There is an exercise that old fashioned naturalist recommend:  sit very still for a minimum of 10 minutes. this is thought to be the magic moment when animals forget you are there and go on about their business. I didn't have much faith it would work but decided to give it a try.

I have a favorite spot where two streams feed into a tidal estuary flowing through a salt marsh. The waters seem particularly rich where they join and so I settled there to watch. I didn't notice the flock of ducks across the way .... damn....in my excitement I only caught a blur before they took off! 

Five minutes went by ... nothing ..... still fuming about missing the ducks, I looked for something else to keep me busy... the tide was very high, flooding the salt marsh just in front of me. Fish would come to the surface at my feet, leaving water circle tracks behind. Maybe i could catch a glimpse of one of them.

This marsh is very rich with many layers of the food chain finding sustainance here.

I began hearing a chittering sound like a red squirrel or a woodpecker but is was approaching not through the trees or in the air ... from the water?!  Then a large wake was being pushed around the corner into view, much bigger than any fish bloops.

Otter!!!!

First one then two otter, came up to the shore right below me. They looked me over only 5 or 6 feet away and seemed to find me uninteresting so turned and swam off... I thought that was the last I would see of them and felt blessed.

One turned and came back to look at me again.

It climbed out on a log about 8 feet away!

And stared intently making little poofing sounds, trying different angles to get the best view of me.

Its buddy was still in the water nearby and it looked like it might join it.

But the second otter gained confidence and poked its nose out of the water.

The first otter stopped for a second look at this weird being with a rectangular black face and one glassy eye that had a constantly moving finger but no other sign of life.

I lowered my camera briefly and got a real life glimpse at its wonderful brown body and its animated lively curious glittering brown eyes, then disappeared behind my camera again ...... afraid to miss something.

Perhaps emboldened by the calmness of the first, the second one slid out on the log.

They settled in for some amusement..... I felt like otter t.v. .... all they needed was beer and chips and they could settle in for the morning ..... but all I did was sit there.....boring!

"oh well ..... now what were we doing...... oh right"

They turned back to the water after watching me for a good minute or two.

I thanked them for the visit and told them I hoped we'd meet again... this peaked their curiosity. the bold one gave me a parting glance.

they checked out the scene to make sure it was safe.

...then sluuuuppped into the water.

and continued perusing the creek.

they climbed out briefly near a big old pine across the way

swam into the small inlet where the ducks had been...

clambered up a steep bank and disappeared into the woods.

On the way home i started weeping...

THIS IS AN ATTEMPT TO CORRECT THE PHOTO COLOR OF THE SERIES... FOR SOME REASON IT IS ALL VERY BLUE.

A MOSAIC OF OTTER PHOTOS FROM FLICKR