On a recent walk to Totem Park, I happened to spot a Mink (Neovison vison) moving around on the cobbles at the edge Indian River where it runs through the upper portion of the estuary. Connor and Rowan were with me, but had taken the path through the woods rather than along the estuary, so I called them over to come look. Fortunately it stayed out in the open long enough for them to get a good look (what Rowan had to say about it).

Watching the mink, it was not clear to me what exactly was going on. The mink was sort of pawing about in cobbles, and I presume it was looking for food. It seemed pretty far up to me for there to be crabs or anything under the rocks, and I did not actually notice any rocks being turned over. I am not sure what else might have been there that a mink would consider food, especially this time of year.

Periodically the mink would run to some nearby larger rocks where it seemed to be taking cover. It would poke its head out occasionally during the minute or two it stayed there, then go back to the cobbles. After doing this a couple of times, it finally seemed to wary of something (maybe us), and when it went to the rocks, it acted like it would be moving along. I thought it might come out beside one of the bigger rocks, but was a little surprised to see it running along the rocks some distance away. It must have passageways through the larger rocks that allow it to remain concealed.

We walked down the trail further, and I kept a look out to see if it would come out in the open again. I finally saw it running up in the grass and then it made a mad dash across the grassy area to a line of trees on the river bank. The ground under the trees seems to be somewhat dug out and/or well-travelled, so I suspect mink and/or otters spend a fair bit of time there. I am uncertain whether the mad dash was an account of us, or if it was a fairly typical way for the mink to move across the opening where it would presumably be exposed to things like Bald Eagles (which I imagine would catch and eat a mink if they had the chance). I suspect it was mostly because of us.

A couple of weeks ago, I was riding by Swan Lake in the afternoon and happened to notice a River Otter (Lontra canadensis) resting on the ice beside a hole near the open water at the outlet. I stopped and took several photos as it went in and out of the water, swimming under the ice between openings.

At the time I wondered about its presence there. The roads surrounding Swan Lake are fairly busy, and the outlet stream is culverted from the lake to the ocean. It seems most likely that the otter travelled over land, but it is unclear to me which route it would be most likely to take. There’s a route that is mostly forested between the water and the lake, utilizing the old Russian Cemetary, which seems like a good candidate. It also seems plausible that it followed Wrinkleneck Creek (the primary inlet stream), which flows through wooded and quiet residential areas.

The following day, I talked to long-time local resident Kent Hanson who has been living near the lake for maybe 40 years. He mentioned seeing the otter near the open water at the inlet the previous morning. He described it remaining still and partially submerged at the edge of the ice, and thought it was probably hanging out to catch a bird to eat. Apparently otters are not all that unusual around the lake. He mentioned seeing them on previous occasions (sometimes more than one at a time), and observing where they had consumed birds they caught, apparently not bothering to pluck the birds before eating.

Rowan waited paitently (in vain, as it turned out) for Pine Siskins to come back and land near her to eat bird food on the ground.