Rarer Sightings Of Otters And Polecats

[MargeandParge]

10 hours ago, Andrewcook said:

Griff does a very good Rabbit Stew may I add

Pity he doesn't like Indian as a Tarka Masala might hit the spot 

Kindest Regards Marge and Parge 

[Gracie]

Perhaps Griff is a secret Otter Spotter at Potter, he's okay as long as the otters are in the water and not on the grass  

He's never gonna live that one down is he 

Grace x

[Wonderwall]

8 hours ago, Mouldy said:

Funny you should mention that.  When we returned to our marina on Bank Holiday Monday, I was giving the boat a quick clean and someone I hadn’t seen there before wandered round, looking in the rivers.  It turned out that he has a boat moored there that he uses for fishing and also runs a fishing lake.  He said that fish stocks on The Broads are better this year than they have been for a long time.  I asked him about potential damage done by otters and he explained that otter numbers are levelling out, as they are returning to their natural way of life as territorial creatures and not how they were when reintroduced to The Broads, where they had been bred in captivity and had temporarily become pack animals.

I must say that I haven’t seen any otters this year on our Broadland travels.  I’ve seen more seals on the rivers than otters this year.

If anyone is interested, there have been some fair sized mullet swimming around in Hobrough’s Dyke recently.

Nature has a great knack of working itself out. It tends to be man’s interference which messes it up. 
The highlands of Scotland has lost much of its wildlife because the deer have eaten all the trees and shrubs. The deer in the past would have been controlled by wolves. But of course, we had to get rid of the wolf, because of the threat to our farm animals. So thanks to humans, the deer population is huge, and the deers only real threat , is humans with a gun 😳.

[Mouldy]

14 minutes ago, Wonderwall said:

Nature has a great knack of working itself out. It tends to be man’s interference which messes it up. 
The highlands of Scotland has lost much of its wildlife because the deer have eaten all the trees and shrubs. The deer in the past would have been controlled by wolves. But of course, we had to get rid of the wolf, because of the threat to our farm animals. So thanks to humans, the deer population is huge, and the deers only real threat , is humans with a gun 😳.

Couldn’t agree more.  Otters were present on The Broads but were wiped out by pollution.  Now the rivers are cleaner (not necessarily clean) they can survive and thrive.  A natural balance will be achieved in time.  Unfortunately, the human race is the cause of so many issues in the world where our interference adversely affects the natural balance.

As far as the numbers of coots and moorhens is concerned, I do wonder if many of them have moved onto the drainage ditches that run alongside many of the rivers that can be seen more clearly on Google Maps.  There would be no damage to nests and less disturbance caused by speeding boats there.  Just thought.

[maynard]

On 03/09/2024 at 11:49, Andrewcook said:

Has any forum member seen an Otter or Polecat around the Norfolk Broads?

I lived a short way from Landamore's yard in Hoveton until a couple of years back and my neighbour beckoned me over as I set off to Roys to see an otter munching on a wood pigeon that had been hit by a car. Broad daylight and fully aware that we were watching.

[Smoggy]

On 04/09/2024 at 15:26, Gracie said:

Otter Spotter at Potter,

She's a poet and don't knowit.

[YnysMon]

On 04/09/2024 at 16:55, Mouldy said:

Couldn’t agree more.  Otters were present on The Broads but were wiped out by pollution.  Now the rivers are cleaner (not necessarily clean) they can survive and thrive.  A natural balance will be achieved in time.  Unfortunately, the human race is the cause of so many issues in the world where our interference adversely affects the natural balance.

As far as the numbers of coots and moorhens is concerned, I do wonder if many of them have moved onto the drainage ditches that run alongside many of the rivers that can be seen more clearly on Google Maps.  There would be no damage to nests and less disturbance caused by speeding boats there.  Just thought.

The only moorhen we spotted earlier this year was in a drainage ditch next to the ‘off-road path’ from Acle Bridge to Acle. Incidentally, you can’t even see the ditch now as the reeds have grown so much. 

[kpnut]

I often see moorhens out on my walks in little dykes and the like, not so often coots. I wonder if coots prefer more open water. 

The massive numbers of waterfowl killed in the past when wildfowling was much more prevalent (I’m talking many many thousands) will also have altered the natural balance. I don’t think the same amount of wildlife as maybe the 60s or so will ever be seen again on the Broads.

[bucket]

1 hour ago, YnysMon said:

The only moorhen we spotted earlier this year was in a drainage ditch next to the ‘off-road path’ from Acle Bridge to Acle. Incidentally, you can’t even see the ditch now as the reeds have grown so much. 

I remember the impact of bird flu last year, many birds were lost on the broads and throughout the country. It will take a few years for numbers to get back to owt like normal.

[Norfolkangler]

Strangely enough, I have heard (you don't often see them)  many more water rails over the last couple of years. Now there's an eerie call when your out at dusk with the dogs on your own.