May Voles, and More

Above: White Lion Meadow voles, including babies.

Greater Spotted Woodpecker, and green-veined orchid.

Pied flycatcher

Above, burrows and droppings at Edgeley Road. below, a chiff chaff.

I have seen three GSWs in as many weeks, all in different locations. This unusual for me.

First Baby Vole of the Year

                     

Small baby water vole just caught at the bottom of the frame. They are the size of bank voles and field voles, but much darker in colour.

Possibly mother or father vole.

Baby peers out cautiously.

 Below, adult voles.

Pregnant Female?

 

Pipe Vole

The Fatness of Water Voles

 

Bee fly, and pied flycatcher.

Water voles are well-rounded and plump - they eat 70% of their body weight every day, from a range of at least 227 different species of plants. This one is eating catkins covered in protein-rich pollen.

Sightings Are Irregular

 ....and I'm still having difficulty walking, so all but the town colony are off-limits to me at the moment. But every few evenings, I get a sighting.

Disabled-access Voles

 

The summer before I began this blog, back in 2006, I remember driving my mum onto the main town car park, helping her into her wheelchair and pushing her onto the little bridge. From there she could easily see several water voles and we had a lovely half hour. This colony is very accessible and not as shy as non-town water voles, which means that even though I'm on crutches, I can hobble across to look at them and even get photos.