Breaking the ice

It was a bright and chilly morning at Leighton Moss. I went hoping to see the great grey shrike that has been in roughly the same area since November. It eluded me and lots of other people who were optimistically scanning the tops of trees and shrubs. So my 2019 year list is still short of that one, and I won't make 100 species before the end of January.

Consolation, however, was going into Lower Hide, and when all the occupants had left, this otter appeared in the middle distance. It was popping up through the thin ice that covered much of the water, diving and then popping up again 4 or 5 metres to the right. And so it went on until it reached the open water where the main blip was taken. See the extra, for him popping through the ice, his front paws just visible on the surface. I say him - and she might well be a her, but it is quite a large animal, therefore more likely to be a dog otter. There seemed to be no particular reason for the ice breaking apart from, perhaps, the sheer joy of doing it.

A very fine day not to be at work.