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.

Harbor Seals

Out kayaking again, I came across these two harbor seals hauled out on a small island. I've seen seals hauled out in this area before, but it's a little farther than I usually go. The water was quite calm and the wind was pushing me slowly towards them - good conditions for photography. I got so preoccupied with taking photos that I drifted a little too close to them. I slowly started paddling backwards, but the smaller one (female?) gave me a look, slid into the water, and disappeared. (The larger one completely ignored me.)

I didn't see the fawns this time, but some of the other usual suspects were around.

I've seen two bald eagles around this spot (maybe a pair?) but this time there was only one.

I also heard and caught a glimpse of a kingfisher, but no photos. I haven't noticed any lately so it was good to know at least one was still around.

See all 14 photos in this batch

Endless Forms Most Beautiful

After our torrential rain storm, the next day was sunny and calm so we decided it was a good chance to get out in our new folding kayaks. We headed to Thetis Lake since it's close and sheltered.

As soon as we got in the water I saw the reflections from the patches of sun on the lingering fall colors and the deep shade between.

It was a lovely fall day, especially relative to the snow in Saskatoon.

See also: Shelley's blog post

See all 15 photos in this album

* The title is a quote from Darwin's Origin of Species

Columbia River

We enjoyed paddling from Invermere to Radium with kayak rentals and shuttle by Columbia River Paddle.



Although it was mostly cloudy, there were enough patches of sun to lure a few painted turtles into view.



I'm not sure if this merganser was on a nest or just relaxing.



Kayaking isn't the best for photographing insects, but this damselfly landed on my kayak so I grabbed a few shots. (this is actually two shots focus stacked)



One of the highlights of the trip was seeing bald eagles, since we don't see them much in Saskatoon. Taking photos of birds in flight is always a challenge, and being in a moving kayak doesn't help, but if you take enough shots, sometimes you get lucky. The first is a juvenile, who doesn't have the white head yet.





It's a little easier when they're sitting still, except the kayak is still moving!





Towards the end of the paddle, Shelley noticed a bald eagle on the shore and as we got closer we saw it was quite wet and had a fish. Later some other kayakers told us they had seen it struggle to catch the fish.





A couple of magpies were hanging around hoping for scraps.



See also Shelley's post

See all 15 photos

On the River

A few photos from kayaking on the river last weekend. Not very many since it poured with rain for part of the time and my camera stayed in its drybag! On the other hand, the dramatic clouds made good photographic subjects. Not as many birds on the river as in the spring, but there are still a few ducks with ducklings, maybe from second nestings?









There were some good reflections with the contrast between sunshine and dark clouds, but I didn't have as much luck capturing them.





See all 10 photos as a slideshow or overview

Kayaking Austin

Our second (and last) morning in Austin we rented kayaks and paddled on the river/lake. It was another beautiful sunny day, not as hot as yesterday, but still nice. I took photos of the birds and turtles. There are lots of turtles here!









I think these are the first Wood Ducks that I've seen outside of zoos. So colorful!





For more photos, see all 13 as a slideshow or overview

River Paddle

Last weekend a friend of Shelley's got us out for a paddle down the river. (Thanks Rebecca!) It was a beautiful morning, the sun was shining and the river was calm. We got out fairly early which was good because it was getting hot by the time we finished at noon.

Of course, I had to do a little photography along the way. (with the new Nikon 7200 and 18-300 lens) We didn't see anything too special, mostly the usual suspects - gulls, Canada geese, ducks. We did see a couple of beavers but they didn't hang around long enough to be photographed.

Shelley and Rebecca

There were lots of some kind of bug that must have hatched in the warm weather. The swallows were swooping over the river and catching them.



I never get tired of watching and photographing the geese. They seem to have a lot of character. When I was out running the other day the trail was blocked by a pair of geese with their goslings. Usually they shepherd their family away from you, but this pair just stood their ground and hissed at me. If I got too close they would start moving towards me, aggressively. Eventually they wandered off and let me pass.







Lots of gulls around as well, especially on the sand bars.

Franklin's gulls

And a runner taking advantage of the pedestrian walkway under the new bridge



See all 22 photos as a slideshow or overview

Four Generations to Grey Owl's Cabin

Recently I joined Shelley's family for a trip to Grey Owl's cabin. The group included four generations and ranged from 2 years old to 85 years old. Five of us started Friday afternoon and moved our two kayaks and a canoe over the portage to Kingsmere Lake where we stayed at the south end campground. The water was beautifully calm and I went out in my kayak after supper to enjoy it.

(click to view 21 photos)


The next morning the other three joined us with a rented motor boat, which turned out to be a lot bigger than we expected. But we got it across the portage with the help of the winches and a couple of other guys who showed up. (The portage has rail carts.)

It was a little rough for the paddle down Kingsmere Lake, but manageable. It's a big lake and it doesn't take much wind to stir up the waves. Thankfully it was reasonably warm since we regularly got splashed by the waves. It took us about four hours (including a quick lunch break) to get to the north end campground where we stayed Saturday night.

I forget how minimalist Shelley and I have become on our hiking and paddling trips. We don't usually take a stove or make fires. Our kayaks and their storage space are quite small. It would not even occur to me to take a large picnic cooler on a backcountry trip. So it was a bit of a contrast to travel with a considerably less minimal group! On the positive side, the food was good!

From the north end campground it's a 3 km hike to Grey Owl's cabin. (Or you can portage 500m to Ajawaan Lake, but it's hardly worth it.) We checked out the cabin and Grey Owl's grave. Ajuwaan Lake is a pretty little lake.

I've been on Kingsmere Lake a couple of times before (Paddling the Bagwa Loop and Paddling into Autumn) but it's been late in the fall when there's almost no one around. This time there were more people, mostly at the north end campground. Most people seemed to be hiking in rather than paddling. There were only a few other boats and canoes.

Sunday we headed home. Shelley and I were quite impressed that the group only took an hour and a half to pack and have breakfast.

We were lucky and the lake was very calm for our paddle back. The rest of the group took the shortest path straight across the lake. I chose to follow the shore - longer, but a lot more interesting. There were grebes, loons, gulls, great blue herons, and kingfishers.



My favorite sighting was three river otters coming down the shore into the water. (At first I thought it was beavers.) They swam around a bit and then headed back into the trees. Actually, only two of them went back in the trees. The third spotted me just as he was about to get out of the water and immediately dove back under. He surfaced off shore and kept bobbing up to see if I was still there. I was happy to see them since I haven't seen otters in Saskatchewan before. A bit later when I stopped beside a small creek I found lots of otter tracks in the sand.



The belted kingfishers were also taking advantage of the calm clear water to go fishing, something I haven't seen before. I was too far away to tell if they were catching anything but there were quite a few schools of little fish around. Sometimes they seemed to be fleeing something. At one point a large (2 feet?) pike went by that could certainly have been a source of fear for small fish!

See also Shelley's post about the trip.