A smattering of voles

Wet and wild weather most of the weekend, coupled with an exhausting week at work put a bit of a crimp in my wildlife watching, so this will be a bit of a short post! 

We spent a couple of hours watching the Water Voles on Saturday, after the worst of the heavy showers had blown over. There are quite a few juveniles out and about now; we saw a couple of half-grown youngsters happily foraging - although still spending time with their mother- as well as a very tiny, black-coated baby just starting to come out of the burrow for short explorations.

Juvenile Water Vole

Young Water Vole

The adult female is remarkably relaxed, and came incredibly close to me, swimming past just yards from my nose! The male was also out and about, although he seemed to be on a bit of a mission - swimming up & down his stretch of stream at top-speed, a little like a furry wind-up bath toy. I've got a few more shots in mind after seeing their activity, so I'll be paying them another visit on my day off on Wednesday; weather permitting.

We also took another drive around the Aldbourne area, mainly to point out a few of the best fields for Brown Hares this season to my friend, Steve. We arrived in the area around 5.30, so it was a little bit earlier in the evening then our last couple of visits. The optimal time forgetting the hares active seems to be about 7pm onwards; we quickly spotted a number resting in the fields, but with their heads down & showing few signs of movement. However we did find one juvenile resting on the edge of the hedgerow right by the side of the road, so hopefully Steve got some decent shots before it spooked & dashed off into the cover of the oil-seed rape. As the evening wore on, the hares became more active - and we also had a few Roe Deer appearing out of the thickets to graze, too.  

Distant Brown Hare

The usual Pheasants, Red-legged Partridges, Red Kites etc were all present - and we had a close encounter with one of the local Buzzards, who glided along above the road just ahead of the car. We also spotted one of the small population of Jays; always a pleasure to see.