Return of the Otter

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 I haven't seen otter on my camera traps since mid January. I postulated at the time that they were so far from the main river  perhaps because of very high river levels or maybe they were feeding young. My theory is obviously wrong as water levels are normal for the time of year. I estimate that this otter is at least 500m away from any water that it could conceivably swim in and is probably 3k away from the main River Eden. I caught it twice on its return journey - going North at about 8.00pm  and South at about 5.00am .  You can see from the camera footage that temperatures were at minus 6 C at  5.00am. Anyone with further insights on otter behaviour is welcome to comment.



It was a productive night for the camera traps. I also got badger and a very nice image of a roe deer at sunrise.


Diary
Still very cold ! The female sparrowhawk continues to haunt the garden. We have a white outline where she collided with the glass of the conservatory whilst chasing down a great tit (she caught it!)
We saw a high flying skein of geese heading North yesterday morning (going back to their summer haunts in Iceland?!)







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