Herman the Heron

Herman the Heron!

Herman is a youngster from last year, who was born out on our reserve, and through no encouragement from us is a very friendly heron who visits our otter ponds nearly every day.

Now, of the many herons roosting on our reserve, a lot visit at the end of the day to pick off the scraps of fish our otters leave behind. But Herman is different. He visits even when no food is around, and is very VERY bold. I have had him within feet while I have been doing a keeper talk before.

He is playing a risky game, as our otters have taken herons before, but they don't seem to mind Herman at the moment, and he seems a bit more clued in too.

Either way, they seem to tolerate each other at the moment, and he is a welcome sight in our otter pond.

As well as Herman, we have our wild wild herons on our reserve. Chicks in the nest constantly calling for food means a lot of action down there too. Best place to spot them is from either our wetland boardwalk, or maybe even better our second car park on the edge of the reserve.

Otters Playing

Our two otter cubs, Ottermus Prime and Beatrix Otter, have been real stars over the last couple of months. They seem to have got in to a habit of having a play session shortly after they have been out for the morning keeper talk. This means a lot of people have been hanging around to see them in actions, and it has been great fun.

They end up chasing each other over the banks, in and out of the water, tossing and turning in the water and play fighting too. I managed to take a lot of photos, here are a few below.

Otto pretty pleased with himself having found a root to play with. 

Play fighting on one of the islands.

Being chased in to the water.

In amongst the reeds.

They are both really playful, but Otto seems to have a bit more mischief about him. He can find fun in anything to play with. Even jumping out the water to grab and play with the leaves on the trees.

Thanks for looking :-)