OtterCam in March

This hasn't gone according to plan.  Three years ago in March I first saw an otter catching and eating frogs in the culvert and every year since I have been trying to get better videos.  The aim has been to see the otter(s) hunting in the pool and eating in the culvert.  In 2021 the otter was too close to the camera and last year the hunting sequence was better but the otter usually didn't bother to get into the pipe and mostly ate at the entrance, just out of view.

This year I put two cameras on stakes towards the back of the pool and at the beginning of March I crawled up the culvert, screwed a wooden batten to the roof and fixed a trail camera to it.  A few days later we had heavy rain and although the camera is safe I haven't been able to get back in to retrieve it.  The two cameras in the pool did record some good footage of hunting but not what I was after.  Once the water level had gone up the cameras were overwhelmed by false triggers from the water movement and filled up their cards with videos of the waves.

So this is what I have.  The first video shows the otter family hunting in the pool after leaving the pipe.  Some of the edits are a bit clunky but that's a limitation of trail cameras.  I think one of the cubs was leading at first and it ran back to mother when it saw the light from the cameras but all three were back moments later.

The second video, from the same night, shows one of the otters digging out and eating a frog outside the pipe, so out of view of the culvert camera.

The third short video shows what it was like when the water was high - it was even higher than this at one stage.  It also shows the otters climbing the bank where I get in, rather than going against the flow in the culvert, something I now know they do quite often.

There are more videos that I haven't yet edited.  At some stage I'll be able to get back into the culvert to retrieve the camera which should contain some good footage, even if most is just of flowing water.  I'll post more after that.

The frog hunt happens only in March.  I'll have to come up with an even more cunning plan for next year if I am to get the sequence I want.