The Luck of the Wildlife Watcher

I am sure that most people who have watched wildlife documentaries on television, or turn the pages of a magazine or book, have wondered at the dedication of the wildlife photographers and film-makers that produced these programmes or images. I know that I certainly did. Even as a child, I would dream of being out on the Serengeti taking pictures of Lions or Elephants in fact all manner of wildlife.

However I have to content myself with the wildlife in my local area, while I can dream of living in the African Savannah or Alaska, the reality is that I live in the north-east of England. While that means I do not see rhinoceros or wildebeest wandering along the the top of my road, not unless I have been partaking in to many bottles of Loopy juice. I do though have some wonderful wildlife around me. Most of this wildlife is, of course much smaller than the mega fauna found him much of the world.

No matter where I was in the world though, much of the craft of any Wildlife photographer or film-maker is essentially the same. The act of sitting around, often uncomfortably, and waiting to see if the wildlife turns up.

While I could have littered this journal with entries that recorded many hours of waiting around for wildlife and never shows, that would be quite boring for for anyone foolish enough to want to read this. In previous postings, I have tried to demonstrate that often my attempts to watch wildlife can be just as fruitless as everybody else's. Additionally, as I wanted to use this on line journal as a way of encouraging other people to go out and search for and watch wildlife, I thought that by sharing my successes were being far more interesting than constantly posting entries where I saw very little.

I had been realistic in my postings though, to give you a flavour of the trials and tribulations of sitting around, or standing around, even laying about trying to get even a small glimpse of a target species. This winter has been no exception, and part of any wildlife watchers role, is to get rained on the, snowed on, do impressions of icicles, even of a snowman.

In my pursuit of one particular animal though, I feel I have gone above and beyond the call of duty. I have, for want of a better phrase, contracted Trench Bottom from sitting around on cold wet ground in my pursuit of the rather elusive for otter.

As during the the spring and summer the otters tend to fade into a background as you must become more active in the countryside. I was not expecting to have any encounters until later in the year. However with the migration well under way now I headed off to a location where I stood a good chance of seeing some of the returning water fowl and waders. While a little off the beaten track, and requiring effort on my part to get there, this location has the benefit of a purpose-built Hide. As well as making the wildlife watching more comfortable, it also enables me to get closer, than would be the case if I were just wandering around in the countryside.

No matter how dedicated any wildlife watcher is, the one thing you cannot plan for is sheer luck.

Today I was lucky the picture says more than any words could say.