On the 5th November I had an amazing stroke of luck, I was walking along the banks of the Cherwell close to Banbury Country Park, a walk that I do on average 2 or 3 times a week. I heard a "plop" in the water and assumed that it was a bird of some sort but was amazed to see an otter about 15 feet away from me. Unusually for me I had my camera absolutely at the ready and I fired off a series of shots as the otter slowly swam off to the other side of the river and out of sight. The image is slightly enhanced in Photoshop Elements to remove some grass from the otter's face but is otherwise as taken. The otter has not put in anothjer appearance.