Three out of three - otterly brilliant

THE LAST THREE times that I have been to the Somerset Levels I have managed to see an otter (probably the same individual) in broad daylight.  It does take a lot of patience, but the thrill makes up for the cold fingers and sore behind from sitting in a hide for hours.

Yesterday we went to the levels, which are heavily flooded at the moment, and hoped to find interesting birds as well as an otter.  We were lucky - the individual in question seems to frequent a particular lake and appeared after a long wait.

He (?) fished for about 20 minutes some way off, however with a scope and good bins we had great views.  It porpoised several times and seemed to catch quite a lot; at one point is hunted amongst some reeds and caught a large eel.  It took this to the bank and out of sight so this is the point at which we left.  Here are my record images, as proof:

It was a really grey, overcast day, but the flooding made for a dramatic landscape and with the thousands of lapwings wheeling round the sky, plus numerous winter thrushes, clouds of starlings, hunting marsh harrier and numerous other birds it turned out to be a great day.

Lapwings