Otters on the Otter

I have been birding the River Otter for the last six years now since moving to Budleigh Salterton and despite spending a lot of time there, I had never actually seen an Otter on the river. Ironic really considering I have seen both Beaver and Mink on a number of occasions!

Anyway, finally on the 7th May Helen and I had our first sighting but it was very brief and almost dark. Yesterday evening though, I had a great encounter with two young Otter cubs playing in the river just below me and then running up and down the river bank in good light at around 20.50hrs. No camera of course, but sometimes it is good just to get back to good old fashioned wildlife watching with just your optics and no gadgets! Brilliant.