Now the water vole breeding season has commenced, along with more clement weather and the the water side vegetation having not yet started to grow, it is probably the best time of the year to observe water voles.
Between 6.30 and 7.30 in the evening is as good as time as any to observe them, as they swim across the river...
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Or lurk just inside their burrows...
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Or just lurk on the river bank....
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Or lurk in the river itself....
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Or being argumentative with each other, possibly this is a female fending off the unwelcome advances of a male.
Several posts on this blog have discussed introduced species - mink, rabbits, himalayan balsam and recently grey squirrels. But there is one introduced animal that is more likely to divide opinion than the domestic cat (Felius Catus):
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It is believed that cats were domesticated by the ancient Egyptians and originated in the middle east 100,000 years ago, possibly arriving in the UK with roman settlers. Since then they have become a regular part of our lifestyle. Their excellent hunting skills have helped humans deal with vermin, but now that predatory skill is possibly affecting wildlife. The RSPB estimate they are responsible for 275,000,000 animal deaths each year:
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Certainly when we were growing up, one of our cats had a habit of leaving dead and dieing animals on our beds - maybe they were a gift or maybe she wanted to teach us how to hunt, whatever the reason, there were seldom birds in our garden.
Interestingly, the RSPB research states that despite thelarge number of animal casualties attributed to cats they do not affect the long term animal populations, as the mortality rates of bird and small mammal is so high that most of them would have perished from other causes - disease, lack of food, predated by other animals - for more information: http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/gardening/unwantedvisitors/cats/birddeclines.aspx
Even so, cats are a frequent sight along the ock and must have some affect on environment, this one for example is investigating what looks like a water vole burrow.
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A common mammal along the ock valley walk is the grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis):
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Introduced by our Victorian ancestors, they have become widespread and are an entertaining sight in most parks and gardens (this picture was taken in the Abbey Gardens in Abingdon).
But they are also seen as an eccological disaster (like most alien species) and held responsible for declines in dormouse numbers - by out competing them for food; killing ancient trees - hormonally charged males striping the bark, killing the tree; and reducing the song bird population - by eating eggs and fledglings (although research last year by the BTO seems to refute this: http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8448000/8448807.stm)
However, it's most evident victim is it's native british cousin - the red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris). By out competing for food, habitat and spreading the parapox virus (fatal to red squirrels but grey squirrels are immune) the population has been reduced to 120,000 (compared to 6 million greys) with a majority being in Scotland and only fragmented populations in England - Thetford Forest (Norfolk), Brownsea Island (Dorest) and the Isle of White - where this picture was taken at the start of the year:
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Inspired by Kate's success in finding water vole feeding signs and latrines (http://staggsbrook.blogspot.com/2011/03/when-voles-grow-wings.html) and the nice weather this morning, I took the opportunity of a walk to work to look for evidence of water voles on the lower ock near ladygrove field and was pleased to see what seems like signs of feeding:
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Then to prove these are feeding signs, a water vole appeared:
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It's always pleasing to see that these small creatures have survived what has been a harsh winter.
The snowdrops are starting to fade from their former glory, but are being replaced along the Ock Valley Walk by another Monocotyledon (plants that grow from bulbs) - the daffodil (genus Narcissus).
The Collins complete guide to British Wildflowers describes the wild daffodil as pale yellow outer segments and a yellow trumpet. There are several clumps forming alongside the river, but none of them match this description and probably, like the aforementioned snowdrops, have spread from nearby gardens.
Some of them are in bloom.
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Whilst some are yet to flower:
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Even if they're not native, they are a pleasant site on what has been several dank and cold days.
