An Otterly Outstanding Morning

As miserable as the weather was Saturday morning it was equally as grand this morning. A first frost in open areas, a nip in the air and plenty of sunshine and blue skies. The end of October and the first true cool snap seems to have been the trigger for rut to begin. The deer were out in large numbers and being rather bold.

One of my first avian encounters were a pair of Loggerhead Shrike fussing with each other. I think this is the first time I have ever heard them being so vocal.

My second encounter is what I believe is a Yellow Palm Warbler. Shadows were pretty bad and just as I had moved into position to get a better shot, a truck came flying down the dirt road almost out of control and everything flew.

Onward to another place, the Yellow Rumped Warblers seemed to dominate and were everywhere. Their numbers seem very large this year. The seeds on the poison vine are favorites of all birds so it seems and there was much chasing away going on this morning.

A trail in the park that had been closed since a tornado in spring had reopened last week. It runs beside a creek where the beavers have been doing quite a bit of teraforming creating some prime flooded areas the ducks seem to like. A large group of some type kept circling around so I went to investigate hoping it was the Wood Ducks returning.

Ever so quitely I eased down the trail. Up went a Great Blue and the ducks. I could see movement in the water so I sat down the tripod and looked in the direction figuring on ducks.

No ducks but much movement and splashing about. It was a pair of otters creating havoc. Unfortunate that I was shooting into the direction of the sun. They continued down the creek coming up on the bank then sliding back into the water. For at least 20 minutes, I had the great pleasure of watching them. I hope they are here to stay for a while. When I finally lost sight of them, I watched as they disappeared in to what seemed like a den.