Christmas Eve Water Vole!

 Cormorant

 Fieldfare

 Kestrel

 Blue tit

 Chaffinch

 Greater Spotted woodpecker

 Lapwing

 Nuthatch

 Snipe

 Field vole

I was amazed to see this water vole in the brook near Tesco's on Christmas Eve. I know that although water voles spend most of their winter underground, they do come up regularly for a spot of greenery. I've never seen one, though!

December Starlings

I don't normally post over the winter, but it's been such a joy to watch this murmuration of starlings over Whixall Moss.

So Long Till Spring

It's unlikely I'll see any more water voles till February/March time. They'll be underground, feeding on roots, till the warmer weather. So I shan't be posting much till then.

Have a safe autumn and winter and I'll see you in the spring. x

Last Few Sightings

Three Voles and a Mouse

We're gearing up for winter and the water voles going underground, but I'm still getting sightings at White Lion Meadow car park, sometimes two at a time. I also found this feisty wood mouse sheltering under some rubbish.

The Environment Agency

  

White Lion Meadow and Timber Yard voles and latrines.

The strimming that the Environment Agency have done along the banks of the Staggs Brook looks dramatic, but it's been carefully managed with water voles in mind. The EA contacted us beforehand to discuss what they were going to do and ask if we had any thoughts, and then they did this cutting where they leave one bank alone completely and reduce the vegetation on the other, but crucially leaving a margin of cover along the water's edge. If only all habitat management was this sensitive and informed.

Drawing to a Close

I may not get many more sightings at Edgeley Road now. The voles there tend to go invisible towards the end of September. But I generally see voles at White Lion Meadow car park through October, even occasionally into November. As usual this blog will, like the voles, go into semi-hibernation during the months December and January because there won't be much to report. 

White Lion Meadow

In spite of the rubbish that's continually thrown into the brook by Tesco, the voles manage to navigate their way up and down. Here they have been using the council's plastic barrier (one of two) as a latrine. Incidentally, we always say that water vole droppings are "rounded at both ends", but this one hasn't read the handbook.

The bottom photo is a shy Edgeley Road vole.