Back Again at Tesco

Signs in the field off Edgeley Road

Below: signs at Railwayman's Cottage

Below: finally, after a gap of two months, a water vole at White Lion Meadow (Tesco).

A Round-up of Some Sites

Water vole signs at the Railwayman's Cottage (near Homebase)

Below, Black Park Road and water vole signs there.

 And lastly, these signs below are at the ditch in Broughall. 

buzzard

Dropping and some feeding at Moss Field, behind Saddler's Walk estate.

Below, the excellent habitat that is Railwayman's Cottage.

I've left it too late this year to do a good survey of Moss Field or the Railwayman's Cottage, but at the former there were a few signs I managed to see among the incredibly dense vegetation, showing that the voles are still there. Then I popped up to the cottage and was thrilled to meet the new owners who are entirely pro-vole and wanted to know what they could do to improve habitat. It's such a relief to know that colony is in safe hands. Next spring I'll get in sooner, before the coverage gets too thick to move around in.

Further Afield

Timber yard vole

Above: feeding at Railwayman's Cottage. Below: feeding at the back of Wayland's Road

White Lion Meadow vole that's blind in one eye.

What look like water vole burrows at the edge of Wem Moss.

You can follow the Staggsbrook along from the timber yard behind Tesco, through White Lion Meadow car park and down Edward German Drive, then into Wayland Road and to Railwayman's Cottage (the bridge by Homebase), and see water vole signs all the way along. Mostly it's feeding and burrows - I'm not seeing many latrines so far this year - but there is clear activity right through. 

Meanwhile the Whitchurch Water Vole Group has surveyed the stretch of brook as it comes out on the other side of town, along Greenfields and into the nature reserve. Again, there were plenty of signs and even a sighting. So it's looking like a decent start to the year.

The burrows at the edge of Wem Moss were a surprise, though. I know there are plenty of colonies around Whixall, but this stream's black, acid and peaty and just doesn't look very inviting. It goes to show, water voles keep you on your toes!

First Photo of 2015

 White Lion Meadow vole (next to the car park at Tesco)

 Pringles-tube-sized burrows at Greenfields (Whitchurch Country Park), the railway bridge near Homebase (Railwayman's Cottage), Broughall, Black Park Road and Edward German Drive.

Feeding, plus the only latrine I've seen so far this year (at Edward German Drive)

There are signs along the whole of this stretch.

Not a water vole, but a bank vole (I think) which swam out in front of me in the Country Park, and paddled about for a while.

The photo's poor because the light levels were low, but it was great to watch this healthy-looking water vole yesterday evening. At long last burrows are appearing, but not really any latrines yet. The Whitchurch water voles are really behind in their schedule this year. Let's hope the warm weather spurs them on.

A Few Tentative Signs

I brought Y-Boy in for weighing and re-marking, and he's almost a kilogram!

 Water vole feeding at the back of Saddler's Walk (Mossfields)

 Above, invisible skylarks, and below, lapwings out at Broughall

 Water vole prints in the mud at Broughall

A burrow and a buzzard at the Railwayman's cottage near Homebase.

No water vole colony in Whitchurch seems to have woken up much yet, though there are a few feeding signs at Mossfields, prints at Broughall, and a couple of burrows near Homebase. This gives me a bit more hope that things are generally late, rather than one colony having suffered some sort of collapse. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed. It's been cold here and the frogs haven't even begin to think about mating.