Feb 12 Strumpshaw Fen

Brrr! A chilly and blustery morning at Strumpshaw today. Thankfully, the winds were nowhere near as bad as the storm that happened on Sunday. It was the cold that really made my morning a tad unbearable than the wind, it was absolutely freezing! There was only a few frosty patches and frozen puddles, though. The landscape wasn't a winter wonderland just yet. However, the landscape may not have changed much, but there was one thing that was different than usual. Percy was missing! My persistent pheasant that follows me around was nowhere to be found. He was not waiting for me at the feeders or ambushed me through the woodland trail. Where did he go?

Otter

I walked down to Fen Hide pheasant-free. I opened up the wooden window flaps. At first, I thought the scene in front of me was empty. But then, some splashing caught my eye and... OTTER!! For a couple of minutes, it splashed and dived around the pool as it busily homed in on its fishy prey. Eventually, it caught one, a rudd, I believe, and it took its freshly caught meal to the bank on the far shore and began to feast on it. I don't often get privileged views of otters on land like this, so it was an exciting moment. I sat and watched in silence as the otter munched away at the fish, providing me plenty of opportunity to get some decent photos of it. Once it had its fill, it swam towards Reception Hide and was gone...

That is until I returned to Reception Hide that is. Because it was now here, swimming around the broad like a fur-coated dolphin continuing its quest to fill its belly. For quite sometime, it was busy hunting before it swam down the far left channel. A couple of hours later, it returned a second time. This time, a marsh harrier with orange wing tags was swooping at it in a territorial dispute. But this was just a short second visit as it was soon making its exit down the far right channel. Other than the otter, it was pretty quiet with very little else to see. I expect the wind was forcing most of the other wildlife to take shelter. A sensible decision.