General (County) update - 5th September 2010

• After watching my beloved Bris lose to Esher yesterday (although we had a very nice day out again, thanks to Esher RFC), I thought I'd grab a quick opportunity to update any TBR viewerson two exciting local developments.
• Firstly, my good old pal and neighbour (Mr.T) and I have found a pool in the nearby river where kingfishers sit and fish regularly - we visited twice over the weekend and saw at least one kingfisher about a dozen times! NB. Because kingfishers are schedule 1 species, I will only be able to photograph them during the winter, and only then, very carefully. (Google "schedule 1 birds" and you'll understand this more if you need to).
• Secondly, whilst watching the kingfisher(s) yesterday morning, I saw what was certainly either an otter (I'd put money on that as it was milk chocolate coloured and quite large) or a mink (darker, slightly smaller) clamber around the banks of the pool (a way away) and then swim upstream.
• Some viewers to this blog might remember me talking about hopefully finding a "local otter" that had been reported - well I may have just done that! I'll have to watch the pool carefully at dawn over autumn and winter -and it may be a mink - but I really, REALLY hope it is an otter -Anna's favourite animal of all and less than one mile from the house!
• Keep watching this space!