Late or absent?

Comma butterfly at the railway bridge near Homebase

Frog gearing up to mate in our pond

Water vole latrine in the ditch by Grocontinental

Feeding (definitely not field vole!) at the Prees Branch Canal

Droppings at the railway bridge near Homebase

Latrine at White Lion Meadow - but is it water vole?

Everything seems to be emerging, apart from the voles. I'm beginning to wonder whether there are any at White Lion Meadow this year: in 2008 they made their appearance in February, and in 2007 it was March 1st. It's true the weather's been colder, but even so I thought I might have had a sighting by now.

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Meanwhile Lorcan's developed his Whitchurch Pate so it has a wick and can draw up moisture from the mud below to keep the top layer of clay nice and soft. I've found that the version with the oasis under the clay lasts fine, for a fortnight at least, if you wrap it well with cling film.

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.

The "Whitchurch Plate"

Using the Isle of Wight 'vole spoon' as an inspiration (http://staggsbrook.blogspot.com/2009/01/vole-spoons.html ) Lorcan from the Whitchurch Water Vole group's come up with the Whitchurch Plate, an overnight tracking device designed to gather evidence of water vole presence quickly. He's used a metal collar with swivelling legs at one side that can be sunk into the bank either vertically or horizontally. The plate - an ordinary dinner plate - is spread with soft clay in the same way as a mink raft, then balanced on top of the metal frame. Then you add a few bits of chopped apple and leave for 12-24 hours (maybe 48 maximum). The whole contraption's attached to a bit of string so you can pull it out easily, doing minimum damage to the bank side.

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To improve the model further, we need to attach the plate securely to the collar - use a plastic plate with holes drilled in the sides and fastened with wire, maybe. We also could put a thin layer of soaked oasis under the clay to keep it moist, as the mix I spread on the test plate dried out slightly and therefore we only got muddy footprints from the voles rather than indented ones.

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Still, essentially it works, and is a LOT less cumbersome than a mink raft!

Vole Spoons

Some clever people on the Isle of Wight have come up with a tracking method called a vole spoon, which I thought was incredibly neat. They recycle old plywood blades off wind turbines, smear them with a layer of mud and push the pointed end into the wet river bank at water level. The 'spoons' are baited with a bit of apple and left overnight, and if water voles are about, they should leave tracks. The whole thing's a lot more portable and discreet than a mink raft, it has to be said.

More information in the Island Trust's newsletter: http://www.island2000.org.uk/newsletters/2008mar.pdf
and here's a spoon in situ: http://www.flickr.com/photos/island2000conservation/2386392369/

A similar size and thickness of palette could be fashioned without too much difficulty, if you don't have any spare turbine blades knocking about!

Update: I've been talking about the vole spoon on the excellent Wild About Britain forum, and several points came out of the discussion that I'd like to use to clarify the information here.
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Firstly, it would be crucial to site the spoon somewhere it wasn't exposed, because obviously the last thing you want is to encourage predators to pick off your water voles as they feed. Nestled down among tall reeds, for instance, might be a good spot.
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Secondly, the spoon, as I understand it, is meant to be used infrequently - at most, once a season per stretch? - and for a day/night only. If you left it in place permanently, it might again encourage predators to pick off your voles.
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Lastly, it's not meant to be a replacement for survey work. Surveys which count and record field signs like latrines and burrows and feeding stations are crucial in monitoring water vole populations, and in getting to know particular areas and habitats. However, there may be occasions when you need proof of water vole presence quickly - for a building developer or a council, say, or after a bad flood - or when you can't examine the full length of a bank because it's mostly inaccessible.