Tag Archives: Sammammish River

Otters Snacking on the Bank

A sunny Sunday afternoon seems like a good time to go for a stroll.  It was not supposed to be a wildlife photo trip.  I did have the little M6 with me in my pocket, though, and, since the 55-200 is pretty small, I took that along too.  I was rather glad I did too as, while walking along the river, we saw a family that were peering in to the river.  There were ripples on the surface so we stopped to see what they had seen,  Soon we could see the outline of a pair of otters swimming about.  We watched for a short while and were about to move on when they swam down towards us and climbed out on to the bank.

One of them had caught a fish – a pretty big one in comparison to the otter itself.  It started crunching noisily in to the meal while the other otter seemingly stood guard.  They were on the bank for ages so we watched them for a while and then left them to enjoy their lunch.  A short distance further along we came across a couple watching another otter so I guess this stretch of the Sammammish is pretty popular with otters!

Sammammish River Trail

I have biked along the Sammammish River trail on a number of occasions and it seemed like it would be a good place to take a walk and enjoy the scenery at a more leisurely pace.  A sunny Sunday afternoon provided the perfect time so we headed out.  We clearly were not the only ones with such an idea as the weather had attracted tons of people to the river.  Fortunately, it is a big trail so it wasn’t too crowded even if it was popular.

It is a nice stretch of river and sufficiently far from the road in most areas to provide a quiet environment to stroll along.  All of the people mean it is a bit less peaceful but it is still a nice place to be.  The river is heading pretty directly from Redmond to Woodinville but it does have some gentle bends to provide a little variety in the scene.  Just walk along and look for wildlife – more of which will come soon!