Winchester City Mill - Otters

02/12/2007 00:00:00 Since September last year CCTV cameras at the National Trust’s Winchester City Mill in Hampshire have been trained on some unusual night time antics. Otters living on the River Itchen use the mill as the perfect cover to come out of the water and mark their territory, right in the middle of town. Their adventures are captured by three motion activated cameras and played back to the daytime visitors in the mill. Since the cameras starting rolling 157 sightings of otters over 145 nights have been recorded and in February 2007 there were 37 sightings alone. To keep track of the comings and goings of the otters a fourth camera will be installed under a small bridge further upstream.

Bob Goodwin, volunteer co-ordinator for the mill, says, ‘When the cameras were installed last autumn we optimistically hoped we might see an occasional otter but also feared mink would appear. Six months later, we are amazed that otter sightings have been filmed virtually every night throughout the winter and, importantly, not a single mink has been seen to date. This is great news for the water voles which are regularly seen by mill visitors from our garden. It seems here, at least, the otters are thriving.’

Two local families have been helping to provide interpretation which tells the story about the otters to the public. Chris D’Arcy, a volunteer miller at the mill, and his son, take the footage from the cameras and edit it into short films. Another family got involved after seeing the mill on television and they help to make displays about the otters to accompany the images.

In 1994, three otters were reintroduced to the River Itchen and since then the creatures have thrived. A project by the Environment Agency, Wildlife Trusts and Exeter University is analysing the markings for DNA. So far the results show that otters are moving in from the west to the Itchen and cubs of the original reintroduced otters are moving further to the East.

Highlights: Even though the mill is in the centre of Winchester, it is remarkably alive with wildlife. Water voles have been spotted from the mill, a kingfisher regularly fishes off the wall outside and a family of grey wagtails feed in the garden. Visitors to the mill can go down to the mill race to see the cameras and the river thundering by, but probably not an otter.

Location:Winchester City Mill is located at the foot of the high street, just over the city bridge.

Grid reference: SU487294

Admission:Open 11.00am – 5.00pm, Wednesday-Sundays. Open throughout the week during school holidays. Admission adults £3.40, child £1.70, family (2 adults and 2 children) £8.50, National Trust members and Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust members free.