Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd

Otters

There have been numerous sightings of the elusive Eurasian Otter, Lutra lutra.

The species has been spotted in the burn running through the site and on the foreshore.

Fresh spraint has been detected over a number of years. On the shore by the north-western corner of the Vulcan facility, a jetty has been built and a concrete bridge crosses the Geo Cuinge. Otter spraint was often noted, though not always fresh, on the low wall of the bridge, indicating the fairly regular passage of otters along the foreshore.

Fresh spraints are often recorded during field work along the Mill Lade, from the rocks below the footbridge past Dounreay Castle where the lade enters the foreshore, and under both the internal road-bridge and the road-bridge by the southern perimeter fence.

The species leaves tracks in the reeds and probable resting places are in the reeds along the stream edge and within in crevices and recesses in the stream banks

An otter in the lade was recorded on film in June 2011 by Chris Gregory. Cameratraps laid in July 2011 for BBC's The One Show recorded a stoat but no otters.

The evidence is indicative of regular, probably nightly, use of the lade and droppings rich in fish bones and scales are indicative of predation on fish within the lade or in the adjacent coastal waters.

Otters have been sighted after dark by Dounreay security staff.

The Mill Lade also provides a transmission route from the streams and wetlands further up in the catchment to the foreshore. The marine habitats along the rocky shoreline provide rich foraging grounds for this species.

No larger refuges, suitable for use as a breeding holt, have been recorded. While there are a number of recesses in the stonewall, reinforced banks of the lade within the Dounreay site, some of which appeared to be used on a temporary basis, none appear large enough for use as a breeding holt.

It is possible that a breeding site may be present further upstream.