Vole Love Again

Above: @Clairey2112's amazing capture of mating water voles, something I've only seen once and never managed to photograph. Mating can be quite violent, as the male scruffs the female to hold her still. Assuming a pregnancy occurs, the pups will be born in 21-22 days' time and there'll be between 3 and 8 of them. They'll emerge from the burrow around four weeks later.

Below: a White Lion Meadow vole. There were two about last night, one down by the wood yard.

You can see more of @Clairey2112's stunning photos at Mrs Scattercushion's wildlife photos. 

The First Timber Yard Vole of the Year

Mad Celandine Feeding Frenzy

Why Water Voles Leave Starry Footprints

 A good example of the starry-paw formation!

Keenly Waiting for Other Colonies

The action's still all at White Lion Meadow, though I did hear a vole crunching reeds today at Edgeley Road...

As We Move Towards April

 Typical starry prints

Tell-tale Prints

It's been a couple of weeks since I've had a sighting, but I knew the voles were about because of their paw prints in the mud. Early in the year this is sometimes the only field sign, and it's not always reliable because rat prints can look very similar. Water vole paw prints tend to be more splayed, though - what we call "starry". And here's a vole to prove ownership.