On Fleeting Moments and "Almost" Shots - Sean Fitzgerald Photography

I have had quite a few memorable experiences in my floating blind, like the beaver encounter I posted about yesterday at the “Secret Bird Pond” in the Great Trinity Forest here in Dallas. Here is another fleeting encounter I had at Secret Bird Pond that I will never forget.

When the water is really high at Secret Bird Pond, it floods out another little flat and very shallow pond in the nearby forest. Between that little flat spot and the much larger Secret Bird Pond, there is a little bitty creek that connects the two ponds.I was in my floating blind near that little connecting creek when I heard something scampering through the woods. I looked that way and saw a blur of brown fur.

Holy crap, it was a family of river otters coming right at me!

They shot out of the connecting creek, onto the bank and into the Secret Bird Pond like spastic kids hopped up on Mountain Dew and Halloween candy. As they bounced around, I tried frantically to focus on them through my big 500 mm lens and get a sharp photo, to no avail.

River otters on bank, “Secret Bird Pond” near Trinity River Audubon Center, Great Trinity Forest, Dallas, Texas, USA

The whole things was over in mere seconds and to my considerable chagrin, was quite literally a blur.

River otter jumping into water, “Secret Bird Pond” near Trinity River Audubon Center, Great Trinity Forest, Dallas, Texas, USA.

Try as I might, I could not get one tack sharp image. Before they swam away, one finally poked its head up out of the water and looked straight at me for a brief second. I quickly focused, clicked the shutter and hoped for the best, as the otter slid back into the water and swam away.