WHERE HAVE THE OTTERS & KINGFISHERS GONE;
TRIAL CAMERAS, BBC RADIO SCOTLAND & THIS MONTH’S VIDEO
Where Have The Otters Disappeared To?
After a bumper month of otter sightings during the day, on the Water of Leith in January, the otters appeared to disappear, in February! So where have they gone?
Well, I’m pleased to say that they’ve not gone anywhere! What happened is that after the ice melt, towards the end of January, the river levels rose by about 25%. This created huge volumes of water cascading downstream, forcing the otters to change their eating habits.…or at least the timings of their eating habits.
Cubs are always very vulnerable in high water levels. So I suspect mum decided to lay up for quite a while, until the worst of the high waters calmed down a bit. As this didn’t happen anytime soon, she may have waited until nightfall, before heading out with the cubs to feed again. This may have led to a more nocturnal feeding pattern which has lasted for the whole of February.
For the first 3 weeks in January, all my trail cameras were picking them up in daylight. However, almost immediately after the ice melt, every video clip of the otters, from the trail cameras, was at night. This is just my theory and there maybe another reason for the sudden change but it just hasn’t presented itself yet.
Water levels are now back to normal and I anticipate that we’ll start seeing the otters again at dawn & dusk, as the days get longer!
Not Many Kingfishers About Either….Why?
Once more the high water levels in February have kept the kingfishers away.
Kingfishers can’t swim so they tend to hunt for fish in still or slow moving waters. When the water levels rise on the Water of Leith, even by 20%, the river is anything but ‘still or slow moving’. When this happens, kingfishers head to ponds at the Botanics, Blackford, Inverleith, Figgate Park & anywhere else they can find food until the river waters recede.
As I said above, water levels are back to normal, so hopefully we will see the return of the kingfishers, just in time for breeding season.
Preparing for Springtime – a new approach this year
There’s been much activity on the Water of Leith in the last couple of weeks. I’ve watched all sort of creatures pairing up and preparing for spring and the breeding season.
My approach has been different this year in terms of the trail camera work that I do. I’ve spent the last two weeks planning out trail camera positions for the next 2-3 months. The plan is to get video footage, without disturbing any creatures, at this very sensitive time. Part of this exercise has been changing the trail cameras that I’ve used for the last 2-3 years and replacing them with solar WIFI cameras.
These solar WIFI cameras allow me to place a camera, before the breeding season starts and leave it there until the season finishes. The solar part of the camera simply means that I don’t have to access it to change batteries. So far the solar panel function seems to last over 6 months without needing recharged. The WIFI aspect also means I don’t have to wade across the water to change SD cards every 6-7 days. I can link in via my phone and bluetooth, to setup a WIFI connection and access what video clips I want to keep and download. I still need to be within 30-40 yards, to setup the bluetooth & WIFI connections.
This is really good news, as it keeps any disturbance to a minimum. An added bonus is that in the past, I would have visited a trail camera spot every week, to change SD cards. Needless to say, I would have left a scent, in the area and on the camera. This is all changed and I may only have to visit the area once in every three to six months, depending on what I’m filming.
BBC RADIO SCOTLAND – ‘Scotland Outdoors’ – 26 Feb 2025
I kindly got asked to appear on the BBC Radio Scotland ‘Out of Doors’ show and their podcast ‘Scotland Outdoors’.
The latter was aired on Wed 26 Feb and the ‘Out of Doors’ show will be aired on BBC Radio Scotland on 1 March 2025.
Here are links to the Scotland Outdoors show from Wed 26 Feb, where I chat with Rachel Stewart about some
of the wildlife that can be seen along the Water of Leith.
BBC website ➡️ https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0ktnwqh
Apple Podcasts ➡️ CLICK HERE to open in Apple Podcasts
Spotify ➡️ CLICK HERE to open in Spotify
…AND FINALLY
This month I’ve decided to put up this month’s video instead of a handful of photos in the gallery section below. The video includes some of the new trail camera spots that I’ve been trying out, throughout February.
Click on the Badger Image below to start the video – ENJOY!
