Otters!

I know that the Arcata Marsh is famous around here for its birds, and I did see lots of cool feathered creatures when I visited there on Wednesday morning. But I was extraordinarily happy when I came across two of these mammals hunting in a lake:

River Otters! The first ones I've ever seen in the wild I think! Ahhh, so cool. They kept diving underwater, showing their thick pointed tails:

Then they'd come back up chewing on what I'm guessing were little fish:

Oh my goodness. Now I can add otters to the list of crazy and amazing things I can see just minutes from my house. Northern California just gets more and more magical.

Here's a video of the two otters doing their thing. I love their little chomping jaws whenever they come up with food:

 

OK, yes, there were lots of other things to see at the marsh while I was there. When I arrived, the tide was out, and Arcata Bay was one giant mudflat:
 

A couple of hours later, the same spot looked like a different place:

The shorebirds are starting to show up in big numbers here on their southward migration (yes, it's that time already). Here's part of a mixed group of bigger shorebirds, mostly Marbled Godwits in this picture:
 

Hundreds of little sandpipers were in attendance at this marsh as well, although only a few came anywhere near my camera. Here's my first Western Sandpiper, with its pale gray-brown back and dark legs:
 

Of course this Least Sandpiper a few yards away looks completely different:
 

... Right. My best bet for distinguishing between these two birds is going to be leg color (dark vs. yellow) for a while yet.

A bunch of Willets were hanging around:
 

And a fancy Long-billed Curlew was pulling some sort of food from the marsh mud:
 

I continue to be thrilled to have Song Sparrows around (after these birds were such a friendly fixture in our old Connecticut yard they became my favorite sparrows for sure), and I met tons of these guys in the fields near the marsh. Hello handsome bird:
 

This Song Sparrow was foraging and preening as normal despite not having any tail feathers:
 

A family of Mallards was making funny shapes in a pond:
 

I saw quite a few of these pretty Anise Swallowtails (Papilio zelicaon), looking a bit like half-sized Tiger Swallowtails:
 

The Arcata Marsh is one of the public nature places closest to my house, and I'm more than happy to take advantage of its nearness. It really is a lovely place:
 

 

The Big Melt

Yes!! With several days of amazing, sunny, above-freezing weather (even highs around 50 recently, and today: rain), I think we've finally broken out of winter's ice-shell here in northeastern Ohio. This might even be the most dramatic thaw I've ever experienced. We've gone directly from two feet of packed snow and ice to muddy ground and running water in about a week. The stream behind our house is raging and brown. Most of the fields around here are basically pools. It's an incredible and sudden change, and I love it!

Two days ago and again yesterday afternoon, I took time to just wander around our yard and soak in the sun (and try not to soak my shoes too much in the process). It's amazing seeing American Tree Sparrows foraging on the bare ground:

What is that, grass?? Wow!

All of a sudden, a whole new cast of characters has shown up. Four big Turkey Vultures -- a species basically absent from northern Ohio in the winter -- passed low over our house this morning. And I was happy to see an Eastern Bluebird visiting our yard yesterday afternoon:

While I was wandering around during the past two afternoons, birds were almost constantly moving overhead. Killdeer -- another very recent arrival -- barreled past while calling loudly:

Several Mallards were moving around as well:

Flocks of blackbirds -- mostly Common Grackles and Red-winged Blackbirds, as far as I could tell -- peppered the sky:

There are so many creatures shifting and moving right now, and this is only the beginning! (I'm eagerly awaiting the return of the Eastern Phoebes, who should be here any day now. And not long after that, there will be frogs, and wildflowers, and all sorts of green and singing things....) Hooray for spring, all the more welcome after what feels like the longest winter ever!

Niagara Falls Nature

Paul and I had a mini-vacation in Niagara Falls this past weekend. We'd each visited this place when we were little, but neither of us had any clear memories of it, and we figured hey, why not take advantage of our northeastern Ohio location and drive a few hours to see some crazy impressive landscapes. So that's what we did. And the falls were very impressive indeed:
 

We weren't thrilled by the surrounding cities and (mostly rundown) tourist traps, but everything we saw of the actual falls -- on both the American and the Canadian sides -- was amazing. I love the color of the Niagara River:
 

That's a lot of water! (Note the tiny people in the top left corner of the next picture for scale.)
 

We even caught the tail end of the fall foliage, and the displays on some of the islands in the river were really fantastic:
 

All that mist made for some cool rainbows when the sun came out:
 

The waterfalls were awesome, of course, but I was also very curious to see what kinds of creatures live in this tumultuous place. I didn't see much diversity (perhaps because of all the human activity), but there were some cool animals around nonetheless. Below the falls, Double-crested Cormorants and Bonaparte's Gulls foraged in the water and rested on the rocks:
 

I'd never seen Bonaparte's Gulls before, and I think they're pretty darn cute with those bright legs and little black ear-spots (part of their winter costume):
 

There were lots of gulls around -- Bonaparte's and larger Ring-billed Gulls -- and sometimes they seemed to be part of the falls' roiling mist:
 

A few black Gray Squirrels were running around in the park. I don't get to see these guys very often!
 

One ledge in the middle of the American Falls had a little less rushing water than the surrounding areas, and when we got up near the top of these falls, I was absolutely astonished to see a few Mallards and Ring-billed Gulls foraging on this ledge:
 

I mean... what?? I know these are birds and they can fly and everything, but this is the edge of a gigantic waterfall!! Here's a view of those same falls from across the river; the birds' ledge is right in the middle (and again note the tiny people in the bottom right of the picture for scale):
 

Seriously, ahhh! I'm getting vertigo just thinking about that high/slippery/downward-rushing spot! These are definitely some daredevil ducks:
 

So yeah, Niagara Falls is a pretty cool place. I'm glad I got to check it out!

Monarch on the Sand, Punky Cedar Waxwing, and More

I saw my first Monarch butterfly of the year yesterday morning on the beach at Silver Sands State Park. And I do mean on the beach. I would've expected to see this creature on the milkweed plants that were blooming just a little ways away, but instead it was sucking up what must have been some good nutrients in the damp sand:

I'm always glad to see a Monarch, especially since this species' numbers have been declining steeply in recent years. And what a treat to see such vivid color on the beach (and from something other than washed-up garbage):
 

The clouds over the Long Island Sound were super dramatic pretty much all morning, with so many different layers and shapes and shades happening at once:

My iPhone's panoramic mode was able to capture some of the epic-ness of this scenery, and I think the result looks pretty cool (even if it's still not quite the same as being there, and the beach comes out all weird and curvy):

Two Willets were hanging around in the marsh (maybe working on a nest?). These medium-sized shorebirds are quite attractive with all their subtly barred feathers:

But their most distinctive features are their dramatic black-and-white wings. It's so cool to see these guys fly through the marsh:

A mother Mallard was shepherding her sizable brood of teenaged babies at the shore:

That duckling on the left looks smaller than all the others.... I wonder if it could've somehow joined this group from another clutch? Hmm.

Immature Herring Gulls were all over the beach. They're not the most handsome birds with their mottled plain-brown costumes, but they do cut some very impressive figures in flight:

Among all the handsome birds we have around here, not many do it better than Cedar Waxwings. These guys are just beyond sleek:

I don't actually know what's going on in this next picture, but what a pose! Cedar Waxwing, you are just cool:

 (The pose in this picture actually reminds me of the time I saw a Northern Mockingbird spitting out seeds. Maybe that's what's going on here, or maybe the waxwing is just being extra punky and/or action-hero-ish. Either way works for me!)

Hooray for beautiful and interesting creatures!

Snowy (Owl!!) Beach

This has been a great few weeks for snow. I even got to take my snow shoes out for a walk in the woods a couple of weeks ago. (Yay, snowy woods!) This week I felt like exploring a different habitat in the snow, so on Friday afternoon I went to Silver Sands State Park to check out the shore. The weather was bright and sunny, and not even all that cold (except when the wind picked up). The marsh especially was all stark and beautiful:

I was curious to see the marsh and beach under knee-deep snow, of course, but what I was really hoping to find on my visit was a Snowy Owl. Ever since I saw that tiny-dot owl through a scope at Milford Point in December, I've been hoping to see another one of these rare arctic visitors (and closer than a half-mile distant) before they all head back north and it's years before they come south again in such numbers as they have this winter. Someone had reported a Snowy Owl at Silver Sands State Park on eBird a few days earlier, and that just reinforced my urge to visit this park. I had vague plans to check out Silver Sands and then hop down the coast to Milford Point to continue my owl search if necessary.

But I didn't need to do any park-hopping after all. Because what's that suspicious white lump on the side of a snow-covered dune right next to the path? It couldn't actually be a...

Snowy Owl! :D

I didn't want to disturb the resting owl, so I veered away from the path and onto the beach as soon as I thought I knew what I was looking at. Here's a wider photo from where I settled down in the snow (very comfortably, in my snow pants!) to hang out with this awesome creature (the owl is the white bump just left of center):

I wasn't too close, but I certainly wasn't very far away! Thank goodness for my zoom lens. The owl knew I was there, but it didn't seem too uncomfortable with my presence. It preened itself, looked around at other birds and the few people on the beach, and occasionally peered at me through slitted eyes:

I've said before that Snowy Owls seem like mystical creatures to me, and this strikes me as especially true in this next picture.... There's something so unusual and beautiful about this creature in profile, like something out of a Miyazaki film:

After a long rest, the owl stood up to get in some more serious preening. A loud (happy) child arrived on the beach a little ways away, and the owl peered around to check him/her out:

Gulls flying overhead attracted its attention, too:

After admiring this bird for just a little longer -- such gorgeous barred wings and tail -- I finally got up and moved away down the beach. Charles Island was looking very pretty in its winter garb:

But who am I kidding, islands and shells and gulls just aren't very exciting when there's a Snowy Owl around. While I was on the beach, two people came walking down the owl's path, and the bird flew off into the marsh. When I saw it again, it seemed much more awake. Wow, those eyes:

The owl flew to another part of the marsh while I was watching, so I got to see those big wings in action:

I'm pretty sure the owl is just landing in this picture, not catching anything, but either way it's a dramatic pose:

I love those super fuzzy feet, and that rusty red vest! Good landing, owl.

Some other creatures did manage to distract me while I was watching the owl from the boardwalk. A Northern Harrier came cruising up over the marsh, showing off its own owl-like face:

The harrier flashed its distinctive white rump patch as it passed:

A trio of Mallards added some spots of brilliant color to the marsh:

My camera didn't quite capture the blinding quality of the male Mallards' green heads. So just trust me, they were very bright in that late afternoon light:

I finally did have to leave the park, since it was getting late and I was getting cold. When I left, the Snowy Owl was still settled in the snow-covered marsh, looking at home in probably the closest thing to arctic tundra we have around here. I still can't believe this creature was/is here, and I feel very lucky to have gotten to spend so much time with it, and so relatively close up. Silver Sands is an awesome place. I wish you good hunting, wonderful owl, and a safe journey back north when the time comes.