What We Saw (Quality Challenged)

After work this afternoon Kristy and I enjoyed another long walk at Sweet Marsh. Our goal was to see what might be happening on a very pleasant first day of spring.

From our vantage point on the dikes we observed many wildlife species. Since I was only handholding my camera today, my picture quality was less than I would have liked. Still, I am going to share some here so readers can see what was happening at the marsh.

Probably our most unusual find was this lone river otter swimming in water so shallow it could not dive down. Instead, it was slopping in the mud and muck before it eventually turned around and headed back to deeper water and then over the dike and into the safety of the Wapsipinicon River.

From a long distance away we watched a mink too. I have no pictures to share of the mink.

For birds we saw the regular waterfowl - swans, ducks, and geese (Canada, greater white-fronted, and snow geese).

None-waterfowl birds observed included sandhill cranes and bald eagles.

Our surprise find was this barred owl watching us as we hiked.

I think we had a pretty good hike!