Habitat Destruction

Above: Edgeley Road voles.

Below, the destruction at Edward German Drive.

Water voles and their habitat are clearly protected by law - Section 26 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act - but some landowners think they are above it. They are not.

I have reported this habitat destruction to the Environment Agency who will be speaking to the person responsible. Vegetation was not only felled but left to clog the stream, increasing flood risk. The bank isn't even his property: it is owned by Shropshire Council and managed by the EA.

I am especially angry because I contacted this person the week before and told him of the legal situation and asked him to leave the banks alone. Habitat destruction of protected species can also be reported directly to local Wildlife Crime police officers.

Mystery

Above, weedkiller used by the timber yard.

Below, weedkiller used by the main town car park.

The grass was also mown here, outside Centre North East.

 Map showing with a W where the weedkiller has been used.

Below, a map showing where the mowing and weedkiller has been used between the Newport Road and Edward German Drive.

Having received no reply to my email to the council, I asked them about it on Twitter. Shropshire Council Twitter feed say it isn't them, even though two days ago a householder on Edward German Drive rang their Head of Grounds Maintenance and he said it was. The council are saying it's the Environment Agency. So I've reported it to the EA and they are looking into it.

I'm not out to blame or shame anyone. I just want whoever did it to realise they got it wrong and put in steps to make sure it doesn't happen again. Using weedkiller by water courses is against the law, even if there isn't a protected species present.

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.

Monitoring the Pollution at Edgeley Road

 At White Lion Meadow, the voles are using, as a territorial marker, the barrier that's been thrown in by vandals.

Roosting Silver Studded Blue butterflies on Prees Heath.

Meanwhile, at Edgeley Road, the mat of debris is breaking up in the polluted brook but it's still smelling and you can tell it's not clean. The EA are working to stop more chemicals leaking in.

I'm seeing three juvenile voles and a large adult on that particular stretch at the moment.

Whitethroat

Slow worm we saw on Whixall Moss

The Environment Agency, Green Horizons Contractors, and vole-friendly maintenance: a story of good communications.

Water courses can be cleared to minimise flood risk without harming water voles or their cover. The EA not only contacted the Whitchurch Water Vole Group prior to their work to check we thought it was OK for the voles, but sent us regular updates via social media. A friend of mine who lives locally says she saw even one of the men sitting reading a book about water voles during his break. 

So many thanks to them, and to Green Horizons contractors. I went down last night and saw this vole above happily eating, and swimming up and down the newly-strimmed banks, still with plenty of cover to hide in.