Otter on Great Ouse

[craeg]

Just had a really great afternoon stroll along the River Great Ouse near Huntingdon. The light was beautiful as the day neared sunset and the river was very peaceful. Obviously irresponsible dog walkers let their pets defecate without cleaning up but apart from this it was really nice. Added bonus of an excellent café in Frosts garden centre for a hot chocolate after the walk too ;)

Anyway the main reason I have posted is that we witnessed a fantastic sight in the guise of a really large otter floating on his back eating a large tench (I think). I didn’t realise that they could grow so big as at first before we saw his hands I thought that it was a seal. He really was that big. Totally bloody awesome experience :)

We followed him along the river for a bit until he finally disappeared and left our area of the bank. Maybe went into his holt with his big catch? What a fabulous treat for us and our kids and a good omen for the coming year. I managed to get a few photos which I will post soonish but as he was near the middle of the river and I only had a standard zoom, there is not too much detail.

Photo 1
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f371/craeg67/P1031365-1.jpg

Photo 2
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f371/craeg67/P1031369-1.jpg

Photo 3
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f371/craeg67/P1031364.jpg

Photo 4
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f371/craeg67/P1031359.jpg

Hope you like them and any comments, otter related or not most welcome. :)

[Toddy]

That deserves a mention in British Red's special moments thread too :D

Look forward to the photos.

I'm delighted that the otters are making a come back :cool:

cheers,
Toddy

[scanker]

Superb. I saw my first otter in the wild last year, in the sea off Mallaig, and then soon after saw another one in Pembrokeshire. They're fabulous creatures and I think it's a real treat to see one in the wild.

[mayfly]

That's a pretty rare sight in that neck-of-the-woods, for that matter anywhere. Nice one. Fishermen would tell you they grow large, quickly by eating all the specimen fish in the rivers since their re-introduction. There is quite a debate (http://www.gofishing.co.uk/Angling-Times/Section/News--Catches/Fisheries-News/June-2009/Top-flight-anglers-have-their-say-on-otter-predation/) in angling circles at least.