Gray skies and seas of winter don’t slow down the animals making a living from the sea. I’m all bundled up against the chilly wind just walking along the seashore, but the birds and mammals dive these dark cold waters searching out their sustenance all day long. Their skill, patience and persistence is impressive.
The orange highlights on the fish the otter’s gnawing on above had me perplexed until I looked at the sky. A bit of winter sunset light coming low through the clouds is reflecting off the wet fish.
River Otter and Butter Sole
The otter’s buddy paddled around nearby but at no time tried to muscle in. In fact it watched me as I watched them. This is a Butter Sole (wdfw.wa.gov/...), a fairly common bottom fish in the bay, but a big one. Usually an otter hauls a big fish up onto a rock or dock (or boat) to tear it into manageable pieces. This one is almost too big to handle while swimming. It’s possible the otter came ashore after I moved on.
The Daily Bucket is a regular feature of the Backyard Science group. It is a place to note any observations you have made of the world around you. Rain, sun, wind...insects, birds, flowers...meteorites, rocks...seasonal changes...all are worthy additions to the bucket. Please let us know what is going on around you in a comment. Include, as close as is comfortable for you, where you are located. Each note is a record that we can refer to in the future as we try to understand the patterns that are quietly unwinding around us.
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Glaucous-winged gull and Dungeness crab
In summer our resident gulls are mostly offshore at their breeding sites. In winter they return to the bays and forage by the beach. One of their most remarkable strategies is diving.
They’ll eat anything they can catch but their most common prey is crab at this beach. Since crabs stay below the water’s surface the gulls have to “dive” for them. Near the beach the sea is shallow enough. These big gulls can snatch a crab a couple a feet deep if they drop like a torpedo straight down from about 6 feet up, folding their wings at the last moment.
Crows on the beach know the gull doesn’t bother with the crab legs. The gull will often allow them to pick those up. If crows are too aggressive, the gull will fly or swim off with its crab but in this case both gull and (some) crows ate well.
Common Red-breasted Merganser and Sculpin
Mergansers are winter ducks in the Salish Sea. A big upside to cold gray winter days is the abundance of so many colorful active ducks, like these.
Seeing any wild animals foraging in your winter home?
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As alway, all nature observations are welcome in the comments below. Tell us what you’re seeing in your own natural neighborhood.
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