River Otter

One late afternoon walking along the River Blyth I could see some ripples along the river edge probably a couple of Mallard I thought but no the head of an Otter popped up briefly catching me by surprise, whipped the camera but the light fading fast I should have practised with the settings for just such a case , I rattled a few shots off but the poor light made it hard to focus ,so I just watched it as it searched along the bank coming within a few feet at one point but I could only see it 's back , it made my day the first time Iv'e seen one in a river setting apart from the glimpse of one in the harbour while kayaking.

 A walk for the sake of it in an area west of Morpeth turned up a couple of Marsh Tit , and in the same tree 2 Nuthatch which seemed determined to have the tree to themselves , a large flock of Fielfare was encountered a few times as we walked in a large circle, Tawny Owl called from a copse, with 3 Buzzards in the air, Bullfinch, Jay also encountered

 Distant Buzzard taken with the SX50 which was just able to make out with the bins

Someone has placed this barrel presumably for Barn Owls it was well off in the distance so unable to get any nearer

A run up the coast which ended back at  Cresswell  in the hope of the Barn Owl  which duly turned up it usually starts off on the east side near the small pond it was still reasonably bright but the setting sun put the area in shade so again I just took a couple of shots with my sx50 a watched as it cruised over the field . The Pond had 34 Whoopers that dropped in and several Snipe in front of the hide and the small pool had lots of Wigeon and Teal including a hybrid  Wigeon of some sort I thought it was an American/Eurasion Wigeon it realy stood out amongst the flock

 Hybrid Wigeon

 Not sure if this Cormorant caught this flatfish in the pool but it also seems unlikely that it flew in with it , in which case it shows the power of a tidal surge

 Whoopers drop in announcing their arrival with loud honking

 Barn Owl settles along the south edge of the reserve you never tire of seeing them

And again settles along the fence line of the road  good to see another one has survived perhaps the worst of the Winter