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.