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I was keen to be on site before dawn so we could get the full dawn chorus and maximise our chances of a wild encounter.
Having arrived in the greys of the morning twighlight I led the way off the track till we found a suitable spot for a zone in. On the way in we found a very promising large otter track just to the side of a main track through the woods. After close inspection under green light there was no mistaking the five toes and a hint of webbing between them that confirmed that an otter had passed by in the last 24 hours.
Staying stealthy we slipped off the path and into the valley alongside the stream, finding a comfy spot we settled in and sat motionless allowing the morning to come and the wildlife to get used to our presence. after 20 or 30 minutes (I always lose track when I'm on a zone in.) we silently rose to track along the river towards where the camera trap had been left.
It more suitable to say that the camera found me than me finding the camera, as it was triggered when I was drawn to an obvious trail that led down to the stream. and although there was sign in the track there was no pictures to show who exactly had been there. I suspected the camera had been set a little too high.
We chose to take the camera and carry on upstream to re-set it at a location I had been to before and found fish scales and skin. Once it was set we continued into the wind becoming somewhat disheartened by the lack of any fresh sign. even the scat which had been there a week or so earlier had washed away. by now it was getting on for 07:30 and we were starting to lose hope of a sighting when for a brief second we saw a bounding creature just by the stream. No one wanted to commit to saying that we saw an otter, but I know of no other bounding creature bigger than a cat that runs along streams in North Devon.
As it was that was the only sighting we saw that day, and yet it was still a memorable mornings tracking. I just look forward to the next time.
On returni gto the trap a few days later I did find an interesting picture which I daren't even hazard a guess at. can you see the difference between the pictures ?
