Within seconds he surfaced with a large fish in his jaws.....

Word on the grapevine was that otters in Thetford were flaunting themselves at all and sundry. Indeed, one report went as far as to say they were practically throwing themselves at one’s feet. Needless to say, there really was no option other than to beat a hasty path down to Nuns’ Bridges at the earliest opportunity……………..

We arrived just upstream of the town centre and within minutes, an otter casually swam upstream with barely a nod in our direction. A volley of clicking cameras ensued as he passed by the bank of onlookers and headed towards the 18^th Century bridge. Hardly able to believe our luck, we followed a short distance behind, mindful that any rapid movement or noise might alarm him. That said, he seemed wholly unaffected by his audience.

He paused atop a rock beneath the bridge for a minute or two whilst he groomed himself and then glided gracefully under water towards us. He stopped a foot or two from our feet and, after a cursory sniff, began foraging around in the water at the base of the bank. Within seconds he surfaced with a large fish in his jaws before swimming off to a small niche within the retaining wall on the opposite bank where he devoured his catch.

We slowly followed the otter upstream for another couple of hours as he continued his journey along the River Thet. When travelling beneath the surface, his presence was only betrayed by the silvery trail of bubbles and he would periodically surface, sometimes unexpectedly, right beside us before giving a quick snort and diving under again. On several occasions he climbed the bank and peered at us inquisitively or sprainted on a prominent log or rock. Upstream we met a weir which the otter was clearly reluctant to cross. Either the fast-flowing water served as a deterrent or this feature marked the boundary of his territory. Either way, he changed his direction and began heading back downstream at a gentle pace, all the while searching out fish and invertebrates. A dog-walker passed by in the opposite direction and, alert to their presence, the otter calmly slid below the water and travelled a distance of some 50m before surfacing again and resuming normal activities.

Three hours after we first spied the otter, it had returned to its hover (resting place) within some scrub at the water’s edge and only a stone’s throw from the town centre. Feeling exhilarated by the day’s events, we decided to head off for a coffee and a slice of cake.

It should be noted that otters are legally protected under both domestic and European legislation and disturbance of otters within a place of shelter or indeed away from such areas where this disturbance is liable to affect their ability to survive, breed, rear or nurture young, is an offence. It was evident that this particular otter was somewhat used to life in the fast lane; a hover close to the town centre and regular activity in broad daylight along a stretch of the Thet well-used by walkers, cyclists, dog-walkers and indeed motor vehicles, challenges the oft-assumed timid nature of these beasts. Nonetheless, even these otters will not be immune to disturbance and those keen to see or photograph them should be mindful of this. Although when we were there, those observing the otter behaved impeccably, a subsequent visit was indeed marred by several people chasing after the animal, eventually forcing it out of the water and to run across land on the far side of the river.

There have also been reports of the otters being fed by those eager to gain the perfect shot. Indeed, on occasion, the otter would climb on to the bank and appear to be begging in anticipation of a free lunch. On a cautionary note, despite their appearance, otters are not universally popular; for example, the otter is seen by some as a threat to wild and artificial fisheries, and any action that serves to habituate one of Britain’s largest predators would seem very unwise.

Photo's by Richard Saunders

Never mind the quantity, look at the quality of the birds Danny saw in May.

Despite planning to do some serious birding at the end of last months’ birding blog , May birding was again largely restricted to survey work with the occasional ‘twitch’ thrown in for good measure. The progression of spring brought in the last few summer migrants including four turtle doves while surveying at Ely. Following the survey and with a couple of hours to kill before a meeting in the city centre I popped across to Wicken Fen nature reserve, a site I’d never been to before. The previous evening two pectoral sandpipers had been spotted along with a black-winged stilt, both rare and unusual vagrant species. Unfortunately the pectoral sandpipers were not seen again, but the black-winged stilt did remain for a few days and was a nice bird to add to the year list. In addition there was a single spoonbill on one of the scrapes at Wicken Fen so I added another year tick for the day.

Later the same week I added hobby to the list, seen from the car as I drove along the A14 in Cambridgeshire. Despite only seeing it from a moving car, hobbys are unmistakable; pocket sized hawks with swept back boomerang wings and it wasn’t to be the last of the species I would see that week.

A visit to Lakenheath RSPB one evening that week produced one of the best bird spectacles I think I’ve ever witnessed, an adult male red-footed falcon:

The falcon had been present at the reserve for about two weeks and was showing really well, flying about 20-30 foot above the reed bed where a few photographers and I had gathered. It was a stunning bird…. What made it all the more special were the 8-10 hobbies also hunting in the same area, chasing the myriad of swallows, sandmartins and swifts feeding over the marsh. All this and an occasion bittern flying over the reed bed made it a really special evening. Feeling lucky I dragged myself away from Lakenheath and went to nearby Weeting Heath, a dedicated nature reserve for breeding stone curlew. After a brief wait a single bird appeared for a short while before returning to its nest out of sight of the bird hide. Finally I raced towards East Wretham Heath about half an hour drive away but in the direction of home. The heath is a good site for breeding tree pipit and redstart and a singing wood warbler had been present for a few weeks. Unfortunately I arrived just as the sky opened up and began raining heavily. I waited around, sheltering in a nearby bird hide but in fading light I left defeated yet buoyant from the evenings’ birding exploits.

Sadly no more year ticks came my way and I ended the month on 159 species; firmly in last place but confident that I had added at least two species this month that my competition would be unlikely to see this year….