A curious otter - Credit Paul Miguel
Re-establishing otter communities in areas where the species has seen dramatic decline is something the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust is passionate about.
Conserving the diverse habitat they enjoy is key. Project Officer Claire Jackson takes us through the journey of encouraging otters back to a stretch of the River Wiske, near Northallerton...
July 2011
After a visit to one of the new holt sites in early April this year I was so pleased to see two otters playing in the river very close to where the holt was placed. I didn’t like to jump to conclusions and presume that they were using the holt, as I already knew that they frequented the area and it was more likely to be coincidence. But on a second visit a month later I spotted another otter also very close to the holt site so I’m now hoping that they may actually have discovered the holt and are using it already. Such great news and really pleasing that everyone’s hard work towards this project is paying off.
Brilliant!
September 2010
The beginning of November 2009 brought the start of our year long SITA funded otter recovery project on the River Wiske near Northallerton; now, almost a year on, we have just about finished creating our haven for otters!
To recap, this project follows on from previous work carried out by Yorkshire Wildlife Trust on the Wiske, which was also funded by SITA. The aim of this project was to work with landowners to create a safe environment for otters whilst protecting the habitat that’s already there.
Over the next few years, the small copses of shrubs we have planted in sections along the riverbank will flourish into ‘lie up’ areas, ideal for otters to hide safely during the day, also when the young Hawthorn, Blackthorn and Guelder Rose mature, they will provide a rich food source of berries for birds.
Fencing has been erected to protect the riverbanks from erosion by cattle and where possible the banks have also been cleared by hand of invasive, non-native plants such as Himalayan balsam.
One of the largest tasks was to construct and install four otter holts and place them in suitable positions for otters to locate. The recycled plastic holts arrived flat packed with excellent instructions on how to piece them together, the difficult bit was installing them! A few volunteers and a bit of elbow grease certainly made the task easier. The good news is that recent surveys have discovered otter spraint located near all 4 of the holts, so let’s hope they move in soon!
We have restored some old ponds and now the final task is to create another wetland area; this will not only encourage otter but will attract a range of wildlife such as dragonflies, newts, wading birds and other aquatic species. After pond dipping in wet areas we created around 2 years ago, its great to see that many of these species have already taken up residence, brilliant news!
It will be great to go back in a few years time and see just what a difference we have made and hopefully have a healthy population of otter!
May 2010
Holt construction gets underway
After a very cold and wintry start to the year, the otter recovery project is now well on track. Three otter holts have been installed with two more to be constructed and placed in situ. Over 1,000 trees and shrubs have been planted to create riverside habitat and river fencing has been erected to prevent livestock damaging the banks.
Over the next few months we plan to create new wetland habitat alongside the Wiske and also restore some old ponds, this will not only benefit otters but will attract other species such as frogs, toads, dragonflies and water fowl.
The recycled plastic otter holt was installed on the Wiske with the help of volunteers.
Shrubs such as Guelder Rose, Hawthorn, Blackthorn & Alder have been planted to create cover and ‘lie-up’ areas for the otter. The area actually features wetland previously created by the Trust, and this is already attracting water fowl and signs of otter have been found nearby.
November 2009
With our SITA Trust grant now secured our otter recovery project on this stretch of the River Wiske begins, with orders in for flatpack DIY otter holts, and the prospect of a great deal of riverside habitat to be cleared, planted up and managed in the years ahead.
Contact
Email Project Officer Claire Jackson if you would like more information about this project.
