I had a series of photos of our otters playing on the ice of their ponds in the national papers a few years a go. It was one of the first sequences I had published, and although I look back and think the photos could have been better, I am still very pleased to have been able to share them on such a large scale.
The photo above of two of our old otters on the ice together was the one that really caught the eye of many. Below are a few more from that series and others where ice was involved.
I know it is currently very warm out there, but I was asked to share these after the snow photos... so rather than leave it and inevitably forget, I thought I would put them up today.
Minnie was one odour original otters, and one of the first I ever worked with... pictured above... Sadly no longer with us.
I love it when the top of the ponds are iced over, but still fluid on the surface. It makes it look like they are walking on water.
Often they swim under the ice and then break through and climb up on to the surface of it.
Swimming under the ice they seem to really enjoy, and often chase each other. One swimming under the ice one running on the surface of the ice. It is such fun to watch.
Our ponds really do ice up most years. Last winter was very mild, but in previous years the ice on the surface has got quite thick offering great chances to photograph them on top of it. I remember doing a piece for a local paper a couple of years a go about our otters on ice, and got completely misquoted... first time I realised first hand to take what is written in papers with a pinch of salt. I think I was asked what I thought of Celebrity Dancing on Ice, to which I replied "I don't know, I don't watch it" and got quoted as saying "They are otterly at home on the ice, and would give the celebrities a real run for their money. I think some "celebrities" name would not have a patch on Minnie on the ice." or something like that.
They don't know how thick the ice is, or how thin it is, and so sometimes they do just fall through it while walking on the surface.
My most well known icy photo. This is Grace, and she has now toured the country in many a gallery!
One of my oldest, and still one of my favourites. Minnie running on the ice in the snow one year.