Gamekeeper

Alan Edwards believes unique, private experiences can help keepers become more competent and passionate custodians of the countryside

- Alan Edwards

A gentle plop at the end of a straight line on an almost perfect cast. Surely this time a fish would show some interest in my offering? Sadly not. Wondering how on earth that cast was so good, when so many more before were terrible, I concentrated hard to repeat the sequence. Alas, a crumpled leader landed awkwardly. Briefly my attention was deflected as a mallard duck and four well-grown chicks glided into the pool on a speeding far-bank current. I recast, better I thought, and as the fly took its path down the pool the ducklings were enjoying a find of newly hatched fly life.

Suddenly, the mood changed. A gentle alarm call instructed the chicks back into order; mother had sensed something was wrong. I’d seen nothing. A quick glance upward revealed no aerial predators. What had caused this concern? Then, the water around the ducks erupted. I couldn’t believe my eyes when an adult otter burst from below. In the flash of a second, the brood was scattered and the otter had its prize. As invisibly as it appeared, the otter vanished and I never saw it again that day. Mother gathered her three chicks and made away downstream.