AstroGypsies

I can just see Groot, appalled that that, creature, thing with the tail, is eating HIS fish! and not sharing! The window for watching these guys on the ice is short. It has to be melting enough to form holes in the ice that they can climb in and out of, but not so warm all the ice is melting away. A week at the most…and there he was! I saw him from the kitchen table, well, it’s our only table! The table! Out the window, up he popped from the lake, with a blue gill, also known as sunfish firmly clamped in his jaws. Action time! I grabbed the camera, did a quick battery check, threw on a coat and shoes and crept out onto the deck, it stopped, looked at me, “Sh*t!” I thought “I’m going to scare it away!”…I froze. It went back to eating.

After consuming his first fish he dove back into his hole in the ice…and I grabbed this opportunity to sneak my way down closer to the lake, trying for a better shot. I had been standing up by the house, I made it part way down to the lower deck before he/she came back up with a large crawfish!

I froze there and watched it consume the crawfish with great delight, even cleaning up the leg on the ice! Then there were chops to be licked before it once again disappeared into the hole in the ice! I moved further down the stairs…Every time the otter dove into the lake…I moved a bit closer…

Until I was down at the waters edge and sat beside the canoe to wait for it to reappear! Sitting on the dock beside the canoe gave me a wonderful view of this busy otter!

It did notice me but didn’t seem to mind me watching as it dove in and came back out with fish after fish. What a delight to watch!

This amazing creature only came up empty handed once! Pretty good catch ratio. I was wondering if he/she cleans out one area and moves onto another. We see these beautiful otters in the Fall, then usually again just before the ice goes out! I rarely get to see them this closely!

It did come out once, no fish, shook like dog, first the body, then the head, then the head again, sticking it’s tongue out and licking it’s lips, then giving me a glare…”What? I’m just taking your picture?!” The it went back for more!

Otter tail or do we have a Loch Ness monster sighting?;) That tip and the way it flips it about…priceless! It was a lovely way to pass an hour watching this spectacular creature. I don’t mind sweeping the fish scale poos off the dock if I get to sit and watch it eat! Did you know North American river otters, like most predators, prey upon the most readily accessible species. Fish is a favored food, but they also consume various amphibians (such as salamanders and frogs), freshwater clams, mussels, snails, crayfish and small turtles. Occasional reports also show the river otter eating other small animals, such as mice, squirrels and birds.

Then the ice changed and I saw it way across the lake, sliding on it’s belly on the ice as a way to travel, or maybe Otters just want to have fun!

I could almost here it saying “Weeeheeeeee!!!!!” hahahahaha! Otters just want to have fun…and eat fish;)

Our Lanark County photo club meeting this month was via Zoom, because of the impending weather, we had a speaker called Henry Fernando who touted contemplative photography. I think lots of photographers do this, sit, contemplate, oops, was that a leaf blowing by? Yup. I was waiting to see if the otters came up but this lonely leaf kept me company until it blew on down the lake!

It pays to sit and take life in when you can:) So glad I had that one chance to see our friend this Spring. It’s popped up a few more times but much much farther away, out of my lense’s capabilities! Life is returning to the water! It’s water, not ice, OK, a tiny bit of ice! A frog startled me as I walked back to the house…it was huge, over 3″ long and so copper coloured. A Northern Leopard frog, twice as large as our regulars. The Godfather of frogs;) The Muskrats are also busy in the swamp, as I walked out to get the mail one startled me by coming right up beside me as I walked, then went back to fishing. There are hundreds of minnows around the large culvert! They are omnivores! During winter, when aquatic vegetation is scarce, muskrats may rely more heavily on animal matter, such as mussels, and they may also dig for roots and tubers beneath the ice! They tend to prefer vegetation like cattails, waterlilies, roots and pondweed. They also eat snails, mussels, salamanders, crustaceans, fish and young birds. Not picky eaters!

Yesterday I spotted the lake beaver meandering around as it does, and we had an Osprey fly by at dusk! As much as it still feels like Winter, Spring is here! I’ll leave you the Bald Eagle who was also taking advantage of the what’s left of the ice. In one talon he held a fish down as some Ravens had swooped down to bother him, then he went back to eating. One of these days soon we are going to have to get the rod and reel out and get Groot his own sunfish! Saludos amigo:) Sun, not snow! My new motto! Stay tuned for ducks and more ducks and swans…if they come closer!

First Otters and now eagles are eating my fish, and you say you saw an Osprey too???!!!! Don’t worry Grump face, we’ll go fishing soon, as it stops, snowing! Ha!