24th March

Came across this youngster today, dozing out of the lea of the wind.

21st March

Went back to visit the young cubs today. Left the boat at opposite side of the isle so as to make a silent approach. From the top of the hill where I cross the isle I scan with my scope, the tide is ebbing, I just catch a glimpse of the mother as she slips into the water and heads out to feed. I watch for a few minutes till she is some distance away, diving on her favourite reefs.

I keep an eye on the wind and keep low and out of view from the cubs, who I hope will be in the usual place close to the shore. When I reach the old drystone wall of the old sheep pen, I pear through the gap as I have done so many times before and there they are, seemingly a little livelier than last time I think to myself as I watch them play on the bank.

They stay very close to a hollow on the grassy bank, the same hollow that many an otter has made a bed of before. I watch them for about a half an hour, playful but not yet as mischievous as they soon will be. The overcast day Id been thinking was not too bad soon turns into retched rain, the wind starts to rise as I think to myself its time for home.

Friday 13th March

Friday the 13th- unlucky for some they say, I never was one for superstition though! Ignoring the date I set out by boat to one of my favourite sites, an off shore island. On my way there I couldn't help hoping that by now a female there which I have been watching may well have her cubs out and about by now.

One of the most precious and privileged of all wildlife watching experiences has to be watching an animal as wild and secretive as an otter with infant cubs, out exploring and possibly for the very first time.

These adorable cubs can only be two months old at most, and had very probably been taken by the mother from the natal den to a coastal holt this very day if not long before. It was low tide and I could see the mother off foraging amongst the exposed seaweed not too far along the shore while the cubs, waited on the shore where they would every so often disappear under a large boulder or overhanging earthy bank but never wadling further than a meter or two. From behind an old drystone walled Sheep pen I could watch them through a gap in the wall, totally out of site.

It was obvious by their size alone how young they were bu also how clumsy they were, not yet learned the grace which they will soon use to search these shores. I could see at least two but suspect there was another but could not see the other side bellow the bank and would not have dared moving or changing my approach for a better view. I learned a long time ago that this usually results in them detecting you, if you cant quite get the view or composition you would like then never worry, perhaps next time you will- patience not pesisitance I think is best.

22nd February

Been a hectic couple of weeks, moved house amongst other things, hence the lack of up dates.

Although over the passed couple of weeks or so I have had a few "chance' otter encounters, frustratingly I have not been to visit any of my favourite families. However on my way to a family meal (running late too), I took a detour to have a quick scan of a familiar stretch of coastline, just for a cheeky ten minutes before the ferry left, I timed it just right!

Whilst I was pulling off the road into a lay by, I caught a glimpse of that oh so familiar bounding gate of an otter foraging around amongst a myre close to the shore. It was about 100 yds away but instantly struck me as being small, as I focused my bins I could see why, it was a cub.

I was parked close to the shore so thought if it came towards me, it should pass close to the van. I couldn't believe my luck, it made its way along the shore- heading straight for me. A very brief glance at my watch reminded me I had less than ten minutes! Thankfully, as always the camera was ready for action.

I began taking a sequence of pictures as it bounded toward my parked van, closer and closer.... The cub then came through the fence, continually sniffing the ground as it went, right bellow my drivers side window! It then ended up so close, that I stopped shooting as I knew it would hear the shutter go off, I watched in awe as it actually lifted its head up toward the open window, nearly going onto its hind legs before slipping underneath the van and where I sat, off out the other side!

One of those opportunistic and exhilarating encounters, the right place the right time! I did not have time to watch and see if the cub 'mothered up' but Id be pretty sure she was not too far away and that it was just on a little adventure of its own.

15th February

Traveled a little further today to visit a mother with two cubs, it was certainly worth the effort! After having covered quite a bit of this very isolated coastline I was beginning to think that i must have missed the family i hoped to find here, along the way I had seen one otter, all be it briefly swimming around a distant headland, which i was fairly sure was not the mother I was looking for.here
With the weather fare and with one last little favourite haunt of hers still to check , I carried on. As I approached, fresh spraints around the 'lie up' on the bank could be barely an hour or so old, at most. Had I gone passed them or were they ahead of me I wondered, as I sprawled out onto the grass crawling forward to view the shore that I have watched them on so many times before.
I peer over the bank, laying tight into the base of an old pile of stones; the unmistakable site of otter bodies toiling together on the bladder wrack sea weed- Yes, they are here! The onshore wind takes my scent far away from them, I settle in with my camera and lens peeking through out of the dead grass. From here I am only about 20 meters away from them, countless times i have enjoyed encounters such as this with otters but every time my hear pounds like its the first!
I watch and photograph them for some time, romping around, the cubs continually harassing one and other and mother too. I am rather distressed to see that the mother, who has been in this range for at least two years now, has some fierce wounds, mainly on her rump which she must have sustained in a battle over territory. Thankfully she looks healthy otherwise as I watch her feed off shore with the cubs for a while before eventually after coming ashore again sprainting and then grooming, they settle in and drift off into a much needed snooze. I sneak away, as quietly as I approached.

6th February

Went back to the new site today; literally within minutes of arriving I caught site of the mother with her two young cubs. There is a few hundred yards of tall peaty banks above the shore between me and the play full family, just on the waters edge on small pebbled beach. I slide down the bank so my silhouette no longer breaking the sky line to them, now with the bank behind me, with my camouflage I am pretty much invisible to the.
Extremely cautiously I move along the shore a short distance, before setting up my telescope to watch from a distance. Knowing the lay of the land here I know that after the bank slopes down to the flat of the beach, only a couple of hundred yards ahead, I would have no bank to hide bellow and she would be sure to detect the imposing human outline; I sit tight, able to view and enjoy the family, blissfully unaware of my presence.
I can see now that the mother has obviously taken them ashore a treat, a very large one; a lump sucker, which is almost a 3rd of the size of these young cubs. This is much larger than the prey a mother will usually bring back to shore for cubs, especially of this age, never the less it appears that it is being heartily enjoyed.
The larger of the two, I assume to be a dog, seems to be wearing the trousers here, as it seems to be doing all the eating, the other is more intent on playing with mother! After a while they take to the water, keeping very close together, the cubs almost continually calling as if they hate being in the water at all! I find it so endearing to watch their fluffy and very buoyant bodies on the waters surface. Iwatch them for a further half an hour as they follow mother in and out the water but I never see them dive, perhaps they are still learning.

February 5th

Spent most of the day at one of my favourite sites today and saw the many of the usual otters I would expect to as well as one i had not seen for over a year, when I saw her for the first time, (almost on the exact same date). It could be that her normal range extends only to the furthest extremes of the range of coast there which i cover, which is where i saw her today, so i guess is most probably the case given the length and shape of coastline.

She was with a dog, not fully grown but probably over a year old. They seemed to be enjoying a good old tumble in the sea, which lasted a good few minutes before she seemed to have had enough and saw off his attentions, what ever they had been. He was unfamiliar to me also which led me to think that this was probably her own son from the previous year and all it had been was a brief reunion. If so he may travel many miles when he sets out to find a territory of his own.

I made a mental note to cover more of this coastline than I do.

It frustrates and excites me knowing that outside this particular stretch of coast here which I visit fairly regularly, there are other residents making up totally separate social structures. This is something that I and Im sure other otter lovers just have to accept as I know for me I would rather be familiar with more otters at fewer sites than the other way round.

On my way back, nearing dusk I see two otters up on the grassy bank in the distance, they look to be both adults engaged in some sort of a stand off. I crouch bellow the bank and set up my scope. One of them was back on so I couldn't make out any ID features, but the one that is facing me is a dog I recognise. They are a long way ahead of me but I can hear the 'yickering' chatters leading me to think its a bitch. He is crouched with his front end nearing the ground, almost submissively then he decides enough is enough and backs off. Rather disgruntled he climbs down off the bank and down into the watter and in the direction she was heading carries on her way in the opposite direction. Perhaps she is almost in season I wonder to my self as I head for home.