One recent early morning, along a street overlooking Lake Ivanhoe, there appeared in the distance a small head, popping up like a cork on a fishing line. It submerged quickly.
Rounding the corner in my car, another otter scampered across a grassy area, crossed a street and ran into a yard of a home. Seeing these two otters meant there must be a family of otters that lived in Lake Ivanhoe.
A quiet morning this week meant an opportunity look again to find the cagey otters to photograph them. Repeating my route, I scanned the surface of the lake but saw no ripples or movement. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a small wake.
There was a small nose just breaching the surface. I drove down the road, found a spot to park and grabbed my camera with a 300mm lens.
Now another cute, furry face emerged from the water. The light was not the best, but I watched the pack through my lens as they moved into the open shade. One, two, three and then a fourth river otter made their way to the shoreline. I had hit the jackpot with a group of otters and a great blue heron too, creating a rare moment I haven’t seen before.