After hearing about Otter sightings a couple of months ago.I finally saw a pair the other day but didn't have time for a snap before they dived. This morning I met a chap on his way back down the slope from the reserve proper, who said that following a tip from Chris Hearn, the NRW warden, he'd just seen one up on R4. I walked up the slope to the first screen and the sun was shining directly behind R8 making it virtually impossible to see what was on the lagoon. However by squinting and using the slats in the fence as a shield I saw the unmistakeable shape of an Otter breaking the water. Only 'record shots' but so chuffed to have caught it at last. This means that the Otters have recently been sighted on R4, R6 and R8.
Map of the reed beds and lagoons courtesy of Nigel (Barman58)
Nice one John, we must be due to see them soon.???
Thanks David, hope so!
Well done John. We haven't seen them yet. They don't seem to stay in view for long periods of time. Did they just cross from one side to the other then gone into the reeds?
Thanks Colin! The pair that I saw were swimming towards the screen in the centre of the pool and heading left when they dived. I didn't see them again but the Kingfisher flew from the direction that they were heading as though it had been disturbed. The one I photographed was midway down the pool and I first noticed the bow wave, but even though it was hard to see against the sunrise it was obviously not a duck! It just disappeared. I can't say whether it dived or went into the reeds. They hunt nocturnally and probably the best time to see them is at dawn, but saying that the pair I saw was at about 10:30 and that was also the time of the first sighting by one of the volunteers called Malcolm. Apparently an Otter's territory can be anything from a half to 25 miles but they are only held against members of the same sex and male and female territories can overlap, so it would seem that it is a pair that we're seeing. Good news for the future.
Spent quite some time looking for ripples on the reedbeds. It will take some persistence and luck as we are usually there at 9:30, probably a little too late to see Otters. However we had a brief sighting of a couple of bearded tits. A reasonable view of 3 Cetti's warbler (still behind reed stems, so not able to photograph) and a wren sat right in front of us. Pictured here.
We enjoyed the morning and the hunt for a species always adds a little to the anticipation and pleasure.
Nice Wren Colin. Glad you had a good day.
Great shot Colin and I'm sure you'll get to see the Otters before too long.. The original sighting of was around 10.30 a.m. so an early start may not be necessary.
Well done on seeing Beardies. I caught a fleeting glance last week but nothing this week. I decided to go to Parkend today looking for Hawfinches. I went to Nag's Head first but didn't see any there, apart from a possible sighting when I first arrived. Acting on a tip I went back to the centre of the village by the cricket ground and did see a couple high up in the Elm trees nr. the Cricket ground. Acting on another tip I went up to the Church and saw a Crossbill that was actually on the Church itself. I just failed to see the one that all the other photographers caught drinking from a puddle nr. the church as I'd gone for a walk around the church and as I approached one flagged that they were on to something, which would have flown if I'd moved.
John it was someone else with same name as me because I was in Derbyshire since Thursday.
Bit of confusion there, should have said Dai!
Saw Otter today on R5, worth braving the cold for.