Fozzybear
Ich bin ein Vogelbeobachter
The other day I found a blackish fine-grained 'poo' on a prominent hump in the grass next to a lock on the river here at Chelmsford in Essex. It looked like it had been trodden on by someone passing by (it's right on a route walkers use) but returning there today I found some fresh deposits. I am hoping they are Otter spraints but since I don't have experience in this area (for all I know it could be a rain-sodden oreo cookie or something! ) I'm hoping someone can take a look at the pics below and give an opinion.
I know there are otters on the river in this area (one was found unfortunately dead in a crayfish trap on the other side of town) but am hoping these are my first real first-hand signs of their presence on my local stretch of water. I did see mention that spraints are greenish black which these are, although since there were a lot of people standing around there and my sense of smell is a bit kaput I didn't feel like getting on my knees and sniffing it to see if it was fishy/musky!
I know there are otters on the river in this area (one was found unfortunately dead in a crayfish trap on the other side of town) but am hoping these are my first real first-hand signs of their presence on my local stretch of water. I did see mention that spraints are greenish black which these are, although since there were a lot of people standing around there and my sense of smell is a bit kaput I didn't feel like getting on my knees and sniffing it to see if it was fishy/musky!