Otter Heaven (Day 10 - A Mega Stalk!!!!!)

It was a slow start to Day 10 and my limbs were thankful for it! We didn't find our usual dog otter until about 8:00am. He was doing his usual wary, floating and watching the shore routine. He was fishing a lot though and gradually made his way along the loch shore. I followed close to the water's edge for over 2 hours before he came to shore in a suitable spot. The one single frame above was all I could manage, before he dropped into a seaweed-carpeted hollow in the rocks. There was no 'line of sight', so I just had to sit and wait. Bloody typical!

"I don't photograph every time an otter comes to shore as they are often blind-sided by rocks, or the light is just crap. I pick and choose my moments now."

After a quick power nap, the dog otter, left the shore and began fishing again. I spotted a few submerged rocks ahead, so made a bee-line for them. For once, this otter played ball and hauled himself up onto the rock. He chomped away on this large crab for a few mins before dropping off into the water.

He then made a surprising dash for the shore. I thought he had detected me, but he swam straight past. It was only when I looked around, that I saw two more otters swimming towards us. The two otters emerged from the water and ran up onto the seaweed carpet and dived into a hollow. The dog otter was not far behind. This was either going to be a fight or a reunion - I was praying for the later! I am happy to say it was.

Over the past three years, I have watched this dog otter and now he was a father to at least one cub. I felt like I was intruding on a precious and private family moment. I slithered on my belly over the rocks and finally positioned the camera and 600mm within a few metres. It was truly amazing to be so close as the family played and squealed together.
Ok, I only managed to capture a couple of frames as they were almost completely hidden, but I could see their heads and tales occasionally. I couldn't sit up as there was nothing to cover my silhouette, but I wasn't about to give-up and leave. The shot above shows the large dog otter on the right and the nearly full-grown cub on the left. The cub was really scared at first and the mother was snapping at the male to keep him back. Eventually they all settled down for a snooze and I seized the opportunity to change position.
I raised myself off the seaweed very slowly to study the lie of the land and saw just one avenue, one clear line of sight to the male. I slipped over a few rocks, further down towards the water's edge and set the camera. He was preening and scratching, pausing momentarily to listen out for danger. I kept low and laid the beanbag on a smaller rock than usual, to see if I could get a really diffused image. I love the eye contact here, although the diffusion maybe too much for some.He soon finished his preening and settled down to sleep, dropping out of sight altogether. I sniper-crawled a couple of metres back up the shore and found a potential viewpoint for the mother and cub - although it would only work if they raised their heads. I waited for ages, propped up on my elbows, but they were perfectly at peace and sleeping like babies! After 20mins, I felt the wind change direction and there was some movement from the otters. I think they had now caught my scent and I was very close. The mother fidgeted and looked up, straight at me, so I shot a couple of frames. She simply stared at me and then went back to sleep. This really is one of the best feelings, when you are so close, but the animals are either totally unaware or not threatened by your presence.

The otters slept for another 15mins and then began fishing along the shore (in the opposite direction to the male). I was exhausted and, feeling the strain on my calf muscle, felt I would probably injure myself if I had tried to keep up. A little after 2:00pm and over six hours otter photography, we decided to pull back and head for lunch. The otters had been absolute stars and I felt (at the time) that I had captured my best and most intimate otter portraits. All the best otter images have now been uploaded to the website. To view the otter gallery, click here.