Sadly, no. It was a very hard winter, and mortality rates are so high.
I spend literally hours a week looking, and spend far more time drawing a blank than seeing something. Have you contacted the wildlife trust re good places to watch water voles? Or take a trip to Cromford - the voles there are practically throwing themselves in front of your camera!
I have done many Water Vole surveys for the Wildlife Trust and drew many blanks. Fortunately about 500m from where I live there is (was?) a Water Vole colony. There does seem to be signs of feeding, so perhaps they survived the winter flooding.
Be sure and let me have the link if you do! The main purpose of this blog is to provide records, so if colonies are threatened by (for example) developers, I have evidence of water vole presence. But I also saw it was a way of bringing together water vole information and contacts. If we could build up a network, so much the better!
I'm thinking, it's unlikey there's just the one colony near you. Have a look at ditches and ponds in the vicinity, too. W-vs do seem sometimes to live in the most unpromising, unlikely places.
Are you 'Views of the Ock'? I tried to leave a comment there - fantastic work! - but I just kept getting an error message. I've bookmarked the site, anyway.
Yes, 'views of the ock' is my blog, thanks for the encouragement and at last I have a water vole picture on there now. I'm going to follow your advice and start exploring the surrounding ditches and brooks.
Not sure why the comment wasn't working, but I have had some problems with the links to Google Maps, which I've now fixed.
You do seemed spoilt for Water Voles. So far here in Oxfordshire I've only found circumstantial signs of feeding.
ReplyDeleteAny news on Spot?
Sadly, no. It was a very hard winter, and mortality rates are so high.
ReplyDeleteI spend literally hours a week looking, and spend far more time drawing a blank than seeing something. Have you contacted the wildlife trust re good places to watch water voles? Or take a trip to Cromford - the voles there are practically throwing themselves in front of your camera!
I have done many Water Vole surveys for the Wildlife Trust and drew many blanks.
ReplyDeleteFortunately about 500m from where I live there is (was?) a Water Vole colony.
There does seem to be signs of feeding, so perhaps they survived the winter flooding.
Perhaps, I'll start a blog as well....
Be sure and let me have the link if you do! The main purpose of this blog is to provide records, so if colonies are threatened by (for example) developers, I have evidence of water vole presence. But I also saw it was a way of bringing together water vole information and contacts. If we could build up a network, so much the better!
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking, it's unlikey there's just the one colony near you. Have a look at ditches and ponds in the vicinity, too. W-vs do seem sometimes to live in the most unpromising, unlikely places.
Are you 'Views of the Ock'? I tried to leave a comment there - fantastic work! - but I just kept getting an error message. I've bookmarked the site, anyway.
ReplyDeleteYes, 'views of the ock' is my blog, thanks for the encouragement and at last I have a water vole picture on there now.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to follow your advice and start exploring the surrounding ditches and brooks.
Not sure why the comment wasn't working, but I have had some problems with the links to Google Maps, which I've now fixed.