Welcome To The Kingfisher Wildlife Diaries – John Bailey
September 3rd 2009
Hunting Tarka
Obviously, any anglers reading this entry won't be overly pleased. Otters and anglers have the same target: fish. The difference is that anglers catch their fish and return them lovingly. Otters hardly do that. Another problem with otters, as far as anglers are concerned is that these adorable creatures also often kill for fun. If they all just took what they strictly needed and left the rest of the finny tribe alone, everybody would be a lot happier with them. Still, that's the nature of the beast and we're hardly ever going to change it.
For the nature lover, it's probably true to say that there has never been a better chance to see otters in the wild environment than today. To say the Wensum valley is a hive of otters is not quite true. You still have to know where to go to see these creatures on a regular basis. It's not enough just to turn up and expect them to come along like cows or sheep.
First of all, you look for the signs. Dead fish, obviously. Spraints. (That is, their droppings.) Otter runs. Slides. Begin to see all these signs and you're in with a chance of spotting an otter itself.
Choose a good vantage point. Take binoculars. Use your ears, too. You will often hear otters calling each other.
The autumn and the winter are good times for watching otters. Bankside foliage is dying back and this obviously makes the creatures that much more visible.
At Kingfishers, we are considering running one or two otter weekends in the coming months. Prime time will be October and November. The idea will be to spend time walking the river looking for the signs that otters leave and then staking out, watching in earnest for the creatures themselves. Even if we don't manage an otter sighting itself, the time spent on the waterside should be riveting and hugely informative. Remember that there are otters now in every English county and on virtually every river system. You can, therefore, take away the knowledge gleaned at a Kingfisher weekend and apply it to your own locality.
Watch this space for further details on our Tarka Tours!