Visitors of a nature reserve have had a ‘once in a lifetime’ treat as a family of otters take up residence at Caerlaverock.

Over the last couple of weeks, a mother and her kits have been spotted fishing on Whooper Pond which is part of a wetland reserve.

The family have been seen on the River Lochar and various different ponds around the reserve. Fishing for sticklebacks, they appear on the Whooper Pond at any time of the day and tend to work their way around the outside of the pond often coming out onto the bank right in front of the Sir Peter Scott Observatory. The kits are learning about swans, and seeing how close they can get - but the swans don’t seem too impressed

Joe Bilous, reserve manager said: “Although we see signs of otters regularly on the wider reserve, we rarely see them so close and so frequently. We are pleased that so many of our visitors have had wonderful views of otter cubs, such a rare sight for many people.”