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Joe Harris (RSPB Langford Lowfields Site Manager)
Because of how elusive they are, it is always a real treat to see otters on Otmoor. We got some great night time footage of them recently (click on images below to view video) and then two days later I actually saw the same two otters playing in a ditch. They were really close and I got great views for a couple of minutes, until I was spotted and after some growling and bubble blowing they swam out of sight. These two otters are most probably a female and her cub, which could be dependent on her for up to 13 months. Adult otters don’t really spend much time together and strongly defend their territories against members of the same sex.

This otter sighting was the start of what has been a really good few days for wildlife on Otmoor. Lots of interesting birds have been seen including garganey, wheatear, swallow, sand martin, willow warbler and lesser whitethroat, which have just completed long migrations back from their winter homes in Africa. The ditches are alive with frisky frogs and toads and a lot of grass snakes have been seen. There have even been reports of two ‘mating balls’ of grass snakes, one involving 7 individuals and the other, which contained a number well into the double figures!! Keep your eyes open, you never what might be going on in the undergrowth as you walk by...