Otter and Woodpecker

As Saturday was the anniversary of my better halves birth, I found myself on an early evening bus going in to Newcastle. As I was all polished up and ready for polite company, I had none of the items I often carry. No camera, no binoculars, so when the bus passes close to the Derwent, I could not be sure if the shape I saw in the river was an Otter.

There are times when wishful thinking could overtake the reality of what was actually there. With this still on my mind, when the bus passed the point where the Derwent empties into the Tyne, I saw another shape on the mud. I will often assume that my eyes are playing tricks. Therefore, I tried to see if it was a cormorant rather than another otter. But watching carefully as the bus moved past the point, I could see clearly that it was an Otter and she was feeding on a fish. As she moved I was able to see her clearly and to determine the sex.

So while I may have seen two, I made one positive sighting of an Otter. I wished that my better half had been with me to share the sighting.

The following day we were able to go out for a walk in the woods. I was able to point out a location where I have seen a barn owl regularly and I was able to show her a couple of nests, from last year, but likely to be used again this year. As we walked further I was able to show her signs of woodpeckers. Then as I was showing her another tree that had another nest hole in it, I spotted a Greater Spotted Woodpecker. She failed to see it though. But as the hole looked really new and there was a bird close by, it is possible that the bird was preparing the nest. It will be worth keeping an eye on the place.

I was also able to show her signs of voles in the fields beyond the wood, as we walked back home.

While I realise that better half does not have quite the same passion that I do, it is nice that she will tolerate my strange behaviour when out in the countryside.

One last matter, I never reveal a woman's age.