River Otter!

After a very long and tiring day I suggested to Arvin, Helena and my brother Steve who is back from his month of backpacking in California, to come with me to Whatcom Falls Park. My plan was to search for the Barred Owls and take some more photos of them. We drove into the center of the park a bit before sunset and meandered our way up to Derby Pond. As Arvin, Helena and I relaxed on the bridge and listened to the sound of the waterfall at the bottom of the pond while we watched for owls, Steve went on up the trail. Soon he came speeding back. "Otter" he said. So we three rushed up to join him. Sure enough, there was a river otter diving down into the p0nd to get a fish that was entangled in fishing line in a tree snag in the water. It was the first time I've ever seen a River Otter. He was just plain adorable. Everywhere he swam he left a trail of bubbles so he was easy to follow, so I got lots of photos of him. Many were not in focus because it was quite dark. But I got some decent ones. I chose this one because I liked the reflections of the branches where he swam. You can see a few more on Chaikins of Bellingham.