Earlier this week my wife and I went for a river side walk in North Suffolk, friends had said they had seen a pair of Otters a few days ago so we thought we'd try our luck. It was cold, cloudy and windy but we soon forgot that when a chap ahead of us pointed across the river. The two Otters, a female and cub we were told by a local we met later, and they stayed visible swimming along up stream and climbing out on to the far bank occasionally for best part of an hour.
They were diving and coming up with fish on a regular basis.
After a while they separated and one went up stream the other down, we followed what appears to be the youngster up stream.
Still catching fish, this one appears to be a Bullhead or Miller's Thumb, a spikey fish a bit like a Perch, and the Otter took a long time gently chewing away at before eventually swallowing it. The following pictures are only a fraction of what I took and it all took place close to the near bank and I had to zoom back to get the Otter in the frame. I hate to think how many shots I would have got if half the time the action hadn't taken place behind reeds and trees along the bank side.
The Otter dived again next to an overhanging tree and didn't come up again, so I assume it went into a Holt to sleep off a belly full of fish.
While looking for the other Otter, which we didn't see again, we found these Mandarin Ducks, only the second wild ones we've ever seen. A least the sun had come out now to light up the Mandarins.
One of the males was displaying and looking quite perky so I waited and was rewarded by a mating display.
The other male came to watch but didn't join in so may not have been mature and was just watching and learning.
To round the day off, the first Brimstone to land and give me a chance of a take off shot this year.
To use a rather large understatement, that was what I call a "Grand Day Out".
Best Wishes,
Trevor