Otters!

With a fairly full house, being in Tier 4 didn't have a dramatic impact on our Christmas, which involved the usual mix of cooking, eating, drinking, eating a bit more, laughter and game playing. 

I managed to slip out for half an hour during the middle of the day to see how high the river levels were. The answer was very high indeed - probably higher than the levels of winter 2012/13 but not quite as high as the Easter 1998 floods. I was just approaching Ferry Bridge to get some close-up views of the river, when I saw two ladies pointing upstream.

I quickly spotted an otter hunting among the shallowly flooded grass at the edge of the river, which was soon joined by two others - and then a fourth appeared, a little way behind. The family hunted along the river margin for a few minutes, calling to each other with high-pitched squeaks of excitement. I hadn't taken a telephoto lens, but they eventually came close enough to get one or two decent shots. It certainly made my Christmas Day!