April 05 – My Nature Journal
April 05, 2025 Nature Journal
American Robin
Turdus migratorius
Normally, American Robins are instantly recognizable, thanks to their rust-red breast feathers, gray-black backs and wings, and their broken white eye rings.
So imagine my surprise when I spotted a bird that looked exactly like an American Robin, except that its feathers were all the wrong colors.
This bird has leucistic plumage; it has white feathers instead of the expected dark gray-black. Leucistic feathers are white because they lack a pigment called “melanin”. Melanin is produced by special cells and deposited into the feathers as they grow.
Some birds, like this white robin, lack the ability to create melanin pigment normally. Their feathers grow without benefit of this pigment and end up white.
Leucistic plumage is fairly common amongst birds but I’d never seen one for myself until today.
And I certainly never expected to see one hopping over my very own lawn.
North American River Otter
Lontra canadensis
These two North American River Otters were busily hunting crayfish in their small pond this morning.
Each otter would dive sleekly under the water, with barely a ripple, then spend several seconds coursing along the pond bed.
North American River Otters use their dense, sensitive whiskers to find prey, usually crayfish and fish. Otters grab their prey with their strong, peg-like teeth then surface to eat.
Both otters succeeded in their hunts very well; apparently, the crayfish weren’t very good at hiding this morning.
Several times, I watched each of these otters surface with jaws clenched around the hapless crustaceans. The otters would chomp hard, once, twice, three times with their strong teeth. I could hear the exoskeletons of the poor crayfish cracking against the force of the otter’s jaws.
Then the otters would throw their heads back and toss the crayfish straight down their throats.
After swallowing, the otters paused briefly and looked around in seeming satisfaction. Then they dove again and repeated the cycle, powerful, relentless hunters descending upon the crayfish from above.
Today’s Nature Journal Snapshot
|
Time of Day |
Mid to late morning |
|
Setting |
Suburban neighborhood and small pond |
|
Temperature |
78° F / 26° C |
|
Weather |
Sunny with some clouds |
|
Humidity |
64% |
