Early Morning Sightings

The days are definitely getting longer now and day is inexorably swallowing up the night as we move headlong into spring. You always know when spring has arrived when you see the great mounds of gelatinous frogs spawn that seem to magically appear in ponds and slow flowing streams.

Frog Spawn in a static puddle of water

For the otter the increasingly short cover of night must mean that either their hunting periods must be more intense under the cover of darkness or that their hunting period is pushed ever closer to the margins between night and day.

With this in mind I set off very early this boring at around 5:30am on the off chance that I might happen across the otter in the southern part of the river where the activity over the last few months has been more intense. There was some daylight but this was tempered by a low hung mist that clung tightly to the rivers and streams washing the landscape with the watery, indistinct palette of a Turner watercolour.

At first there was very little other than the small group of there or four Roe Deer that frequent the meadows on either side of the river. Not even a Barn Owl or Fox to be seen. That said the fresh cool air and quite stillness more than compensates for any lack of wildlife. I think I did briefly catch a glimpse of a Water Vole as it dived beneath the water and disappeared in the smokey mists that creeping over the surface of the water.

Continuing along the river to check out the usual sites I then rounded a bend in the river only spot some way off and thankfully not hidden by the mist the unmistakable shape of an otter making its way down stream directly towards me. What a stroke of luck! My first instinct was to just sit and watch it pass by but i remembered - for once - that I had my compact camera in my pocket, just in case, so whipped it out to capture a couple of frames as the otter swam by.

The otter swims close to the river bank and dives occasionally to 

forage for food

Now I have to apologise in advance for the poor quality but you have to remember its about 5:50am and the light levels are pretty low. Not only that but the mist is making things doubly difficult. That said you can still see that the otter is quite unperturbed by my presence and I followed it along the river as it continued to drive every 20-30seconds foraging in the nock and crannies of the riverbank, no doubt trying to flush out some tasty morsel.

Not such a clear photo but the chocolate brown fur is unmistakeably

On this occasion I followed the otter along the river for about 200m, it didn't seem especially bothered by my presence and continued to behave quite naturally I think. Eventually it made its way over to a small shrubby willow that overhangs the river and disappeared beneath it. I did see it reappear briefly on the other side but it quickly dived and disappeared into the thicket again. After a minute or so it did start to call with its familiar staccato whistling call which was great to hear but it didn't last too long and I lost sight and sound altogether. Otters use these calls to communicate with one another so its possible that there could be a breeding pairs or perhaps even a mother with cubs in the locality. Its also said that if cubs are about it may be more likely to see otters in daylight, so you never know.

Spring has arrived

At last you can smell spring in the air. There is a tangible sense of excitement all around as the buds begin to burst and the birds sing and dance in anticipation of the urgent need to reproduce. Along the waterways you can now se the first shoots of reed and other riparian plants beginning to show. Soon the streams and rivers I have been exploring so easily over the winter will become hidden by tall reed beds and grasses.

As the days lengthen the otter has to contend with shorter hours of darkness so it might be possible now to get a glimpse - if i'm lucky - either early in the morning or just before dusk as these otherwise nocturnal animals have to patrol their territories more frequently on the cusp of night and day.

This morning I set off just before 6am to collect my two remote cameras and to see if there was any wildlife about. As usually there was plenty of birdlife, this winter has been kind so there are lots of small birds around. There was very little else however and certainly no otters. However I was lucky enough to get just a brief glimpse of a Water Rail one of the more secretive wetland birds. They are much easier to see in the winter when he vegetation has died right back but in the summer next to impossible to find because the inhabit the dark noks and crannies at the very base of the tall reed beds and tangled vegetation along river banks.

I had moved both my cameras to the same location just beneath a small footbridge where i'd managed to capture some good footage last time I posted. Once again the otter had returned and I'd managed to capture two more good sequences.

This clip was recorded at 03:25 on 4th March 2012. If you look carefully you can see
the otter sprainting on the bricks.

This clip was recorded at 19:13 on 9th March 2012. Something has taken the otters

interest just above its sprinting brick. Again you can clearly see it sprinting.

This small bridge has been a really good location to capture footage of the otter in action. It has visited this location quite reliably. I moved both cameras to this location to see if i could capture the otter leaving the area to see where it went since above this bridge I've found no physical evidence of otter activity. The second camera yielded no footage at even on the same evening (the 9th) when both were operating less than 15ft apart. I'm beginning to wonder if this bridge actually marks the boundary of this otters territory, which would explain why there have been no physical signs above this point. This idea might be supported by the fact that in both sequences you can see the otter clearly turn round and go back the way it came. Despite the fact that there is a perfectly good river beyond this bridge this otter appears not to explore beyond this point. 

I think what I might do is try to locate a camera so that it either covers the entire bridge this way it might be easier to establish whether the otter does in fact turn round or not.