Otters – Rio Grande del Norte National Monument, NM. Throughout the winter I visit the Orilla Verde Recreation Area, on the Rio Grande, NM. My purpose is to photograph the wintering birds and other wildlife that I run into. This is the stretch of river where our Monument Scenic Float trip takes place in the warmer months. Lately, I’ve had the good fortune of spotting otters. On the first occasion, I was parked in a pull-out that was somewhat elevated over the river, watching some bighorn sheep. Then, as I looked down, I saw an otter swimming near the far bank. As measured by Google Earth, I was 160′ distant, and the otter took no notice of me. So, I was able to get these photos with my superzoom Nikon Coolpix P900 camera.
My next encounter was watching three otters cross the road, and climb to the top of a slope of sagebrush and boulders. Where were they going? Did they have a den in the boulders? Who knows? I was finally able to see them in my viewfinder as they got to the top of the slope, and took these few seconds of video.
And yesterday, as I was driving slowly upstream, I saw this otter swimming upstream. I was able to follow his/her progress for awhile, getting these photos.
