Four Sites

 Vole, latrine, burrow and feeding at the railway bridge by Homebase

 Latrine (and trolleys) at White Lion Meadow

 Great habitat at Steel Grange - we found droppings, feeding and burrows.

Edgeley Road vole

This morning I visited the colony near Homebase, and immediately spotted the vole in the top photo. There were plenty of burrows, and though I didn't get down into the water channel and have a good poke about, the feeding signs and droppings were obvious even from the top of the bank.

Next I took a walk into town and glanced over the bridge in the main town car park (White Lion Meadow) to see this latrine laid out on a stone. So it looks as if there's at least one breeding female on that site.

Then this afternoon I went with a group to Steel Heath to examine good and bad water vole habitat. The bad habitat was a ditch too overshadowed with trees to have any useful vegetation growing underneath, and even in the patches where the trees thinned out, the bank had been poached by horses in the field. 

Just a few hundred yards away, however, was a friend's garden where an open stretch of brook ran through and there was lots of cover and food for voles. After a little searching we found droppings, feeding, burrows and trackways. The landowner here, as on the first site I visited, is nature-savvy and doesn't use chemical sprays or over-strim the riparian vegetation. It's always heartening to meet wildlife-guardians like these.

Winding up the year

Wee field mouse who jumped in our bird food bin.

It's the time of year when I check up on all the local colonies and see how they're doing. So far I've had a look at the field behind Saddler's Walk, or Mossfields as it's known, and also at Mike and Carolyn's voles out at Steel Heath. In both cases there was some feeding but no obvious latrines: I suspect both ditches have suffered through lack of rain this summer. However, there clearly was some water vole presence, so that's encouraging.

Eagle-eyes

Above, an active burrow at Steel Heath.

This is often what you have to fight through!

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Below, water vole droppings at the Country Park. (Click to enlarge, if necessary.)

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You do need usually to get right down close to the bank if you're going to spot water vole signs. This time of year that means wearing thick trousers, waterproof boots, full-length sleeves and stout gloves. Carrying a stick to part the tall reeds, and dousing yourself in insect repellent's a must: a pair of gardening shears or sharp scissors doesn't go amiss, either. What you're looking for is droppings less than the length of a 1p coin, that are the same colour as the mud they're sitting on - you really do need sharp eyes. Any vegetation you push aside MUST be put back to cover the bank back up and protect the voles.

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Anyway, in summary, there are burrows and feeding at Steel Heath, and droppings and feeding in Whitchurch Country Park.

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Comparison between rat and water vole droppings

On a stretch of the Soulton Brook this morning I discovered not only plenty of water vole feeding, but also these bigger droppings above (left) which are rat. I thought it was useful to see the two animals' together, for comparison. The water vole (right) are significantly smaller and more rounded. Quick reminder about rats and health & safety here: http://staggsbrook.blogspot.com/2008/04/rats-and-weils-disease-taking.html

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The top photograph is one of the Cromford voles, snapped by John Harding. It shows the distinctive orange enamel of an adult water vole's teeth.

More on the Whitchurch Plate

Droppings under the bridge near Homebase

Possible feeding station at White Lion Meadow.

I've still had no sightings of voles at White Lion Meadow car park, though there are droppings and what's probably a feeding station (above) so I have to assume they're around. It's been bitterly cold here so perhaps breeding's delayed this year.

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We tried out the tweaked version of the tracking plate - now made of plastic, cable-tied to the metal frame and with sodden oasis under the clay - at Steel Heath, and got a surprising result (top photo). Are the footprints rat or water vole? And why hasn't the apple been eaten? The plate was left for 24 hours in a quiet ditch, so I have no idea why the bait didn't go.

Training Day

Rosemary finds some feeding

Smashing day in Tilstock training up new water vole surveyors. We spent the morning indoors, with Malcolm and Anne Monie looking at how to spot field signs and ways to map and to record them, plus I did a brief spot on mink rafts.
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Then after lunch we went out to Steel Heath and did some survey work there. Happily we were able to tick off pretty much all the signs we'd been discussing - prints, feeding, trackways, burrows and latrines. There was the usual field/water vole overlap, but much of it was positively water vole.
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Thanks to Clive Dean and Shropshire County Council Countryside Service for organizing the day. Because this course was so over-subscribed, there'll be another training day in the Spring.