Males and Females

 Droppings ALL OVER this pallet. Whoever lives here is making a statement.

Baby blackbird in our garden.

I've never handled a water vole so have no experience of sexing them - if they're anything like dormice and bank voles, then the method of telling males and females apart is to gauge the distance between the anus and genital opening, two tiny holes fairly close together, so potentially tricky. There's certainly no obvious way to tell a water vole's gender as it swims past or eats a stalk of grass.

However, if the animal is seen topping up a big latrine, it's likely to be female as males' latrines are smaller and there aren't as many. I've also read that males have a bit more of a ruff around their necks, though it's a subtle distinction. Anyway, on this latter premise I think the top three photos are a lady vole and the three below a chap.