One of Minsmere's most enigmatic mammals has been stealing the show from our birds for the last few weeks.
Otters are usually thought to be shy, elusive creatures, but not at present. Mid winter is always the best time to see otters as water levels are lowered to allow reedbed management work to be done, but this year has seen an unprecidented number of sightings.
A family of three otters has been seen regularly at Island Mere, with the larger dog (male) otter also showing well at times. Sightings have been most reliable in the early morning, but you can see one at any time. I popped into Island Mere Hide briefly at lunch time one day last week and saw an otter swimming across the mere as I entered the hide. On some days, there have been multiple sightings, and the otters have even come out onto the bank right in front of the hide.
It's not just at Island Mere either. Otters have also been seen regularly at Bittern Hide and occasionally elsewhere in the reedbed.
One of our regular visitors, Ian Clarke, was lucky enough to take some pictures recently. Here's a selection of them. I'm sure you'll agree, these are otterly fabulous.
I was one of the lucky ones in Island Mere hide Tuesday 17 Jan when an otter ran across the whole width of the ice-covered mere! Unfortunately no photo.
Lucky you - it's often a good time to see the otters when the mere freezes - not that that's happened much this year. No photo, but I'm sure the sighting will be etched on the photo paper in your memory bank for many years.