A couple of weeks have passed since my previous post, largely because there has been very little to report. Temporary power failure afflicted my camera trap; a spell of wet weather precluded a filming trip; and a heavy cold made anything more than switching TV channels difficult. So, instead, I decided to review some of the photographs that I have taken in the past few months.
I came across this image that I took back in February. Having originally dismissed it as an indecipherable jumble, two footprints suddenly stood out to me, with the distinctive comma-shaped, some would say tear-shaped, toes of an otter print. The lack of a clear impression of a fifth toe was a slight concern. However, a short email correspondence with the Thames Valley Environmental Records Centre confirmed that I was correct.
These signs were spotted only a few yards from the stretch of river on which I recently captured images of a female otter and two cubs - but fully four months earlier. The size of the prints, approximately three or four centimetres across would point to them being made by one of the cubs. The TVERC also confirmed that mine were only two of three recent records on this particular stretch of river.
It almost makes me want to hasten the onset of winter, so that I can carry out a full survey of the river.
