Sunday 6 May 2012

Prees Branch and Grocontinental



Baby frog, well camouflaged, near Boodles Bridge on the Prees Branch Canal.

Below, various latrines on the ditch by Grocontinental. 






Edgeley Road vole

Had a report of a sighting on the Prees Branch Canal nature reserve, so I went to check. Pretty much all vole signs disappeared from this stretch last year and we're not sure why. (I suspect mink, myself.) So today I had a good look round the banks near the bridge, but wasn't able to find anything other than a possible burrow and a tiny bit of feeding.

However, I've been in this situation before: drawn a blank on field signs, and then spotted an actual vole just as I was about to give up. The lady who sent the report in knows what she's talking about so I have no doubt there's some vole activity there. Just not the numbers we had previously. I hope the colony can build back up again this summer.

Meanwhile, in the ditch by Grocontinental, there are latrines, prints, feeding and burrows all the way along. We'll have to see how the year progresses.

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