City Otters – Gijón, Asturias

We search for wild places in the hope of glimpsing wild creatures that live there. For the first time we took a few days holiday – to a city, with lots of people, buildings and traffic.  And more surprisingly we went to the city to watch otters.

In Gijón, Asturias, the otters have passed the limits of the river and entered an inner city park with small lakes – home to ducks, geese and other exotic waterfowl.  Their arrival has caused some conflict with the parks avian inhabitants although we personally only witnessed them hunting for eels and american crayfish.  For a detailed post, visit the excellent blog from David Alvarez – Naturaleza Cantabrica- “¿Cuantas nutrias hay en el Parque de Xixón?” (in Spanish).

We managed to watch 2 different otters over 4 mornings, at close quarters but with poor light.  Encountering them in the near dark, for one photo below, and without much expectation, I set the camera to ISO6400 and somehow got lucky with the focusing.

Also equally rewarding was the chance to meet fellow otter enthusiasts and nature conservationists. Thank you for sharing the excitement of watching the otters. Even when we stood there one day waiting for 12 hours, the conversations didn’t stop – wandering on to other topics such as wolves, bears, wild cats, cameras and lenses, as well as stories from all the places we have visited in Asturias.  Great company!

– John and Belinda

All Rights Reserved – © John Shackleton – Wild Asturias

All Rights Reserved – © John Shackleton – Wild Asturias