Riverside encounter with an otter and her young

Newcastle Emlyn, West Wales Even in the fading light I could pick out every detail of them: the small rounded ears, the luxurious whiskers, the broad muzzle and their wonderful strangenessThe Afon Teifi, one of the most beautiful Welsh rivers, loops round the castle at Emlyn, the bailey of which is sentinelled with field maples. The bank is palisaded with fine alders, hung with purple cones and catkins. Standing by one of these on an autumn afternoon, I thought about the alder’s remarkable