The otter again…..

We saw the otter again in the same area as the previous 4 sightings.  This time at 12.20pm and a 40 minute watch.

 

Please excuse the bright blue plastic sheet!  I guess it ruins the photo but perhaps demonstrates what our wildlife has to put up with (though in this instance the otter relaxed within the plastic like a hammock for a few minutes, see Picture 9!).  This particular piece of plastic has been bugging me since it was caught on branches in the floods of June last year.  I would remove it but there is no obvious path to the other side and its too deep to cross by foot.  Hopefully the lower river levels this summer will provide an opportunity.

The river has been quite high due to recent heavy rain, as you can see the water is brown colour, full of disturbed silt.  It was interesting to see the otter making use of a fallen tree in the middle of river whilst fishing.  Having caught a fish or eel it would brace its body against the tree to combat the strong current.