Wildlife Watch: You Otter Take a Walk on the Wild Side
By Peter Ranscombe
WHEN Jean-Baptiste Direz went walking along the Water of Leith in Edinburgh, the last thing he expected to see was an otter in broad daylight.
The aquatic ecosystems management student and his classmates, who were on a field trip, watched the otter catching and eating fish. Mr Direz, 23, filmed the scene and his video was shown on the evening TV news.
He saw the otter near the Water of Leith visitor centre, in Slateford Road, at the end of September. It was identified as a young female and thrilled walkers along the river for a couple of weeks before moving on.
“The otters’ natural instinct is that they won’t over-fish an area,” explained Charlotte Neary, community and volunteers officer with the Water of Leith Conservation Trust. “Now it’s been spotted on other burns in the area, both upstream and downstream from the centre. We haven’t had a sighting for a while, About three weeks ago, we had a potential sighting of two otters together but it wasn’t confirmed.”
She added: “I think it’s quite good we haven’t been seeing it so much because, as an otter gets more mature and wises up a bit, especially in an urban environment, it may choose to come out more at night than the day.”
The animal’s presence is a sure sign of the improvement in water quality and the general health of the river. A team of around 120 volunteers from the trust visit around 50 times a year to remove litter and debris.
The Water of Leith is also cared for by a group called the honorary bailiffs, who trace their origins back to 1605.
“Over the years, we’ve raised the water quality to SEPA’s A1 level in some parts and A2 and B in others,” said John Adams, the honorary high bailliff. “That’s how we’ve been able to regenerate the river, encourage fish to breed and attract a lot of different wildlife.”
As well as caring for the river, the bailiffs issue free fishing permits, through the network of council offices, post offices and council shops. The council offers free fishing rights on the river, but only with the correct permit. Last year, about 1,200 permits were issued.
Bailiffs stock the river with genetically-modified brown trout, which are sexless so do not breed with indigenous fish. The return of wildlife to the river, as well as the fishing, puts pressure on stocks.
A host of creatures have been spotted along the river. “We’ve got mink on the Water of Leith,” added Mr Adams. “They are evil little creatures because they kill everything. They devastated our water vole population. Because the mink and otters compete for the fish, the otters should drive out the mink.”
* Look out for otters this weekend. For more details about The Scotsman Wildlife Watch, visit www.scotsman.com/wildlif
WHAT DO I DO?
Go out this weekend and make a record of the wildlife you see. Take photos and/or make notes and e-mail wildlife@scotsman.com or post to Wildlife Watch, The Scotsman, 108 Holyrood Road, Edinburgh, EH8 8AS.
WHAT NOTES SHOULD I TAKE? Note the name of the species; the date you saw it; where you saw it, and your name and contact details. These will be collected by The Scotsman and passed to the SWT and BRISC, which may use them in their work.
WHICH CREATURES SHOULD I LOOK FOR?
Look out for both red and grey squirrels. We also want to hear about any other species, including birds and mammals.
WHERE SHOULD I GO?
We are interested in all sightings from towns and cities, through to the countryside and coast.
The SWT and RSPB websites can be helpful: www.swt.org.uk www.rspb.org.uk
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