[EBB Sightings] THEY'RE BACK!!

Hello Birders: 

Five participants in the regular monthly Jewel Lake walk had the pleasure of seeing four river otters cavorting in the lake.  This may well be the "Gang of Four" that spent several days earlier at Jewel Lake.  They may have shown up doing the night, as an early morning walker reported them.  They don't appear to be feeding at the moment -- simply enjoying themselves on this fine February morning.  When they will leave or where they will go next is anyone's guess, but the best possibility is that they may be coming up from the EBMUD reservoirs over the hill. (In spite of their aquatic preferences and short legs, they can walk long distances overland).

They were sharing the lake with five Hooded Mergansers, several male and female buffleheads and one Green Heron standing on a log on the far side of the lake near the otter haul-out spot.

-- Phila Rogers