Clever Otter

I should have known it would not be a good day when howling wind and lashes of rain greeted me on the golf course this morning. I was just so sure that the Ouseburn Otter would be captured on film, that I could finally put this mission to rest and find some other urban mammals to inconvenience with my cameras. How wrong was I? Pretty wrong. Pre-etty wrong. Things were looking good when I crawled into the tiny space under the bridge. For one, the camera was still there but (and this is exciting) there was also a mountain of fresh spraint - a sure sign that I'd got the little critter on film. So I rushed back to the Trust, chanting "GOTCHA!" all the while and looking like a right loony to the other drivers. This is all I got. Now I know I've never seen the Ouseburn Otter fully and clearly on film but I think it's safe to say that this aint him!

Yep, just the badger and the fox that I already knew was on there. And to top it all off, the time and date on the camera has a mind of its own - I promise that this isn't from 2008 (when I had absolutely no idea of the torment the Ouseburn Otter would cause). But my real mistake? A simple schoolboy error that Iwill be kicking myself for many weeks (well, lets be realistic - months, maybe years) to come - I let the batteries run out and the Ouseburn Otter ran in, undetected. Again. Clever, clever otter. Silly, silly me.

Practice those wildlife photography skills people!

Here in the North East we have some amazing wildlife that is literally right on our doorstep! Seeing as I am waiting for a lot of you to upload your own great photos and videos of said wildlife (www.urbanwildlife.co.uk for links) I thought that I would give you all some inspiration. I found this really great article in Fox UK (thefoxwebsite.org) which gives some handy tips for photographing foxes - hope you enjoy it and try these tips out!!

Wildlife photographer MARK HAMBLIN explains how to take great photos of your local foxes.

"Foxes are often very visible in our gardens and parks and provide new and exciting opportunities for photography. Contact with humans has made some foxes increasingly tolerant of people, and they can become surprisingly tame – all great news for photographers. To get you started, here are my top tips to help capture that magical moment.

1. Concentrate your photography early and late in the day, when foxes are most active.
2. Look for well-worn ‘fox paths’ or an active earth in spring, where you can set up a camera nearby and wait.
3. Keep your distance to avoid disturbance. Try photographing the fox as part of its environment or use a telephoto lens for close-ups.
4. Position yourself downwind to avoid detection and wear camouflaged or dark clothing.
5. Wear gloves, even in summer, as foxes may well spot the movement of your hands.
6. Pay careful attention to the background and either place the fox in context or shoot against a plain backdrop to make it stand out.
7. Try to use backlighting (photographing towards the sun) to highlight the fox’s ears and create an attractive pictorial effect.
8. Keep a low profile and shoot at eye level for more intimate portraits.
9. Be patient and remain still, avoiding any sudden movements.
10 . Photograph using natural light. A sudden blast of flash will often cause alarm.

This wonderful footage of fox cubs playing in Newcastle was taken by Bob Wilkin - thanks Bob!

Fish Island

In the latest quest to get the Ouseburn Otter to 'perform' in front of the cameras, Bob has built himself a fish island. That is, a mini island in the middle of the Ouseburn river to which Bob has pegged a large and rather delicious piece of fish. The idea is that the Ouseburn Otter will pass this island on one of his jaunts down the river and not be able to resist the lure of a free and very large meal. As discussed before, this large and prominent structure in the middle of the river should also prove irresistible to him (the otter not Bob), thus causing him to pose and frolick on said island, right in front of the cameras. I doubt the Ouseburn has ever offered something this good!

So far (one night), all that Fish Island has been able to attract is rats. So, on the learning side of things, who knows the difference between a rat and a watervole? Well, a water vole has small hidden ears while the rat (as seen in the video) has big ears - pretty easy to spot really. Water voles also have blunt noses (as opposed to a rats pointy one) and a shorter, furry tail (i'm sure you've all seen a rat in a petshop which has a long, pink, scaly tail). Less obvious differences include a water vole's fur which is silky and midbrown (a wild rat's is more grey) and on jumping into the water, a watervole makes a distinctive 'plop' sound. Why is this important? Well, water voles have disappeared from almost 90 per cent of the sites they occupied in the UK in the last 60 years, a fact which we can all do something about. Although American mink can largely be blamed for this decline, so can human interference - water voles are commonly mistaken for rats (hence the ID lesson above) and are prosecuted because of this. We have also had a lot to do with the destruction of their habitat and pollution of waterways, not making it easy for those water voles clever enough to outsmart the mink to survive. Lesson over but please try to remember these differences and think before you carry out any kind of 'pest control' near waterways.

The rain has (once again) set in so I think I'm going to have to pull on the old waders and the waterproof coat (once again) and go and rescue my cameras (once again). I can't bear the thought of Bob falling over that prickly, prickly hedge and heading downstream all for the sake of my cameras!

PS I hope that with your (perhaps) newfound knowledge you spotted the picture above is of a watervole and NOT a rat!

Amazing wildlife is closer than you think ...

We have now been working on WildPlaces for just over 3 months and have filmed some amazing images of wildlife in the North East. I hope you have been checking out the footage that WildPlaces has captured so far on FaceBook , YouTube and Flickr - they are brilliant, if I say so myself!! Seriously though, I promise you will be surprised at the huge variety of wildlife that urban areas in the North East have to offer, from badgers crawling under fences to kingfishers diving for stickleback in the Ouseburn and otters stealing koi carp out of garden ponds - all on the cities doorstep! So far we have captured footage of badger, fox, otter, kingfisher, bats, hedgehog, heron, roe deer and rabbit. While all wild animals are rather shy and not always easy to film, I have had particular trouble catching notoriously elusive otters on film. Nevertheless, we are getting some great footage but can always do with your help. If you think that you can do better and have some great pictures or films of wildlife that you would like to share then please get in touch (http://www.urbanwildplaces.co.uk to find out more), we need to share the wonders of North East wildlife with everyone!

I have included a few clips of the footage so far and am looking forward to all your comments and fabulous photos!