Hello, Tweets. Scott Richardson wrote

>> From: Songbird43 at aol.com, a report of a sea otter...
>> Here's a question for fellow tweets.....The otter was really not a threat to
>> the birds, was it? Do you suppose the birds took off thinking that the otter
>> was something else? Perhaps a sea lion?
>
>Virtually all "sea otters" in Puget Sound are river otters.

Definitely. A lot of people are very surprised to learn that river otters
use saltwater habitats. My "lifer" otter was one in Grays Harbor, towing a
dead bird by one wing. I tried to get close when it came ashore, wanting a
closer look at the bird -- both to identify it and to verify that it was
not oiled (this was during cleanup after the _Nestucca_ oil spill). The
otter was too quick and wary for me, dropping the bird briefly to shake
water off like a dog, then humpaloping with it off into the brush. Since
then I have seen otters numerous times in numerous locations; they are
regularly seen along local shores. I once had occasion to discuss sea
otters with a USFWS biologist, who emphasized that people also mistake
river otters as sea otters because they see a river otter float on its back
for a few minutes. Sea otters are also *much* larger (though I've seen a
couple "hulking" river otters in the Sound!), and adults usually have
lighter-colored heads.

As for the question of predation,

>River otters, on the other hand, are not uncommon around the Sound. Whether
>they would prey upon healthy waterfowl, I do not know, although I suspect they
>wouldn't pass up an easy target.

River otters are known to prey on adult and nestling Glaucous-winged gulls,
as well as storm petrels (see: Speich and Pitman, 1984. River otter
occurrence and predation on nesting marine birds in the Washington islands
wilderness. Murrelet 65:25-27.)

Based on personal observation, I would say they definitely prey on
waterfowl. A couple years ago I was walking along a beach on the Strait of
Juan de Fuca with a friend. We came down a bluff and a few yards later
stumbled upon a female surf scoter. She was lying face down high on the
cobble beach, bleeding and twitching and steaming. She had obviously *just*
been caught, though we weren't sure she was dead yet. Gruesome. I looked
around for an eagle or other predator, but found no likely source until I
saw a ripple in the water. Two river otters surfaced several yards out, and
turned to look back at us. It certainly appeared that we had interrupted
someone's dinner plans. My friend tried to put the duck out of her misery,
and we walked on. When we returned about an hour later, there was no sign
of the duck.

On two occasions I have seen ducks, geese, gulls, and even cormorants flush
or scramble for safety when a river otter showed up along a shore. They
craned their necks to keep track of the otter's location. In neither
instance did the otter appear to pay them any attention, but was either in
transit or feeding on fish. I have not seen them react this way with harbor
seals.

As for mink -- in Oregon I once saw a female wood duck with a brood of
fuzzy ducklings huddled in a corner of a pond, looking warily toward the
far end of the pond. A beautiful, beady-eyed mink was propped up on a
stump, looking around alertly. It wasn't until after it zipped away that I
realized there was a big pile of feathers nearby -- so perhaps mama duck
had witnessed mustelid carnage at an earlier date? (Or maybe it was
instinct.)

At any rate, I think birds have good reason to fear otters and mink.
Personally, I get a thrill whenever I'm lucky enough to spot one.

-- Janet Hardin
Port Townsend, WA
wings at olympus.net