The Week's Next Surprise: River Otters on the Tuolumne

It's not like I haven't seen them before. I see River Otters once every few months on the Tuolumne River adjacent to the trail I follow on most free mornings. But until this week, I've never caught any getting out of the river. They've always been swimming. But this morning a pair of otters were searching and playing along the river just downstream of the trailhead. I sat and watched them swim for awhile and then they climbed up on the branches of the river thickets.

I tried a couple of videos, but only one came out well. It's a little bit shaky because I was at total zoom, around 60x, but they came out pretty clear. It's been a week of little nature surprises, with foxes and rare birds and the like. Otters always give me a reason to smile a bit in the midst of lots of challenges.