Return to Sandford Brook

Sandford Brook is a tributary of the Ock and has featured several times in this blog. Most recently in May this year where the possibility of water vole burrows was discussed:
http://viewsoftheock.blogspot.com/2010/05/signs-of-life-on-sandford-brook.html

Now four months later, the meadow has been cut it is easier to explore along the bank, but where there was once possible water vole signs, now it is just  dead sedge and no obvious signs of feeding or burrows:
.

.

.
Further upstream, is a burrow made by a different animal.  At first sight it might appear to have been made by a water vole as there is cut grass stems in the entrance:.
.

.
But with a bit of patience, the burrows creator reveals itself, a crayfish. Although not obvious in this picture (it was getting very dark), it is the white blotch on the hinge of the claw that marks it as one of the non-native crayfish:
.

.
Maybe the earlier signs were false alarms, but at the moment there seems to be no obvious signs of water voles at this part of Sandford Brook.  Now autumn is here, the days are getting longer and the breeding season is over, the chance of finding any definite signs is remote.
However, further upstream, it has been a good year for water voles on Sandford Brook with several sightings from the hide at the Lasford Len Fen nature reserve, one of the reserves that make up the Cothill Fens.

Views of Norfolk

Several days spent in a converted windmill next to the river Yare in the Norfolk Broads provided plenty of opportunities for wildlife encounters not usually seen in Oxfordshire.

The north Norfolk coast is a mecca for birdspotters, but it is the seals on Blakeney point we came to see:

.
Both types of UK resident seal (grey and common seal) can be seen via one of the several boat trips out to the seal colonies:
.

.
The birds that make Blakeney and Clay marshes famous are usually absent in September, the summer breeders have left and the winter migrants have not yet returned, but the occasional visitor can be seen, including a black tern.  A bird that has not breed in the UK since the 19th century, so this is probably a migrant from Europe:
.

.
From the windmill itself a stoat could be seen hunting (although never successfully).  Stoats are very common throughout England (a population of several hundred thousand is estimated in the Collins complete guide to British Animals) and although I have seen them on several occasions in Oxfordshire, this is the first time I've actually managed to get a photograph:
.

.
The broads and fens are a great place to explore and the RSPB reserve at Strumpshaw Fen is a particular gem, wading birds, marsh harriers flying overhead and the opportunity for what is probably the best kingfisher photograph I'll take:
.

Random Stuff

Sorting out the 4Gb of pictures that were still on the memory card of my camera - most were rubbish; some have been posted before; some are irrelevant (a picture of Fairlop tube station !?!) and some are interesting, but did not seem to relate to any particular subject or were part of an ill fated post that was never completed.
These have been collated into a kind of miscellaneous post:
Grasshoppers: Despite their difference colours, these two are possibly 'common green grasshoppers', which aren't always green, they can also be grey or brown. Seen in the Ock meadows in August.
.

.

.

Radley Brook: Whilst waiting for the previously mentioned water vole to make an appearance (or not as the case may be), there are plenty of other things to see, including a sparrowhawk.  One of the four birds of prey that can seen in the area (buzzard, red kite and kestrel being the others, it is an objective of this blog to get decent pictures of all of them).
.

.
Orange Balsam, is a relative to the dreaded to himalayan balsam and is also an introduced plant that has escaped into the wild.  But unlike it's relative it is not as invasive and is rather attractive:
.

.
Dragonfly: A photograph of this particular dragonfly has appeared elsewhere in this blog, but in retrospect, I prefer this picture:
.

.
Wytham Woods: This rather impressive bracket fungus (with less impressive camera focus) in Wytham Woods near Oxford:
.

.
A small toad, also seen in Wytham Woods:
.

.
Managed by the University of Oxford Wildlife Conservation Unit, it has been intention to write a blog post about this fascinating place for a while. But like Sandford Brook, the Cothill Fens and the rivers Stert and Thames, it will have to remain on the list of posts that never seem to get written....

More from Radley Brook

Maybe the water vole has learnt that a regular supply of apples is available at about 12.30 (and occasionally 6pm) as it was soon eating the latest offering on Friday:
.

.

.
Although only 3 seconds long, this is probably the most interesting clip and hopefully answers Rachel's comment on the previous post - it shows two water voles being argumentative over the apple core:
.

Return to Radley Brook

Radley Brook has featured occasionally in this blog, usually stagnant, it runs next to the Thames footpath for a short distance to the east of Abingdon.
.

.
It is now full of sedge and the water can hardly be seen:
.

.
It was once home to a thriving water vole colony and is where I saw my first ever water vole.  But that was several years ago and the sounds of water voles swimming and eating the sedge can no longer be heard.
It is also near the place where I saw my first ever live mink back in March:
.
http://viewsoftheock.blogspot.com/2010/03/mink-by-river-thames.html
.
As most water vole aficionados know, mink are credited with the massive decline in water vole numbers in recent years and probably explains the fate of this colony.
Even if mink are in the area, if you keep your eyes and ears open, the occasional rustle in the sedge could be a moorhen or something else. 
Using an apple as a bait and a lot of patience (it took 1.5 hours over three days to get this picture) the culprit is revealed, what appears to be a juvenile water vole:
.

.

.
As a result, the 2010 water vole map can have an unexpected pin placed in it (green), the red pin shows the location of the mink:
.

View Water voles 2010 in a larger map

Maybe the mink is no longer in the area (moved on or dead) or perhaps the huge sedge makes the brook less appealing for mink.  Whatever the reason, it seems there is still a breeding population of water voles in the brook, maybe not as large or obvious as before, but they're still there.