Never give up hope...

In April, I wrote a blog post about Radley Brook, a stream which joins the river Thames at North Abingdon - which I frequent for my lunch time walks:

http://viewsoftheock.blogspot.com/2009/04/radley-brook.html

As I discussed in the post, it is where, after a few years doing water vole surveys I saw my first water vole (and is where I took the picture I use on my profile)
During the following three years I have had no sightings, seen no signs of feeding and no signs of vole activity on Radley Brook- until today. With the brook very high with water from the Thames, I saw a water vole swim under a fallen tree, through the reeds and into the bank.

This is great news, as it proves the colony hasn't collapsed and fears that mink had moved into the area - at the moment - seem unfounded.
I've updated my map with the latest sighting.


View Water Voles in the River Ock - Abingdon, 2009 in a larger map

And I'll record it when I complete the Wildlife Trusts water vole survey in a few weeks time. Unfortunately no picture, but that's one of my challenges for next week.