nmottertracking

Possible otter sighting from White Rock Canyon, near Frijoles

2011-01-22T08:22:00.000-08:00

From Jim Stuart, Jan. 21, 2011:

Dan Williams of NMDGF (Public Info & Outreach), who you’ll remember photo’d otter releases in 2009, was in our dept. plane this morning over White Rock Canyon and saw a dark animal moving through shallow water in the Rio Grande near Frijoles Canyon . He is pretty sure, but not absolutely certain, that it was an otter based on color and its movements. They made a second pass over the spot but could not find the animal again. If it was an otter, it’s consistent with our previous evidence from White Rock Canyon.

La Mesilla otter sighting location visit/Jan 13, 2011

2011-01-22T07:53:00.000-08:00

This is the location where Frances Wilmeth observed 3 otters in La Mesilla, on the Rio Grande,

on January 5. They were on an ice shelf on the far(west) side of the river, and then went into the river, cavorted, and swam upstream.

We found these probable otter tracks a little below the site on the east shore. They looked about a week old & had been frozen and thawed repeatedly. The knife is 3 1/4 inches long.

Fresh otter sign at Buckman/White Rock Cyn

2011-01-10T14:32:00.000-08:00

Tracks are at far end of this beach.
Otter scat and tracks.
Jan. 8, 2011 - I finally made it out to the Rio Grande at the end of Buckman Rd. I hiked down river and found fresh otter tracks in the same spot I found them in January 2009. A stretch of about 20 feet of the snow covered beach was full of tracks and rolling impressions, with scat at the south end. They looked to be 1-3 days old.(Jan. 5 was the day that Frances Wilmeth saw 3 otters at La Mesilla, about 10(?) miles north of this location)

La Mesilla otter sighting

2011-01-10T14:26:00.000-08:00

On January 5, 2011 Frances Wilmeth reported seeing 3 otters in the Rio Grande. This is the first sighting we've heard of from that area.(south of Espanola)

A flurry of reports from Taos

2011-01-08T14:24:00.000-08:00

In November and December there were a few new otter reports from the Taos area, all in small tributaries of the Rio Pueblo de Taos.

Good time to look for otter tracks

2010-12-17T09:35:00.000-08:00

Now that we have some snow, its a good time to get out and look for otter tracks.

We still have very little information on dispersal to the north/Colorado border and beyond.

I haven't been out looking myself but just wanted to remind everyone that we still need reports.

Thanks- Brian Bari

Gila News from Melissa

2010-12-17T09:30:00.000-08:00

Good morning all,

Snowing in santa fe.

OK, I just talked to Jim, and he will send out a more detailed message
soon, but the message is

F&WS wants "several more months" to examine this issue.

They are worried about Gila chub and also Headwaters Chub, want the
Department to do some more monitoring of endangered fish to have a better
baseline of population numbers. They are concerned, of course, about the fish,
but also about getting sued on the fishs' account. They want more data on
potential otter behavior, like using streams of less than 10 cfs. Perhaps
radiotelemeter the animals, perhaps release only a few to start with. And so forth.

Since we are going to come up against the natal season in a couple of months,
we are probably not going to plan on releasing otters into the Gila for another year.

So sorry about all this.

Melissa

Gila River Otter reintroduction

2010-12-04T07:45:00.000-08:00

Now that the Upper Rio Grande reintroduction is complete with 33 otters released, the next goal is to return them to the Gila River in Southwest New Mexico. To get involved with this effort contact UGWA through contact given in previous blog.

Meanwhile any sightings of the Rio Grande otters are needed to help us track their movements.

Upper Gila Watershed Otter monitoring workshop

2010-12-04T07:41:00.000-08:00

UGWA members and friends,

The River Otter Monitoring Workshop scheduled for December 10 and 11 is full. Registration is now closed.

If there is sufficient interest, we will try to schedule another workshop in the near future.

How will we know if there is enough interest for another workshop? This is where you come in. I am keeping a list of people that are interested in learning to be volunteer otter monitors that could not attend this workshop. If there are enough people on the list, we will work on scheduling another one.

Please let me know at admin@ugwa.org if you would be interested in attending River OtterMonitoring Workshop number 2.

Thanks,

Robin

November otter transplants

2010-12-04T07:30:00.000-08:00

This is one of 10 otters captured in Washington State and released on the Rio Pueblo de Taos in November. This brings the number of otters released to 33. (with 3 known mortalities so far) and completes the Upper Rio Grande drainage reintroduction effort.

March 23, 2010

2010-03-22T13:10:00.000-07:00

All- It looks like I haven't updated the blog since October. Sorry for the lapse (in case anybody reads this!).

On October 23, 2009 six otters from Washington were released on the Rio Pueblo de Taos. These were 4 males and 2 females.

November 6, 2009 one adult female was released on the Rio Pueblo de Taos.

Also in November Jon Klingel and I kayaked the White Rock canyon section, and found no definite otter sign. Just a partially eaten catfish carcass and some possible old tracks.

From October to December I checked for sign at San Ildefonso and Ohkay Owinge Pueblos with their permission. I did not find any sign.

In December there were 2 more releases at the Rio Pueblo de Taos. On Dec. 27, 2009 three male otters were released. Then on Dec. 30, we saw 4 "neighborhood otters" ascend the river to the release site and then go back down river, just before the new otters were released. These were 2 females and a male. That makes 23 otters released minus the 3 known fatalities.

September/October news

2009-10-22T11:14:00.000-07:00

September 10, 2009-

Found active latrine site north of J. Dunn bridge.

Some of scat collected.

August 1 Update

2009-08-01T09:19:00.000-07:00

Apologies for being out of touch. I've been busy with N. Goshawk surveys all summer.

The latest big (and sad) news is that an adult female otter was killed on the highway near Pilar last Tuesday July 21st(?) It turns out that she appears to have weaned some pups recently. All eyes should be on the look out for any lost-looking young otters in that area. They should be about half size. If you see any please get in touch. My cell # is 505-660-3374.

Also I have not been able to do any checking up north, (north of Hondo) has anyone else?

Thanks-

Brian Bari

6/1/09 Lots of otter news lately

2009-06-01T22:08:00.000-07:00

June 1 - During the past 3 weeks there have been numerous otter sightings reported. One photographer managed to get a photo of 3 otters in one frame!

Contact

2009-04-24T17:11:00.000-07:00

I havn't heard any otter news lately. If anyone wants to contact me, please use my yahoo address;

urtbawa@yahoo.com

OK, what is it?

2009-04-05T12:02:00.000-07:00

Beaver........... about the same size as an otter, and sometimes hard to distinguish at a distance.

Other otter sign to look for:

2009-04-05T11:35:00.000-07:00

Later in the day this carp head was removed by a happy raven.

There have been a few sightings at Orilla Verde lately. This is very public area and we are discouraging people from seeking this otter out, fearing that too much attention will run it out of the area.

If anyone has time to check up north, in Wild Rivers, Sunshine, and Colorado border, that would help. Also the Chama.

I checked the lower Chama(from Abiquiu dam down) the other day and was surprised to not find any sign. The river is running high and many beaches are submerged.

Otter sighting at Taos Junction Bridge

2009-03-26T15:59:00.000-07:00

March 24-

My first otter sighting since the release!

It was a very brief sighting, and not a satisfying look. It was 11:30 am, right below the Taos Junction Bridge. It was foraging in the eddy of a mid-river rock. I watched from about 100 yards away with my binoculars as it dove a few times, then moved away towards the bridge. I ran up to the bridge hoping for a better look, and a photo, but it disappeared completely. I stayed in the area for a few hours and rechecked the river from time to time, but never saw it again. It may have gone into a beaver den or rock cavity near the bridge. I searched for tracks in the area but didn't find any. This is a very busy area and there was a group of canoeists(and 2 dogs) preparing to launch about 50-75 feet from where the otter was, who didn't see it. Unfortunately I didn't get a photo. In hind sight I should have stayed in the truck and just watched.

The river is running very high (1100cfs) and most of the beaches and mud bars are under water.

There were two other sighting reports in the last couple of weeks. One nearby in Orilla Verde, and one on the Rio Pueblo de Taos near Ranchitos Road.

2009-03-26T15:03:00.000-07:00

Jai Cross with fresh otter tracks, Feb 28

2009-03-03T21:21:00.000-08:00

Feb 28

2009-03-01T19:44:00.000-08:00

Feb 28 - Jai Cross and I revisited the Rio Grande near Arroyo Hondo and found a very fresh set of otter tracks on a small beach.

Feb 11 - Otter trapped

2009-03-01T19:26:00.000-08:00

Feb 11- We received the unfortunate news that one of the new otters has been trapped and killed on the Rio Pueblo. Apparently problem beavers were the intended target and the trapper was unaware of the otters in the area.

Feb 20, 2009 Buckman

2009-02-23T19:51:00.000-08:00

Revisiting the scent post I left 2/16 I found fresh otter tracks in the mud near the scent.

Buckman/Caja del Rio otter sign. Feb 16, '09

2009-02-17T18:09:00.000-08:00

Feb. 16, 2009- I drove out Buckman road from Santa Fe to revisit the site where I found otter sign Jan 13. I hiked cross country down river to where I thought I had been. At first I didn't find anything except a couple of catfish(?) bones on the bank, but no fresh tracks. I continued down river for a ways without seeing any sign, then turned back and walked the shore to the north. Soon I came on 2 semi-fresh spraints/scats full of fish bones. They were in the same spot where I first found the scat on Jan 13. There was no snow and no fresh tracks in the hard sand, but it was good to know that this (or these) otters was still in the area.

Jan 19, Lobatos Bridge, Co.

2009-01-21T17:11:00.000-08:00

At Lobatos Bridge I found the Rio Grande mostly frozen, with a few areas of open water. I did not find any sign of otters, but tracking conditions were not very good. Most of the snow on the river ice was gone, and the distance between stretches of open water likely made it difficult for otters to use this upper section of river. About 5 miles south of the bridge I surveyed 3 sections from the east rim of the gorge and could plainly see raccoon and coyote tracks in the frozen snow and ice, but saw no sign of otter activity.

Jan 16, Buckman/Caja del Rio

2009-01-21T15:45:00.000-08:00

Jim Stuart and I returned to the Rio Grande at Buckman and revisited the track locations I found Jan 13. We found two sets of tracks made since then. At one set of tracks the intestines of a fish(?) were left behind.

Jan 14, County line

2009-01-21T15:37:00.000-08:00

On Jan 14, I found 2 sets of fresh otter tracks at the Taos/ Rio Arriba Co. line on the Rio Grande.

Jan 13, 2009 Buckman/Caja del Rio

2009-01-21T15:15:00.000-08:00

I was really surprised to find otter tracks on the Rio Grande at Buckman/Caja del Rio, west of Santa Fe, but there they were, and it looked to me like it might be 3 otters. That's about 40 milers as the crow flies from the release site in Taos. I found 2 places about a mile apart, where there were fresh(within 24 hrs) tracks and spraint/scat.

Jan 11 Otter Survey

2009-01-11T22:16:00.000-08:00

Lower Rio Pueblo

Jan 11 Otter Survey

2009-01-11T21:57:00.001-08:00

Then at the Rio Pueblo I found many otter tracks and slides in the snow. Some were made since the last snow on Friday night.

Jan 11 Otter Survey

2009-01-11T21:08:00.000-08:00

I first stopped at the Rio Grande at the County Line and found one possible otter track among a lot of beaver tracks.

Jan 6-7 Otter survey

2009-01-11T20:18:00.000-08:00

Taos got about a foot of snow on Jan. 4th. I looked for tracks on the snowy banks of the Rio Grande on Jan 6, from the rim south of the high bridge using my scope. I did not see any fresh otter tracks. On the 7th I went to the Wild Rivers area near Cerro and scoped from the rim, at La Junta, Bear Crossing, and at Sheep Crossing. Again I saw no fresh otter tracks. The snow was knee deep, and snowshoes would have helped.