Otters in November

I spent an amazing hour watching the otter family earlier this week, a more exciting activity than setting the trail cameras.  They aren't often seen in daylight and I haven't been able to spend much time there recently so I feel very privileged.  The first to turn up was the mother and she soon caught a fish and took it off out of view, presumably to give to one of the pups.

Both pups were around but they weren't staying close to mum so I couldn't get all three, or even two, in one shot.  The otters stayed at the far side of the pool and were often hunting in the reeds which made getting a good view difficult.

Then mother caught another fish and again carried it out of view.

A minute or so later she was followed by one of the pups, also carrying a fish.  As the fish was uneaten I think this was one it had caught itself, rather than one it had been given by the mother.  If so, I am impressed it can catch its own fish at (we think) seven months of age.

The last we saw was a disappearing trail of bubbles.  It was a very exciting morning.

After last week's rat videos, I have also had some success using the new high tech(!) Poundland close focus adapter. Judging by the marks I think this is the mother otter although, if so, her injuries are very well healed compared with a few weeks ago.  These are frame grabs from the video, illustrating the big improvement in close focus.

This clip was the only otter video of the night with no sign of the pups, perhaps no surprise as they were no longer close behind mum when I saw them in the water.  I expect they are getting more confident and more adventurous.