill up with water when submerged and then when exposed by the tide they use the water to stay moist and cool.

More Birds

I seem to be taking a lot of bird photos lately ...

This Cooper's Hawk was high up in a tree observing the dog park. Maybe it was trying to decide if any of those dogs were small enough.

When you've got an itch.

Great Blue Heron

Maybe my practice with photographing birds in flight is starting to pay off. I went out for a walk early this morning and had just reached the walkway beside the water when a Great Blue Heron flew by quite close. Frustratingly, I didn't have my camera ready so all I could do was watch it cruise by. But when it got a little way past me, it pulled a u-turn and headed back towards me. I quickly pulled off my lens cap, turned on the camera, and started shooting. The heron was almost too close - I was at the minimum end of my zoom lens and it still filled the frame. Out of a burst of 17 photos, this was my favorite and the first of the series.

Birds

An assortment of recent bird photos. A few weeks ago we were in Sooke for the weekend and saw a few different birds. It was good to see an osprey - for some reason I don't seem them around the harbor in Victoria. It's not a great photo but enough to identify it.

Near where we were staying I spotted a bald eagle in a tree. It was quite far away, but the distinctive coloring of the adults makes them easier to identify. While we were watching it, a second adult arrived and landed in the tree beside the first. And then a third immature one arrived and flew around. It would make sense for the two adults to be a pair, but I'm not sure why the immature one was hanging around them. It doesn't sound like juveniles normally stay with their parents. Maybe it was some kind of territorial dispute.

Turkey Vultures are quite common, but it was nice to catch a photo in flight.

Birds in flight has been a bit of a theme lately. Despite the help from the camera, I'm still not very good at it. Most of my shots are write offs.

Whiffin Spit seems to be a hang out for White-crowned Sparrows. And spring is the time for the birds to be singing.

I think this one is a Song Sparrow.

And last but not least, even the House Sparrows are singing.

This gull preening itself caught my eye.

Most of the winter ducks are gone, but there are some different ones around like Red-breasted Mergansers (love the red eye) and Mallards

Anna's Hummingbirds are common, and they have their favorite perches if you know where to look. The trick is to get the angle right to show the color on their heads. Otherwise they just look black. (although still pretty)

The Chestnut-backed Chickadees, on the other hand, seldom sit still.

The Black Oystercatchers always look slightly comical with their large orange beak. I see them carrying these shells but even with their large beak I'm not sure how they crack them open.

This lone Canada goose let me get quite close.

The Great Blue Herons normally don't like you getting too close but occasionally one will be more tolerant.

I'm not sure what was going on with this Great Blue Heron. I've never seen one pose like that. It makes me wonder if it was sick but it looks in reasonable condition otherwise.

And finally, a few more attempts on birds in flight, starting with a couple of Great Blue Herons.

I watched this sparrow collecting nest material from last year's giant thistle. It had a damaged foot but seemed to be managing ok.

And to wrap up, a rather scruffy looking House Sparrow in nice morning light.

See all the photos in this batch

Tulip

We had some tulips in the living room and I noticed the sun was shining on them nicely. The challenge was to find a plain background. They were sitting in front of the tv and I realized the black screen made a reasonable background, although I had to adjust the angle so I didn't just get a reflection of the room. Then I realized if I got the right angle I could get a reflection of the tulip, like a product photo on a shiny surface. Slightly artificial but at least it was something a little different.

Crow

I came around the corner and there was a crow sitting on the railing. I stopped. The crow looked at me. I wondered if he'd fly away as soon as I raised my camera, but surprisingly I got a few shots before he flew away with a squawk at being disturbed.