Playful otter cubs pictured on river
Niel Stafford N.S photography
Niel Stafford N.S photographyA photographer has said he was "over the moon" to have taken snaps of two otter cubs scampering around a shoreline.
Niel Stafford, from Bedlington in Northumberland, said he was at the River Wansbeck last week when he saw the two little ones "come along and play around for most of the day", adding it was "such an honour seeing them".
Regular sightings of otters on a river are a sign of a healthy local ecosystem, the Wear Rivers Trust said.
Stafford said: "I think there's a lot more wildlife on the River Wansbeck now, more than there has ever been."
"I was so over the moon I had my camera with me.
"It was such an honour seeing them so close as some people have to travel miles just to see one.
"We are privileged to have them on our door step."
- The Eurasian otter, also known as the Lutra Lutra, frequents rivers, coasts and waterways across the UK
- As one of Britain's top predators, they feed on fish, crabs, octopus, amphibians, small mammals and birds
- Otters communicate using vocal expression such as whistles, birdlike twittering and spitting and also in their spraint (droppings)
- Otters have their cubs in underground burrows, known as holts
Source: IOSF and Wildlife Trusts
