Kingfisher & Otter, 7 & 8 Feb 2026

On the Saturday the Otter put on a bit of a show for us and several times it came up to the tow path. I was surprised at the speed and number of fish it could catch and eat. The light was not good so on Sunday, with a brighter sky, I decided to see if the Otter was still on the canal. It was but it tended to stay right over by the mill so I didn’t manage to get any decently lit close views of it.

The Otter went down to Shipley Wharfe at the pace of a brisk walk staying close to the far bank all the time and going between moored boats and the side. Fantastic to watch and then you notice what it has to share its environment with. Discarded Irn Bru bottles and plastic.

At water level in the walls of Salts Mill are pipes and holes and the Otter disappeared into a couple of them for a few minutes.

While watching the Otter on Saturday a Kingfisher flew along the canal and perched a short distance beyond the Otter, I managed to get a decent photo of it. Then on Sunday, while the light was still reasonable, I decided to walk along the canal to the aqueduct and Dowley Gap which can be a good place for Kingfisher.

After going round behind the cottages (see later for Jelly Ear Fungus, Pied Wagtails, and Carrion Crow) I came back to the footbridge to quite a few people looking across the canal to the bushes. A female Kingfisher was quietly posing, flying a few metres and posing again. She didn’t seem bothered by the people trying to keep level with her on the opposite bank.

I then started walking back towards Saltaire along the river and within a couple of minutes kept hearing Kingfisher on the other side of the river. The bush that they seemed to be in also had what looked like a Chaffinch flitting about in it. I know I am next to useless at identifying birds from their song but I was pretty sure I could tell the difference between the sound of a Kingfisher and a Chaffinch. After a bit of looking I spotted a flash of blue through my binoculars and managed to get my camera on a pair of Kingfisher. The male kept leaning forward in what I assumed was a bit of courtship posturing. I did not see it present any fish to the female.

On the Saturday, on the way through Saltaire Sports Club. I spotted some movement at the top of some Brambles so I stopped to see what it was. I could hear Blue Tits, Great Tits and a Wren so I kept looking and eventually spotted a Goldcrest flitting about. As is often the case it was never still for more than a split second as it zipped about picking at tiny insects as it went. Focusing on it was never easy so I am quite pleased with these four photos. It looked as though there were three of them going between the bushes and the larger trees.

During both days I kept my eyes open for fungi and we have:-

• Velvet Shank, Flammulina velutipes, from ground level to a good way up a tree near the Boathouse
• A good spread of a Bracket Fungus on a large fallen tree near the Sports Ground. On the other side of the tree was a rather wet sleeping bag and several empty pop bottles.
• A group of Puffballs
• On Sunday – Yellow Brain fungus, Tremella mesenterica
• Whitewash Lichen, Phlyctis argena
• Jelly Ear Fungus, Auricularia auricula-judae

Lots of trees had Jelly Ear Fungus growing on them but I have used this photo from Dowley Gap because of the number of flies in the shot. It’s not dust on the sensor but flies, good food for the dozens of Pied Wagtail.

These are the photos of other birds spotted on the two days:-

• Grey Heron
• Feral Pigeon in a pipe at Salts Mill
• Two Swans looking like a pair though still with some juvenile plumage and possibly both with a bump at the base of the bill
• A male Goosander on the river, taken from the canal towpath
• Pied Wagtails at the Dowley Gap cattages
• Carrion Crow at Dowley Gap
• Little Grebe on the river Aire near Dowley Gap
• Next to the river between Dowley Gap and the rowing club
  • Nuthatch
  • Great Tit
  • Treecreeper
  • Cormorant
• Canada Geese on the river at Bradford Rowing Club and in the field behind
• Between the Sports Ground and The Boathouse
  • Song Thrush
  • Coal Tit
  • Treecreeper
  • Cormorant

I lumped them all together as Canada Geese but one of them, the one flying head on and the one in the field is a hybrid between a Canada Goose and a Greylag Goose. Its colouring is mainly Greylag Goose but it has a white head from the Canada Goose.

This little collection are the last of the photos from the two days- last as in what is left. The first of them was the reason for heading out on Saturday. The Bradford No. 1AA Private Fishing Limit notice that is being consumed by the tree. Over the years I have taken several photos of this sign – you can see more in my Private Fishing post.

The other photos are of the Hirst Lock, The footbridge at Dowley Gap and a lamp in the car park of New Mill.