January 2023 Round Up
Moorhen at dawn, Gloucester & Sharpness Canal.
January can be a tough month for wildlife photography, as often its wet in the UK and the hours of daylight are short. However, Jan 2023 proved to be a cold and relatively dry month which meant once I got going (January 9th) I was able to spend plenty of time outside with the camera.
Many photographers in the UK seem to focus on Seals and Waterfowl in January, however Gloucestershire is not known for its Seal colonies and I was keen to stay relatively local (as I wanted to kick off our 2023 Otter project). So I chose to focus my efforts in January on trying to re-locate “Silver” the Otter on the Gloucester and Sharpness canal, through a combination of surveying the banks and waiting in a couple of her favoured spots. Unfortunately after spending 46 hours on the canal bank in the last 3 weeks of January, I am fairly confident in saying that “Silver” has either moved to pastures new, or more likely has died. Whilst its always a shame to lose contact with an animal you have studied for sometime, in the case of wild Otters most have relatively short lives and I had been watching her for 2 years, during which time she was always an adult, so it’s not that surprising if she is no longer around.
On a more cheery note, my time on the bank was well spent with 2 new Otters seen. Firstly a larger Dog Otter who I fist saw briefly on the afternoon of 9th (hunting) and again on the 13th (seen at 1030 with second smaller Otter travelling through the area and then hunting at around 12.30, this time alone). I didn’t see the dog otter again, however I had good views of the smaller Otter (Female?) on 18th (hunting at 0815 for 25 minutes before being spooked by a cyclist), 24th (hunting at 11.20, but only briefly as it swam within 5ft of me, caught my scent and then headed to the reeds opposite) and 31st (1430, traveling through the area). Like my observations of “Silver” I have only seen these 2 Otters catch Eel, although I don’t doubt they are eating many other species.
The smaller of the 2 Otters hunting on 24th January, undisclosed location, Gloucestershire
I should also note that I found very fresh Otter anal jelly, on the afternoon of the 28th, on the canal towpath. This is notable as the 28th was a Saturday and the weather was good with many dog walkers along this stretch of the canal. Historically what I have observed is along this stretch of the canal Otters restrict their movements to the hours of darkness, the rain or mid week (all of which are times when there are far fewer humans and particularly Dog walkers about). The freshness of this jelly would suggest it was left sometime late morning.
Otter anal jelly is now believed to be secreted stomach lining which protects the Otter from sharp fish bones, not as previously thought a particularly pungent spraint from the Otter’s anal glands.
Spending so much time sat on the bank did allow me time to stop and watch (and photograph) the Little Grebes and Shags which this year seem to be more abundant than ever. On several occasions I watched groups of 2 and 3 of both fishing for Perch. I also had the opportunity to watch Snipe, Grey Heron, Moorhen, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Pochard, Mute Swan, Raven, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Blue, Great and Long Tailed Tits, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, Pigeon, and Bullfinch. Notably on the 31st, alerted by 30 or so Snipe being thrown up from the reed beds, I saw a Male Marsh Harrier quartering (which I have never seen in this location before). Speaking to a local birder this is the 4th occasion it has been seen in January on this stretch of the canal. On the same day, I also saw the Kingfisher, which had been absent on the previous 8 visits, which is very unusual for this location……….in fact last Summer they were here all the time!
Commercial shot of the month for me is probably this Mute Swan……….simple and elegant!
…and my preferred shot of the month is this Moorhen, gingerly walking on the ice. It was -5 at the time and I had been sat there for 2 hours, so I was very cold! I love simplicity of the dark bird, the ice and the blurred reed bed in the background.
The other big project for the month was to get the new website up and running (which you are reading now!) There will be lots of updates over the next few weeks and soon I will add a vlog section and a shop where you will be able to buy prints, cards, calendars and other goodies. If you have any suggestions of what you would like to see let me know. I have also started work on a series of footprint drawings to help Photographers identify different species. These will be added to over the next few months to form a kind of field guide for Photographers (more details on this to come).
For us, 2023 is all about building our portfolio of images and film, continuing to renovate “Le Mas”, and building our commercial hides in France. February will see us to continue to focus on getting good Otter images (both at this location and a second “Hot Spot” in Gloucestershire) as well as time filming lots of B-Roll. I also want to start checking in on our local Foxes a little more regularly, as females are likely to be pregnant by now and will be actively looking for a new earth in readiness for having this year’s cubs.
Until next month……..keep clicking!