Hi all from Emily
So our Springwatch 'ottercam' is in place and we're all keeping our fingers crossed that the elusive otter gets spotted soon! Over to BBC Look North reporter Mary Askew for the latest . . .
Day two of Saltholme's 'ottercam' and this morning we were bursting to see if the camera trap had recorded anything overnight.
Theoretically we were just testing the kit, but at the back of our minds we couldn't stop hoping that we had hit the jackpot. First however, I needed to do a live chat with BBC Tees' Diane Youdale. During the interview I realised I was calling the Saltholme otter "our otter" - maybe I'm getting a little too involved!
It took cameraman Jonny Coates and I just ten minutes to get from the offices of BBC Tees, in the centre of Middlesbrough, to the Saltholme visitor centre, which shows just how close this otter is getting to a massive conurbation. Kenny Crooks of Tees Valley Wildlife Trust was waiting for us in reception. Kenny is acting as our otter expert, and was there to check we had set up the camera trap correctly. Fortunately, he was really positive about its position and the little stone island - or perch - we had built yesterday in front of the lens. Much to our delight, the camera's display showed it had tripped into action ten times since we had left it 18 hours earlier.
Something had been there, but what? The sardine bait we had left was untouched. We downloaded the
camera's memory card on to a laptop in the back of Jonny's car, but my excitement faded as we played each of the ten 90-second films. Each short burst of film showed nothing. In fact, it was really hard to see just what had triggered the camera.
Our only clue was that all the shots had been taken in a relatively short period between nine and ten o'clock this morning. After much discussion it was decided that during that time the sun had been shining directly on to the stone perch. This had attracted a number of insects (including a beautiful dragonfly), and it was these that had triggered the camera.
Kenny tried to cheer us up, "I wouldn't expect you to get anything yet - the otter is probably only swimming past here once every three or four days. You are going to have to be patient," he said. For good measure Kenny put an otter spraint next to the sardines. He had collected the dropping many miles away, and the theory is that the Saltholme otter will want to investigate a stranger's scent. Here's hoping.
Will we have better luck tomorrow morning? We will download any film from the camera straight onto www.bbc.co.uk/tees for you to find out.