Otter Watching

Along my travels, I often meet photographers who go otter watching.

Accompanying them is a different matter.  People like to keep their otters to themselves.

So, today I managed to blag a ride!

And, guess what?  We saw an otter!

I have always wanted to photograph one ever since I bought this camera and managed to miss an all-singing-and-dancing otter close to home because I didn’t know how the camera worked.  Much to my frustration, I had some lovely photos of waves and a dark blur.

But now I know better – since then, I have read the manual!

Anywho, today I knew it was an otter because it wasn’t a seal!

I was taken on a lovely walk in the Shetland Autumn sunshine along the coast, looking for these elusive creatures.

Everyone in the whole world sees otters in Shetland and busily enjoys telling me how they trip up over them on a regular basis.

Everyone but me.

Like celebrities at Wimbledon, I can walk past and miss the lot!

So we were all sitting down, having a chat, putting the world to rights when I saw another!

It appeared out of nowhere and the movement was different from a seal.  I am very used to seals.

It had a fish and was sitting on a rock a little way out to see.

Best of all, it hadn’t seen us.

After eating, the otter swam around and then into shore.

Then it dived and came up on the shoreline, spotted us and quickly disappeared.

Who cares!  I have finally seen and photographed an otter.

For me, this is a huge achievement.

So, now I know how to spot the, where to look and where to go back.

One day.

A huge thank you to my friends. You have no idea how much this afternoon meant to me.

7 thoughts on “Otter Watching

  1. Terri

    Have you ever read “Ring of Bright Water” by Gavin Maxwell? It’s based on true story of an otter off the western coast of Scotland. (The book is better than the movie.)

    Reply
    1. Shelley

      Yes! That’s the name of it. I was thinking it was called Brighty. I saw the movie but now I’ll read the book.

      Reply
  2. Sandra coffman

    I love otters, 2 winters ago I was taking pictures of Camilla flowers up near a swamp when I glanced down and one was sitting at my feet. She followed me around for almost a half hour. She also would not stop smelling my leg.(have a dog) had to keep pushing her away with my camera. Believe she had exscaped from the small zoo there.
    Now that you have seen one you should see more.
    Sandy

    Reply
  3. diane in northern wisconsin

    I love your otter pictures, Frances. We were just at a zoo yesterday watching otters swimming…they were such fun to watch. So glad you found otters and were able to photograph them. How neat! Thanks for sharing an otter in the wild!

    Reply

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