Otters in Asturias

[busybee]

I live in eastern Asturias.  Does anyone know of any good sites to see otters?

Saludos,

Be

[nick]

I would have thought Redes would be a good bet:


http://www.ciao.es/Parque_Nacional_de_Redes_Asturias__Opinion_858338
Es muy frecuente ver nutrias en las aguas del parque. Últimamente ha experimentado una considerable recuperación en toda la región gracias, sobre todo, a las estrictas medidas de protección adoptadas.
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parque_Natural_de_Redes
La nutria está presente en todas las cuencas fluviales del parque lo que indica la calidad del agua, ya que es un animal que sirve de referente mediambiental.

Cheers
Nick

[Clive]

Hi busybee..

I just noticed this post and would be interested to hear if you found any otters yet?

Clive

[busybee]

Hi,

Yes, we have found otters since.  After a few failed attempts on the Ruta del Alba in Redes, we finally had a great sighting of two otters, swimming and eating along the Rio Pilona at Arriondas.  All this time and they appear 5 minutes from our house on a normal morning walk, perhaps there is a lesson here!!!  We've not seen them since but the locals say they are common enough to annoy the fishermen.

We also spotted otter spraint on a boardwalk area near la Playa de Rodilles near Villiaviciosa if anyone is in that area.  A nice photo for the album attached!

Cheers,

John & Be

[Clive]

Hi John and be...

Excellent news that you saw otters local to where you are.. Often is the case that the best stuff is right on your doorstep....

Bits of shell and stuff in that excellent Scat image.....(Although a 1 euro coin in the frame helps with dimensions!)

What do you think the diet is consisting of for the two in your area? Are their lots of frogs and crayfish in the watercourses?

Clive

[Technopat]

New Year's Greetings John & Be,
Welcome to this 'ere great  forum!

Lucky you for having 'em on your doorstep!
And thanx for that info. on otters, Nick.
I know the Ruta del Alba very well, and one of the guardas (youngish guy, built like a brick whatchamacallit - can't remember his name now, it'll come back to me) though it's started getting very crowded these last couple of years - all these folks getting interested in nature. What is the world coming to? 

Envidia-sana regs.,
Technopat

[Ian]

Hi,

Yes, we have found otters since.  After a few failed attempts on the Ruta del Alba in Redes, we finally had a great sighting of two otters, swimming and eating along the Rio Pilona at Arriondas.  All this time and they appear 5 minutes from our house on a normal morning walk, perhaps there is a lesson here!!!  We've not seen them since but the locals say they are common enough to annoy the fishermen.

We also spotted otter spraint on a boardwalk area near la Playa de Rodilles near Villiaviciosa if anyone is in that area.  A nice photo for the album attached!

Cheers,

John & Be

Hi -Thanks for the information we might try and spot them for ourselves, we are based near Ribadesella so not too far.

[nick]

Is that shellfish in the scat?

[Clive]

Could be freshwater mussels?.. Have to wait for busybee to give us an update about the food supply species in the watercourses..

Clive

[busybee]

Umm, tough question, I'm not an expert on river species.  The photo was taken near Villiaviciosa on the coast, so the diet could be slightly different.  I should have had a better poke around in the scat!

We are about 15km inland and the region is famous for trout and salmon fishing, so I guess they are high up on the menu.  I've certainly heard and seen a lot of frogs as well.  The most numerous fish seems to be grey mullet (at least I think it is, 'Mujol' in spanish if anyone knows?).  I'll will have a better look over the next few weeks.

Ian - People have told me otters can be seen between Llovio and Ribadesella on the main road into the town, I think there is a path for at least half of this stretch.  Have you walked along to the 'Bufones' yet?  We saw a wallcreeper there last weekend, cracking views for about 10 minutes.

Technopat - Its always been really quiet when we've been, out of season and during the week helps I presume.  Its a flat, easy walk near to Oviedo, hence the attraction.

I really would like to get some photographs of these otters, I must start a fresh campaign to the Mrs for a zoom lense.

Saludos,

John

[Ian]

Ian - People have told me otters can be seen between Llovio and Ribadesella on the main road into the town, I think there is a path for at least half of this stretch.  Have you walked along to the 'Bufones' yet?  We saw a wallcreeper there last weekend, cracking views for about 10 minutes.

Saludos,

John

Hi John.....thanks for the otter tip, have walked that part of the Sella but not seen any to date. The Bufones are almost a daily walk from our house. Spent a lot of time down there lately as they have been very impressive.  The Wallcreeper.....Hmm heard this from another source as well, last weeked neart the archway wasn't it?

[busybee]

Yes, we have found otters since.  After a few failed attempts on the Ruta del Alba in Redes, we finally had a great sighting of two otters, swimming and eating along the Rio Pilona at Arriondas.  All this time and they appear 5 minutes from our house on a normal morning walk, perhaps there is a lesson here!!! 

Just a quick update.  We saw 2 otters again this morning along a different section of the river (not sure if they were the same pair as before).  Very difficult to spot at first but then we watched them for over 30 minutes, swimming quite fast against the river flow and occassionally climbing out on to the riverbank.  We followed them as they swam right up to opposite the main plaza in the town.  Que suerte!

I didn't have my camera or camcorder but next time!  Is it possible to post video on the forum?

Saludos,

John

[Clive]

Hi John,

That's amazing that they went right up into the town. Was anyone else about watching them?

I haven't made it so videos can be uploaded here because of the time it takes for those embedded vids to load a page but you could get a youtube account and load your videos to there and then just link to it from here.

Clive

[busybee]

Hi Clive,

It was 8am in the morning with plenty of activity, kids in a nearby school playground, traffic etc. but no people walking about directly near the river (except us).  I've spoken to some locals about them and its seems quite common to see them.

At one point we stood on the main bridge into town, looked down and there were 2 otters directly underneath us.  They stared at us for about 5 seconds and then swam on but we managed to pick them up again in the plaza. 

I'm determined to get a photo or video!

John

[busybee]

Hola a todos.

Blimey.  We've seen the otters a lot lately and this morning I managed to take some video!  I have to work out how to edit the tape for youtube format but I think there will be a couple of minutes of good stuff.  At one point we were about 15 to 20 metres away looking down on them.

@ Ian - we were standing by the new foot bridge in the centre of Arriondas by the main plaza.  It was around 7.30 to 8am.  We've seen them there 5 out of the last 10 attempts.

Saludos,

John & Be

[Clive]

Hi John, I'd love to see that you tube video when you work out how to do it...Post the link here

Clive

[nick]

Me too!

[busybee]

Okay, I'm no wildlife film maker.  The quality is somewhat reduced on You Tube.  I've done nothing but slice up the more interesting bits.

Some notes;

1.  The first minute or so is pretty dark (it was 7.30am!).  It gets better, stick with it.
2.  If you hear me sniffing, its because I didn't have a hankerchief and was too busy holding the camera watching otters to care!
3.  The car you hear was the police, wondering what the hell I was doing.  Our crazy english reputation is intact.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vo9bcailHp0

Cheers

John

[Clive]

Well done John. The three of them playing in the faster water was great.

Do you know if they were males or females? I'm not sure how to tell the difference actually. I wonder if they are a group of youngsters not yet at breeding age..

Clive

[Dave]

Hi John
Excellent footage, and how lucky being in the right place at the right time, and with a video camera.
Regards
Dave