Sighting at White Lion Meadow

It's a while since we've had one, and I've no photograph, but this adult vole was balanced obligingly on top of vegetation in the middle of the brook. There's still very little water and bank visible under all the leaves, so I was lucky.

And your evening vole

Handy

I've got a friend checking the rafts at Prees Branch Canal now, so I don't have to go so often. Nevertheless it's a pleasure to pop down there and see how the colony's doing.

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Today I found more otter spraint under the bridge where I found some last time; I know it looks a bit minky, but the sniff test confirmed it was definitely otter. Good news for the water voles as the presence of an otter ought to keep mink at bay.

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And there was water vole feeding on both sides of the bridge, the whole length of the canal from Waterloo to the marina. Finally, on the raft near the marina, there was a handy pile of water vole droppings. If only all voles could be as cooperative.

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Finally, some wonderful photos from another wildlife blog: http://terrywhittakerphoto.blogspot.com/2009/07/volare.html

White Lion Meadow update

Troublesome fleas?

The banks at Whie Lion Meadow (photo above and below)

I'm aware I haven't posted a photo of a White Lion Meadow water vole since May. This isn't because they're not there - a brief look tonight revealed well-used burrows and slip-ways, plus feeding on both sides of the bridge (see photo directly above). It's because, I think, the vegetation's now so dense that hardly anything under it's visible, so we just aren't getting the sightings. This is great for the voles, of course, so I'm not complaining.

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Meanwhile I've been watching another colony, and managed to tempt this large adult out with a bit of apple. I definitely wouldn't encourage regular feeding of wild voles because it can make them vulnerable to predators if you put food out in the same place and at the same time, plus leftovers can encourage rats. But as a one-off, it's fine. This chap isn't complaining, anyhow.

Gotcha!

water vole latrine in a field at Colemere

water vole feeding station, near Colemere
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Managed to spot a newly-emerged, just-about-to-take-flight dragonfly in our pond; the chaps on the Wild About Britain forum have identified it as a Southern Hawker, even though it hasn't got its full colours yet which I thought might make the job tricky. I also collected up all the exuviae I could fine to send to Clive Dean, Community & Conservation Officer, Countryside Service, Shropshire County Council, and reported my sightings to the County Dragonfly Recorder, Sara Bellis. http://www.atropos.info/dragonfly.html

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Yesterday, while surveying an area near Colemere, we saw not only Banded Demoiselles http://www.wildliferanger.com/users/www.wildliferanger.com/upload/Banded%20Demoiselle%20007%20243.JPG but Beautiful ones as well, male http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1396/542416712_c6600afa3b.jpg?v=0 and female http://www.dragonflysoc.org.uk/photos/cavirf1.jpg. As Clive says, you should report everything! We found a few signs of water voles near Colemere, so they are present but probably need some help with habitat improvement.

Last night's dragonfly action

At midnight last night I went into the garden to cool down and found this dragonfly in the process of emerging. The photos aren't brilliant because of flash, but at least I got the main stages. I'd love to have stuck around and seen what colour it became, and also to check it managed to fly away unscathed. But this morning the exuvia's empty, and there's no sign, so who knows? We're aware of about ten dragonflies hatching this year, but I bet we've missed some. Not bad for a small garden pond.

Burnet Moth

Lots of otter spraint under the bridge in the country park, plus the remains of a small bird - do otters take birds? There were also water vole droppings, and this rather nice moth. Six-spot burnet, I think; I haven't seen one since I was a child.