Good Start to the New Year

Across the road from the lay-by at Broughall is a public footpath across fields. Took a walk across there this afternoon and came across a ditch with water vole prints all over the banks plus this latrine. It's a new colony to me, and one I'll be happily keeping an eye on this summer.

Goodbye to 2013

 Snug

 The ditch by Grocontinental as it looks this month

 Trackway leading through the reeds to the water

Various water vole footprints: at Grocontinental, in the field off Edgeley Road (see extreme bottom right of photo) and some from last Feb to show the clear starry shape of the paws.

There's very little doing vole-wise this month - I don't expect to see any real activity till February or March - but there's clearly still water vole presence in the two fields off Edgeley Road. W-vole paw prints are very similar to rat so I would be cautious about claiming any of these photos were definitive proof. However, I have found them in areas where there were lots of voles in the summer and autumn, and they do look pretty star-shaped to me.

Feeding Up

Rescue-hog is still up and eating his way through two pouches of cat food a day. At 817g he can safely hibernate - he just doesn't want to! 

If you have room in your shed/garage to over-winter a hog, call your local wildlife rescue centre and ask if they have any they need farming out. The centres I know of are all overwhelmed and would really appreciate the help.

Into Hibernation (for those UK mammals which hibernate)

 "Oh, is that for me?"

The hog I got via Lorcan from West Midlands Hedgehog Rescue centre is now fat enough to attempt hibernation, so he's going in the shed. Hedgehogs have to be over 650g to make it through the winter, so if you see a small one, please grab it and contain it and ring St Tiggywinkles for help.

Hooray for the EA

Huge hedgehog who is currently visiting our garden.

Super email from the Environment Agency outlining several options for the management of next year's strimming. It is really encouraging that they have listened and taken our concerns on board.

Into Autumn with Hedgehogs

The garden hedgehogs are still coming to feed, but I've just this evening taken charge of this juvenile from the West Midlands Hedgehogs Rescue Centre so I can feed him up and make sure he overwinters safely. Underweight hogs won't make it through hibernation, so it's important that if you see a little one at this time of year, you try to contain it and call St Tiggywinkles for advice on your nearest wildlife hospital. http://www.sttiggywinkles.org.uk/

Positive Meeting with the EA

 So long - see you in the spring!

A really positive chat this morning with three members of the Environment Agency about how the brook is going to be managed in the next few months, to help both flood management and wildlife. It's crucial that properties are protected, but if the stretches where there is only one vole-friendly bank can be less harshly strimmed, perhaps with a narrow fringe left, then that will be helpful. The biodiversity officer also mentioned that he'd spotted Himalayan Balsam in some patches, so we need to root that out before it gets a hold.

Blog-wise I doubt there'll be any more water vole sightings till next February/March now, but I'll post about the hedgehogs and anything else that pops up over the next four months. In the meantime, feed and water your hogs and garden birds, check your bonfires before lighting them, log anything unusual with your favourite wildlife database, and above all, look after yourself. I have a feeling it's going to be a hard winter.