Norfolk photographer captures otter family at Cley Marshes

An amateur wildlife photographer said she felt "honoured" to capture a family of otters at a nature reserve.

Lyn Clarkson snapped the mother otter and her pups at Cley Marshes in north Norfolk.

The retired nursery nurse from Hellesdon, Norwich, said it was a "very unexpected moment" and the "most breath-taking experience".

Norfolk Wildlife Trust (NWT), which owns the reserve, said otters were "regular visitors to Cley".

Ms Clarkson said she saw the otters as the "sun had risen but was low - so ideal lighting".

"I was with a friend and we were watching the curlew through our lens, when two otters came in to our sight," she said.

"They walked out of the water into the shrubbery. We waited and very soon two of them came out and I was able to film them in the water, the youngster calling to mum all the time.

"They then went back into the shrub and emerged with a third pup, carrying the fish."

Ms Clarkson added: "I feel honoured. It was a wonderful, very unexpected moment, without a doubt. Definitely the right place at the right time."

Nick Morritt, visitor centre manager at NWT Cley, said over the past years they had seen families of otters raising a number of pups.

He said they knew of at least one otter family on the reserve being spotted "fairly frequently" at the moment.

Mr Morritt said visitors had the best chance of catching sight of them by heading to the East Bank of the reserve and looking towards the new cut, which is a drainage system that runs through the site.

"Like a lot of wildlife, otters are often best seen at dawn or dusk," he added.

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