23 Feb

I’ve had several more visits to Rooksbury throughout February and still no water vole sightings. On a plus side the number of droppings I’ve seen has increased dramatically especially between the two bridges near the car park. Fingers crossed that with the warmer weather coming I’ll get some good spots. Lots of bird activity as usual with both the kingfisher and waterrail making appearances again. There are several goldcrests all over the wooded areas, and some lovely thrushes as well. I watched two grey squirrels chasing each other madly in the wooded area behind the mill for about ten minutes, with a third content to be by its self before they all headed further into the wood
On Sunday the 22 Feb I attended another TVCC and HWT work party at Anton Lakes. Nine of us spent a very happy five hours cutting down trees to bring some much needed sun light on to the banks of the River Anton. The added light will encourage more plants to grow on the banks providing cover and food for a large section of wildlife, the water vole included. The river seems to be, from a novice’s point of view, in good shape, if you can ignore the pockets of litter. The cutting down of dead trees with branches overhanging the river will also ensure the amount of fallen branches that fall and block the river flow and cause sediment to build up will be greatly reduced. Just lifting several branches out of the water caused the sediment to be washed away leaving the water free to run clear again.