Spotting Otters on the River Kennet

The chances are that unless you're paddling either very early in the morning or latter in the day as the nights close in, you're not going to see one, and even then it's unlikely you'll have the pleasure, but there are definitely Otters on the River Kennet once again.  Nobody really knows exactly how many might be in residence on the river and surrounding watercourses, but the fact that a sighting is still newsworthy ensures a steady stream of reports from a variety of sources.

Historically, the Otter (lutra lutra) will have been present on the Kennet for around 10,000 years, having recolonised the British Isles after the last glacial retreat.  It was certainly prolific enough in the valley to make itself the target of persecution by human hunting until relatively recent times, with the ban on Otter hunting being somewhat irrelevantly and far too belatedly introduced in 1978, long after the use of organochlorine pesticides had decimated the population in much of the UK between the mid-1950's and a nadir in the late 1970's.

An image of an Otter Hound Hunt at Brimpton Mill on the River Kennet reported in an 1885 edition of the "The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News".  One of the reasons given for occasional absences from Ramsbury school in the 19th Century was "boys following the otter hounds on the river Kennet". [Source: http://history.wiltshire.gov.uk/community/getschool.php?id=962]

 

Having disappeared in the SE of England by the early 1970's, the 1980's saw the start of natural recovery in Otter numbers and a slow spread back across England.  With low level supported reintroduction by conservation societies -

 

"The Otter Trust released 117 captive-bred otters between 1983 and 1999, mostly on East Anglian rivers, but with some elsewhere. Their last release was of 17 otters on the upper Thames catchment over a six-month period in 1999.

 

The Vincent Wildlife Trust released a further 49 rehabilitated animals (i.e. orphaned and injured wild otters kept in captivity until fit for release) between 1990 and 1996, many of these as part of a release programme in Yorkshire." [Source: "Otters - The Facts"]

- a now almost totally natural population of, possibly, several thousand Otters, has established itself across the country, including along the River Kennet.

It's difficult to judge exact numbers along the Kennet because the secretive and often nocturnal habits of Otters combined with their wide terrritorial ranging make accurate assessment extremely difficult. In the Fourth Otter Survey of England 2000-2002 it was noted that "No sites in this LEAP* area were positive but there have been sporadic, but unconfirmed, reports of otters on the catchment since 1994." *[A LEAP being a Local Environment Agency Plan].  However, at some point between 2002 and 2010 there was a dramatic improvement of the situation.

The Fifth Otter Survey of England 2009-2019 reported that, from a position of no confirmed evidence from 1977 to 2002, Otters had returned to the Kennet Valley in the ensuing 7-8 years

The 2009-10 report continued that "Otters appear to have re-colonised the Kennet since the last survey and are now present on all the main rivers in the western part of the area. No otter signs were found in the downstream, eastern, part of the catchment so it is possible that they reached this area from the Bristol Avon catchment to the west or the Hampshire Avon to the South. There was a positive site on the Kennet and Avon Canal near Burbage very close to the watershed between the Kennet and Hampshire Avon catchments. However there has been otter activity on the Kennet for some years and previous sporadic evidence of otters on the Thames at Reading where the Kennet joins it (G. Scholey,
pers. comm.). It is possible that otters have moved up the Kennet through the town. The lack of evidence on the lower Kennet is surprising."

The position on the Lower Kennet also now appears to be changing.  In 2011 anglers were reporting sightings in the "Aldermaston area", "a little further downstream @ (LB)wigmore lane" (the riverine loop at Sulhamstead), "padworth stretch of TAA" (the section of river running down from Padworth Mill to the Padworth Lane road bridge), "the Hambridge area", "at Brimpton", and "nr thatcham".  With further such reports of Otter sightings on the Lower Kennet as recently as August this year, the good news continues.

As above, the quieter riverine sections of the Kennet would appear to be the best locations for potential sightings, but in lieu of this watch out for

• spraints (likely to contain American Signal Crayfish remains along the Kennet).
• dismembered  crayfish remains (you may have disturbed an Otter's lunch if you find much left. Images from another local river here), partially eaten fish, and carefully opened birds eggs.
• footprints on muddy banks.

A typical location for finding signs of Otters on Kennet riverine backwaters.

Family friendly fun canoeing on the Kennet in Newbury

Under the title of "Deepest Berkshire's urban moving water" prolific local paddler Mal Grey (and by "prolific" I mean that, despite protestations that the boat rarely leaves his roof bars except when paddling, I still suspect he slings his Bell Prospector canoe up at nights not for storage, but for use as a hammock, just so that he doesn't waste sleeping time by not being able to at least dream of being out on a river) has described how the River Kennet can provide surprising opportunities for easily accessible paddling right under your nose.

The post on the Song of the Paddle forum blog describes a visit to friends in Newbury, who, faced with grey wet day, managed to pull an unexpectedly interesting and diverse short paddle out of the bag.  Some of Mal's pics of the day are interspersed with a few other photos which demonstrate that this route requires you to be there at the right levels, but that there is more to Newbury's waterways than just the canalised river and cuts. 

"Pete & I inevitably ended up exploring SOTP and Paddle Points checking out his local streams.

We found what looked like an interesting short route, using a backwater of the Kennet, and the K & A navigation, to make a short circuit of just a few miles. We nipped down to the Northcroft Leisure centre grounds, and found a reasonable get in straight onto the Northcroft Stream.

I was surprised by the speed of the current, and actually briefly a little concerned, as it entered dense trees immediately, and I was the only experienced paddler here. I nipped back to the car for the saw, as Pete assured me the trees were brief...

Off we went. The current was strong enough that I could only paddle against it with an effort, but a quick reccy and I was happy we could get through. The day was very dark, so there are few photos, and those are fairly poor!

Out from the initial trees, the current slowed slightly."

"We drifted downstream, and I played in the numerous eddies behind trees, whilst the lads investigated the branches of the said trees!

As we approached the town, more trees appeared, and the current got faster again. I spotted a low pipe ahead, so headed into the slower water on the left and got out to have a look. Yep, too low to definitely get under, and with fast water too, we weren't going to try! We climbed over on the left bank."

At this point it is possible to access Northcroft pay and display car park, the back of which is a short and easy walk through the trees behind the paddler.  This is also a convenient point to assess if there is enough water for paddling.

If there's more than a couple of meters distance between the left bank and the 'island' with the old fence railings, then there's probably sufficient water to paddle but too much to passage under the pipe in an open boat.

 

Once it gets this low, and the curving willow trunks are 'ashore', it's  too low to go.

"Beyond, the river swept quickly round a corner, blind enough and with a fast enough flow to make me think twice about just ploughing ahead, with thoughts of urban weirs or similar on my mind. It was easy to creep ahead in an eddy until I could see a clear route ahead leading to the end of the fastest bit, a pool below a weir from the canal. All of this was very easy, but the fact we didn't know what was ahead made it more interesting and almost adventurous!"

"Below here, a wider section is obviously used by the local club, and a few slalom gates hung above. I designated one of these, at random, as an upstream gate, and we all practiced our best Olympic C1 & C2 technique!"

Northcroft Stream where it broadens at the outflow from the canal at Dolton Mews...

...and just before it reaches the old slalom poles.

"And that was the end of our moving water adventure. A good half mile of it! A fun little bit, good to learn about currents and with enough eddies to play on. Still, the overhanging trees and pipe mean it isn't entirely without hazards."

The group then paddled downstream along the Kennet Navigation which starts from Newbury's Town Bridge, as far as Greenham Lock, and then back up to Newbury Lock, with more family members easily able to join the boats en route.  Following a short detour to explore the outflow route from the weir at the back of West Mills...

...the paddlers portaged around Newbury Lock and continued up the Kennet and Avon Canal to the edge of the town where the riverine Kennet converges at the top of Northcroft recreation grounds.

"We turned back to the weir above Northcroft Stream, and portaged it easily. Apart from me dropping my paddle into the weir...

Now we just had a few hundred yards to go, once again on fairly fast current, in the gathering gloom."
 

"The end of the circuit appeared beneath the bridge, and we all got out, somewhat soggy from the rain.

Mal's take out point was river right, just below the bridge (note the low trees here from the start of the account)...

...here shown at higher water levels in January 2010...

...and lower levels in December 2010, indicating a potential scraped hull for the inconsiderate paddler.