What a fabulous encounter I had this afternoon. Having decided yesterday that I doubted my camouflage, I took absolutely no chances and used a combination of "gillie suite" scrim  netting and bag hide,  surely now I was well camouflaged.  I took up my position at the foot of a willow tree, sitting on a waterproof seat/pad. I covered myself and settled down to wait for Dipper. I was keeping a real close watch of the time and after just 7 minutes one flew past me calling loudly as it went……..he had no idea of my presence! Than just minutes later as I looked down river, my eye caught the movement of something opposite on the tree roots that hug the edge of the bank, my first instinct was squirrel and then, wow…… it was a STOAT.  I was almost mesmerised but I quickly gained control and started taking shots as it emerged from the darkness from behind the trunk, (as you can see above). It came out in to the open completely and investigated the holes and crevices of the tree roots, in and out,  moving very quickly and furtively, hardly pausing it's fluid-like movements. He then stopped  to have  a quick luck across the water, then slipped in to the current and swam across to my side!  He emerged on to the bank just to my right and then disappeared in to the bankside vegetation. I will post more photos later this evening and tell you more.

Back at home  now after my band practice…….. big gig this weekend, but back to my Stoat encounter. It really was a surprise to see the beautiful  "little beast' with it's chestnut colour and white belly all finished off with a black-tipped tail. He was very cute and pretty which belied it's carnivorous ways.  It was even more of a surprise to see it  slip in to the water the way it did and then effortlessly glide across against the strong current. When it emerged on to the bank at my side, it bounded, almost playfully in to the undergrowth. In actual fact I think at this point it may have sussed me. Interestingly, after a few minutes I had the definite whiff of Stoat in the air. He was close to me, probably behind……… and I could smell him, or her.  Here he is swimming across.

Stoat or Weasel, that is a question I often ask myself. But here is the definitive answer. If you see the tail and it is longish with a black tip then it is a Stoat 100% for certain.  Weasels have shortish tails and are smaller. They do not have a black tip to the tail.  Confusion could reign because a female Stoat is much smaller than a male. Male weasels are bigger than their females so a male Weasel is not a lot smaller than a female Stoat, particularly a young or immature female. Sounds complicated but just look for the long black tipped tail…. that's a Stoat! This picture shows the tail perfectly. What the pictures don't show is the speed that the animal moves at, as quick as the eye can follow, very sinuous and agile.