Shetland Otter families on a beautiful late autumn day

 

 



A superb encounter today, well actually several. So nice spending time in the great company of Mauro, who more than a client has now become a good friend as is so often the case when spending such special time with such captivating wild animals. The fact that Mauro insists I also take pictures- something I don't do when working on such itineraries, has made it all the more enjoyable. We spent time with three different families today at one site- its the busiest I've seen this site in years.





 



This particular site is pretty much as good as you can get for photographing otters; long relatively straight shoreline, fairly flat and open terrain with a good sized bank to hide in the shadow of with lovely 'gravelly' stretches of beach where the composition is nice and clean and very few if any boulders that often they can be behind and out of view.

All these images except the last one of two cubs together, are of the same mum and two cubs, which we spent several hours with, often within just a few metres and can sometimes be the case, with them too close to photograph. At one point the trotted up the beach, passing us by about five meters away when all we could do was hide our faces, keep completely still until they continued on along the shore after habitual spraining on a favoured rock high up the beach.

At one point during the encounter the mother landed an eel pout which you can see the dog cub holding in his jaws. Rather typically he spent several minutes 'toying' with the live catch in the shallows after receiving it from mum. This is quite typical behaviour of cubs of this age, playing with prey no doubt helps them hone their hunting skills and seems to be something they really enjoy. Often they will toss it into the air and then dive back onto it as it tries to sprickle away to escape.

We continued along the shore where we spent time with two more families, both mums with two cubs but with the way the wind had slightly altered and also the angle of the coast also changes, wind was not suitable for an approach so we just simply enjoyed an hour of observations and while doing so we had a Rough-legged Buzzard (one that's been around for a couple of weeks) drift over- all in all the perfect day!

A session with mum and three older cubs

 

The first morning of this weeks one-to-one photography assignment, with returning guest from Italy Mauro Muzzareli- who I have now come to know so well he insists I shoot my own images too- Im hardly going to refuse now am I?!! What a way to start his week itinerary, I took him to look for this mother and three fairly well grown cubs and we found them as soon as we arrived, I picked them up foraging offshore together before we had even gotten out of the car. We spent over three hours with them before leaving them foraging further out of the voe. This is one of the older of several three-cub families that I am working on just now- i'm not sure if I've ever seen such breeding success at so many sites- its awesome! 

Mum and three cubs; a typical composition of how a family of otters thrive on the intimate bond.

 The dog cub of this family of three landing his own octopus.



One of the female cubs eating a sea scorpion she caught herself, all paws and jaws as she enjoys her catch.

Shetland Otter families in late September

 The older three cub family above (around five/six months) and the younger ones, around four/five months bellow.

 

 

 

A fantastic and very typical late September morning, a light SE wind, low cloud and drizzle with the occasional clearing and dry spell- it took quite a lot to resist the birding temptations but the prospect of spending time with a mother and three young cubs won the day!
Really was so authentic and such a fitting autumn scene and sound, whilst searching for and watching this mum and her cubs there were several large flocks of Pink-footed geese going over, I even managed to shoot some video with the D4 of the cubs at play whilst the flocks of pinks called overhead.
Interestingly I had the other mum and three cubs at this same site on the way to find these guys, an older family but only by a couple of months.Worked on them for just half an hour or so but moved on as it was still fairly dark and they appeared to be on the move, then I moved on to these guys.
When I first found her I was scanning the bank of one of her main holts when her head popped up- typically anxious and checking the air for any unwanted scents- mine of course was blowing well inland and in opposite direction. I was also quite a distance from her holt so as not to be too close and give her the distance needed so to be out of sight. I was thrilled to watch her drag each cub one by one down the grassy bank and across the boulder beach to the waters edge.
Eventually they she began to forage and I followed her for several hours with the cubs before heading away whenthey returned to another holt to lay up later in the morning.

Young otter cubs in Shetland



 

Its a really exciting time in Shetland for otters as many females that have had cubs mid to late summer are gaining confidence with their cubs and are beginning to be out a little more with them, taking them out into the salt water and getting them used to an environment that they are so dependent on.

Over the past few weeks I have been seeing several 'new' families at many of the sites I use. Some of the cubs, (including a couple of families with three) are just three to four months old. This week I am delighted to actually have some time off to work on them. I am very much looking forward to working at my own photography as I tend not to take my camera when working with photographers on otters for too many reasons to go into in this post.

Mind you it really is of course a privilege and always a pleasure to do the work I do but there is often a day when I do of course wish I had my own gear- like earlier this week watching a mum with three young cubs, so young that they can not even dive under water yet and she carrying them by the scruff of their necks!

So any way, here is a selection of young cubs from previous years, taken between autumn and early winter, I hope to add some more recent images of young cubs over the coming days.... 



 

Otters in Shetland- mum and dog cub against black backdrop

A selection of images from an encounter last week. A mum and her dog cub who is now coming up on a year old now. Last weeks 1-2-1 otter photography itinerary went really well with some really fantastic behaviour and plenty of otters each day, up to six on one in particular. Currently leading another 1-2-1 this week which is also going well. More on that soon....

Some might think this sequence dark, which it is a tad but I liked the black rocks as a backdrop actually, a slightly different look to the composition and went for the underexposed look.

Otters in Shetland; ayoung family in early autumn





Here is a sequence of images from my most recent and one of my nicest sessions with an otter family this year. This was the first time Id spent with this particular family and I was really thrilled to see this mother, (Identifiable by scar on her nose and damage to left eye) who I thought must have a family by the sprainting activity Id noted on the couple of brief times Id passed through her range over the last couple of months. Going by her dates and when her last family separated and when I saw her with a dog otter (with notable amorous intentions!), I expected her to have cubs early this summer and sure enough, she does indeed. These two fabulous little fellows must be up around at least five months old now.

 



Its often difficult to keep track of all the many sites I work as my diary tends to be so booked up- (which is obviously fantastic of course). I need to use the sites that are most active in order to deliver for the guests I lead for. What tends to be the general pattern around otter sites or coastlines they inhabit is that while there is a family in the mothers range, they are active within it for the year or so they are together, (although patterns may vary throughout the seasons) then that site can and usually will be quiet for a time until the cycle repeats again. It is over such period I tend to avoid such a site as they can be so unpredictable (perhaps a daft thing to say as otters are rarely 'predictable'!)There is often little time to monitor the sites that have been quiet for a few months and now there are a few such sites I am starting to get around again. This is of course where the use of Bushnell cameras come in.... more on that later...

The light really was wonderful for this session. I was leading Italian photographer Mauritzio and partner Silvana. I refrain from setting out with my own gear when leading otter photography itineraries (and have done ever since I started) as my focus needs to be on the client however when someone insists and you've already had a few good days of the itinerary, you cant really say no! It would be plain rude! We were with them for over six hours, finding them just after mid day and not leaving them until approaching seven in the evening. One of the many fantastic aspects of working with otters on a Shetland shoreline is often the time that you can spend with an individual or a family. Watching them as they go about their routine without ever knowing you are there. Such a strange concept to think how utterly exhilarating and emotive such an experience can be to the observer, within a few metres of such a shy and fascinating animal and yet they are blissfully unaware of us or the joy they bring.

Its worth mentioning for anyone toying with the idea to get in touch for a visit to Shetland to do Otters with me that the diary for 2015 really is starting to fill in. Dates were booking up in any case but last weekends visit to the Birdfair in Rutland saw another few slots fill in.

Otters in Shetland July 2014, some pics from this season

 Its been a very summer for otter watching tours for me and an extremely busy season over all, hence the lack of time posting. Here is just a short selection of some images from through the last few months. Again this season I have been very thankful to also have Gary Bell and Richard Shucksmith lead tours as colleagues who have helped try to keep up with demand.  Having Molly Michelin, a photography student at Falmouth university working with us for a second season has been a huge help too and she too has led tours, and with a 100% success rate too! Nice work Moll ;)