One in a Million

Did I ever tell you about my amazing wildlife filming experience? One that didn't involve otters or falling into a smelly river? Well, I was lucky enough to go on a Wildlife Filming Course in Bristol last weekend and rub shoulders with the creme de la creme of those in the industry. I got to meet, work with and be tutored by the likes of John Waters, Sarah Pitt and Rob Harrington. For those of you not in the know (oh what an expert I have become!), these guys are good. Really really really good. For example, John's amazing camera work appears on David Attenborough's Planet Earth and the Life Of Birds while producer Sarah Pitt spent a year filming on the Prince of Wales' estate in Gloucestershire. But enough with the gushing. Lets get down to filming business!

Besides staying on a gorgeous 250 acre reserve and feasting on organic food at Folly Farm (owned by the Avon Wildlife Trust) I got to make a real-life wildlife film. Over two days we filmed thousands of starlings swarming on the Somerset Levels and the wildfowl on Chew Valley Lake. We then had the ominous task of editing our footage into a 3 minute film. Sounds easy. Trust me it wasn't. It took us 6 hours to edit about four hours of footage and even then, we could have done with a lot longer (and we had an expert with us!). And don't even get me started on the cameras. They were amazing. Amazingly expensive. Although I don't think WildPlaces will be blowing it's budget on one camera, it was really great to be able to use such a high tech, high definition camera (not that I don't love using the cameras that I already have). I had serious camera envy all weekend. Oh what a geek I'm turning into!

So folks, crank up the volume (it's a 'mood piece' with lovely classical music don't you know!) and enjoy my debut into the wildlife filmmaking world - One in a Million.

My film will appear here once I figure out (or more likely David figures out!) how to get it on here. The delay will be worth the wait though (maybe).

Heres the rough and tough Derwenthaugh otters (looking surprisingly cute - I love the paw tapping action) to whet your appetite.

Guess the Ouseburn Otter didn't get to them after all, or maybe they just missed the comfort of their floating pontoon too much to care. Either way, I got the footage, so I'm happy.

So yes, that weekend was great. I learnt all about the process of film making from conception to completion (the cliches are just rolling off my tongue here), I got to see the spectacle of starlings flocking and I got inspired to buy a tripod. A good weekend all in all.

A cohort of otters perhaps?

Is it possible to have an otter cohort? The Hell's Angels of the otter world united with the Ugly Mug (my new, and much deserved, name for Mr O)? The Derwenthaugh otters have been superb so far, climbing ladders, showing off their battle scars, really playing up for the cameras. Not anymore. On checking the cameras on Friday the only footage I had was of the cadets and a very lonely pontoon which made me feel quite seasick (the pontoon moving, not the cadets). Now, I know that this isn't the most thrilling footage you have ever seen but you must understand what I am up against (plus I thought the sky looked quite nice). Its slim pickings in the wildlife world at the moment, especially when the Ouseburn Otter has such far reaching clutches as this.

And it has started to rain. Something feels familiar here. No otters and lots of rain. At least I have already removed the cameras from the riverbanks so there will be no repeat of river falling-in and soggy waders. Hooray.

Lets now go somewhere where life is peaceful. The squirrel feeder. This is the kind of animal activity that I like. Put the cameras up and they will come (bribed by food of course). This footage was taken in Plessey Woods in Northumberland - one of the remaining strongholds of red squirrels. By the end of next week, I will hopefully have lots more red squirrel footage. Lets just hope that the otters haven't got to them too.

By the way, the minute the rain stops (hmmm, looks like that might be now) the cameras are going back on the riverbanks and the otter is getting cap - tured.

An ugly mug?

Turns out my big idea of photo and video didn't turn out quite as I hoped. So now I am sitting here, contemplating. On the meaning of the Ouseburn Otter. Time to resurrect the idea of the underwater camera? Time to admit to defeat and move onto more accommodating wildlife? I can't. I will not allow an otter to outsmart me. Even one as genetically enhanced as this one. What to do.

Wha - at to do.



Lets turn to the Derwent Haugh for a minute. Now there's a success story. Almost. I have got some great footage of these Tyne otters and my cameras have got some big love from them. But what about the gymnastic manoeuvres? The ladders are proving invaluable for slipping back into the water but how are they getting onto the pontoon in the first place? Probably the ladders (yes, yes I know) but wouldn't it be great if there was some torpedo otter action going on in the early hours of the morning? And I managed to film it? David Attenborough eat your heart out! Here's what I've got so far ....

Now these are the Hells Angels of the otter world. No meagre tributaries for these guys. They cruise the Tyne. The mother of the Newcastle rivers. The dividing line. They are big, mean fighting machines. Just look at those scars. The utter fearlessness. The sheer disdain. The Ouseburn Otter is a wimp. Not cunning. Not conniving. Not clever. Just plain scared. Or ugly. Why else would it be avoiding the cameras at all costs.

Well, I feel better already. Re-inspired. Lets get rolling and get that ugly mug on film.

One last trick up my sleeve

So I braved checking the cameras at last and (I bet you can guess whats coming), I found a lovely selection of otter bum. Time to bring out the big guns. I have a trick up my sleeve. Oh yes, I do. This trick is more commonly known (to the camera aficionado) as the Reconyx Rapid Fire High Output Covert Colour IR RC60HO. It doesn't miss a thing. Up until now, I have put off using this particular camera in my hunt for the otter as it takes only photographs and since I was desperate for video footage of the Ouseburn Otter, I didn't think it was worth putting it out. I also didn't think that getting said footage would be so darn difficult! I have become so beaten down by this otter, that I will now settle for a mere photograph! There will of course still be a video-taking camera rolling in the background as I'm not one to miss an opportunity and what better way to stick it to the Ouseburn Otter than to get a video AND a picture of him. I can't wait.

Thanks to those of you who have emailed in asking about the Ouseburn Otter and promising to keep an eye out for him - I guess braving the conker fall-out was worth it after all. I'm expecting big things.

In other camera news, I have been filming an acrobatic hedgehog in Fenham who has shown a lot more willing than the Ouseburn Otter. It is a bit of a bully (and a little dim it must be said) and seems to love the limelight (shoving those out of the way that dare to take his place) - the perfect candidate for a WildPlaces star in the making. I'm already looking forward to the Spring when DaveCam will be back up, hopefully catching the bully's offspring in action.

Along the Derwent Haugh, cameras are also lurking, poised to capture the antics of a few cheeky otters using a pontoon as their plaything. The pontoon is quite high up off the water (in otter terms that is) so I'm expecting some pretty spectacular otter gymnastics - who knew an otter could climb a ladder, or possibly shoot straight up and out of the water (like a seal, so I guess thats not entirely out of the question) or maybe they are using each other as a live otter ladder. Who knows. I can't wait to find out though.

Fingers crossed that this last trick up my sleeve will prove to be just what the otter ordered and I will have the naughty, naughty critter on film once and for all.

A Dangerous Game

Hunting the Ouseburn Otter has become a dangerous game. In an effort to catch the little critter once and for all, I have been out and about putting up Wanted posters along the Ouseburn River and in a few pubs in the Ouseburn Valley. I have realised that getting this little guy on film is not a one man (or woman) mission. It requires hundreds of vigilant eyes (those are your eyes), mobile phones at the ready (those are your phones), poised to catch him unawares as he dodges yet another of the cameras (unfortunately mine). Well he can't dodge all of the cameras, all of the time, especially if they are disguised in something as innocuous as a mobile phone. Oh I think we might just be closing in.

Anyway, you may be asking yourself why this hunt has become such a dangerous game all of a sudden. Surely braving a golf course and some pretty bad golfers, not to mention getting wet feet, is danger enough? For some. Yes. For me. Of course not. Nature has taken the side of the otter. What I thought would be a seemingly pleasant walk along the Ouseburn this afternoon soon turned into a scene not dissimilar to a war film. Imagine bullets raining down on you but instead of bullets, think conkers. Solid, rock hard conkers. On my head. Yes, I did come back with my arms and legs intact and no shrapnel in sight but I could have done with a great big combat-style helmet to protect me from those conkers 'falling' (oh so innocently) with a vengeance. The hunt for the Ouseburn Otter can be tough indeed. Oh and to add insult to injury, my esteemed colleague Kevin O'Hara (otter spotter extraordinaire) actually SAW the Ouseburn Otter at the end of last week (no camera to hand - surprise surprise. This otter knows its stuff). I'm almost too scared to check the footage. I don't think I will be able to handle another wily otter dodge this month!

The otters in the pictures are the more well behaved cousins of the Ouseburn Otter, currently residing at Gosforth Park and Big Waters respectively. This is what you are looking for (only more sneaky and less accommodating)!

Where has all the otter action gone?

While there is no otter action going on, I thought I would amuse you all with some pictures of the smallest space under the smallest bridge in the world. Now I realise that the space doesn't look all that small but trust me, it is. And can you see the dark cavernous bit stretching up into the distance? Thats the bit I have to get under. This first action of crawling under is child's play. See my shiny white trainers I have on? Not anymore. Minutes after I grabbed hold of the camera, it decided to take a tumble - plinth and all. That meant I too had to tumble - straight into my old nemesis the dirty Ouseburn river (just to clarify, the Ouseburn is not dirty as far as rivers go, just as far as new trainers in rivers do). So now I have no otter pictures and dirty trainers but I did get footage of a fox (again). Exciting stuff really. I really do feel like I'm winning this battle as the Ouseburn Otter is running out of tricks. I feel like everything he can possibly to do outwit me, he's already done. Next week is the week. Just you wait Mr O.

A Bum Deal

This is no longer funny. Yes, I will admit that I believe the Ouseburn Otter is some sort of super-species with a more wiley mind than most and yes, I will admit that I believe much of what the otter has been doing has been in a specific attempt to wind me up. But for an otter to know how a camera works and how much of itself will be caught in the frame? Surely not. Surely this entire fiasco of otter cleverness and deception has been at least partly driven by the Ouseburn Otter's natural behaviour? I'm not so sure anymore. The Ouseburn Otter has certainly shown me, in no uncertain terms, just what he thinks of the WildPlaces project. Not a lot as it happens.

I honestly can't believe this little guy. Would it have been so hard to turn around and smile for the camera. Just once. Instead I get a wonderful shot of an otter bum and the little present he decided to leave behind. Did you see it steam?! Thanks Mr O. To make matters worse, in a fit of cleverness, I set up a camera on the opposite river bank, giving me a fantastic wide angle view - sure to catch any action going on on the mound. Not so. There is some serious otter sorcery going on under this bridge. The camera got some lovely recordings of rats (way smaller than an otter) but just happened to allow a big fat otter wander by undetected. An unlikey partnership between otter and camera has evolved.

Time to step up the game. Keep an eye out for Wanted posters along the Ouseburn River and pubs calling for the Ouseburn Otter's blood (not literally - but oh how I've thought about it!). He must be captured (on film). He must be shot (on camera). Help me out. Please.