#water vole

[scrixels]

Ida the Vole - my Apawthecaria character!

[i-am-worm]

Inktober 52 2024 - Week 28 - 'Ratty'

What else but ratty from the Wind in the willows!...not actually a rat, rather a water vole. But who cares, here is ratty telling you of the spirit of the river, and how the water calls him south.

I feel like I grew up on various retelling of the wind in the willows, but my all-time favourite version is this one:

Bonus Petri and lab rat I started doodling under the cut.

[bumblebeeappletree]

For years, Derek Gow worked his 400-acres in western England as a conventional sheep and cattle farm. But as both a farmer and conservationist, he knew that wasn’t right for nature. Now, he’s using his experience with British rewilding projects to return his land to what it once was: a healthy, biodiverse ecosystem.

He took down the fences and sold off the livestock, replacing domesticated animals with ancestral species, chosen for the way they create habitat for wild creatures, large and small.

Derek also reintroduced beavers to his land. Beavers had virtually disappeared from England, but Derek was on the forefront of reestablishing the species. Known for their ability as eco-engineers, they return the landscape to a natural, healthy state and restore water to the ecosystem. He’s also breeding a smaller cousin of the beaver that is another important eco-architect: water voles. They had also almost vanished, having lost the water features needed for their survival. His large-scale breeding program will export water voles throughout Britain to restore habitat and provide prey for raptors and other predators.

Piece by piece, Derek Gow is reassembling the puzzle that was the wild landscape of Great Britain, and restoring hope along the way.

Learn more about this story and ways that YOU can get involved in saving your local biodiversity by becoming a Wild Hoper:

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[birdblues]

Water Vole

[rainstormcolors]

I just watched a PBS show featuring water voles and I love them. Look at these cuties. Credit to http://www.uk-wildlife.co.uk/photographing-water-voles/ for the photographs.

[saanakirja]

[dansnaturepictures]

Seven of my favourite photos I took in July 2023 and month summary

The photos are of; Marmalade hoverfly at Egleton Nature Reserve at Rutland Water, view at Andrews Mare in the New Forest, Brown Hairstreak at Shipton Bellinger, Chalkhill Blue at Stockbridge Down, Four-spotted Chaser at Hickling Broad, water mint at Lakeside Country Park and White Storks at Knepp.

July was another fantastic wild month for me with so much seen and so many places visited, a key part of real core weeks in my wildlife year. We saw and did so much it feels as though things right at the start were more than a month ago!

It was one of my greatest ever months of butterflies. There were nine excellent species additions to my year; the dream moment when we were amazed to see a Swallowtail in Norfolk, another very successful Purple Emperor search at Knepp seeing them so well as well as Silver-washed Fritillary, White Admiral and lovely White-letter Hairstreak, always a quintessential summer moment I think seeing beautiful Chalkhill Blues at Stockbridge Down and Brown Hairstreak, Wall Brown and Silver-spotted Skipper on an extraordinary day at Shipton Bellinger and Perham Down making my butterfly year list my highest ever. Purple Hairstreak at Knepp and various times at Lakeside was another key butterfly I loved seeing this month, with Marbled White, Ringlet and Small Skipper enjoyed too. The arrival of Big Butterfly Count was something I enjoyed doing, counting the butterflies to help inform how species are doing again. This also helped uncover (although I’d have surely noticed anyway) for me that we are onto a bumper year of Red Admirals with so many around which has been fun. Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown, Small White, Green-veined White, Holly Blue, Common Blue, Comma, Peacock, Brimstone, Small Copper and Small Tortoiseshell were other of the target species enjoyed, with Brown Argus seen nicely this month too. Six-spot Burnet which I’ve also seen so many of this year and Silver Y are day flying moths in the count I’ve liked seeing this month in another good one for moths with my first ever Forester a pretty one and a Mint moth at Stockbridge Down as well as Synaphe punctalis on that pivotal insect day for me as well as Yellow Shell at Knepp, a few Bird-cherry Ermine at Rutland Water and Shipton Bellinger, Pearl Veneer at Lakeside and Pyrausta nigrata at Shipton Bellinger key ones seen.

Bird wise it was another smashing month, with a charming Ruddy Shelduck seen at Petersfield Heath Pond, an inspiring day at Knepp getting exquisite views of the monumental White Storks young and old, of course another valuable chance to see the astonishing and wondrous Bee-eaters at Trimingham on the Norfolk trip and in among all the inspiring talks and lovely interaction at the Bird Fair my first Green Sandpiper and Yellow-legged Gulls of the year at Rutland Water’s Egleton reserve during that long weekend both top birds of my year. On those two weekends away this month part of one of my best runs of weekends throughout the year with so much packed in and many big trips we like to do going to Norfolk and Rutland stunning views of majestic Marsh Harrier, exceptional views of Osprey including seeing one hunt, Hobby seen extremely well and at both gorgeous Great White Egrets so well established in those areas now were other big highlights, with Egyptian Geese enjoyed at both and the Petersfield Heath Pond visit including seeing young. Sand Martin, Common Tern, Blackcap, Linnet and Yellowhammer were other standouts this month, with the Lakeside Great Crested Grebes with both families doing well I really enjoyed seeing multiple times as well as Moorhens with young, seeing Peregrines in Winchester including the chick Rosie too. I have also really appreciated Swift and House Martin this month especially on patch, and with gull numbers going up again at Lakeside young Black-headed and also an adult Mediterranean Gull were key moments there this month.

It was also one of my best ever months for dazzling dragonflies and damselflies, with our first ever Norfolk Hawkers, Brown Hawker, Ruddy Darter and Emerald Damselfly coming into our year on the Norfolk trip, Brown Hawker enjoyed again alongside immense Southern Hawker views at Rutland Water with Common Darter, Four-spotted Chaser and locally and further afield Black-tailed Skimmer seen well this month. It was a top month of mammals with smashing views of Water Vole and Stoat at Rutland Water and Stockbridge Down on the long weekend, big mammals in what has got to be my best year of mammals with so many amazing species seen. Fallow and Muntjac Deers at Knepp and Norfolk respectively added to those brilliant times. There were lots of great moments with other insects with Black Clock beetle, Peacock butterfly caterpillar and Garden Tiger moth caterpillar at Hickling Broad, Marmalade (also seen at Lakeside) and Long Hoverfly at Egleton, Rutland Water in a strong month of hoverflies, striking and symbolic of summer Cinnabar moth caterpillars first seeing these at Knepp, so many Common Red Soldier beetles seen what a stalwart of summer, Black-and-yellow longhorn beetle something I was fixated on at Lakeside and Meadow grasshopper at Stockbridge Down with Common Field Grasshopper at Lakeside standing out with nice spider moments too.

In my plant year July felt like the very mature time in the flower year it is with some of the last flowers I expect to see blooming including hemp agrimony, water mint and red bartsia. Wild carrot, marjoram and basil, great willowherb, purple loosestrife, bird vetch, pyramidal orchid, St. John’s-wort, centaury, restharrow, scabious, mallow, scarlet pimpernel, many white clovers, rosebay willowherb, lady’s bedstraw, cuckoo-pint and agrimony have been others that stood out this month. With wetland, coast, meadow, rich grassland, lakes and woodland explored I enjoyed many breathtaking and panoramic views this month, as the weather was interestingly changeable. Have a good August all.

[finchcritterart]

Commission for Katiesplat on FurAffinity! Thank you for commissioning me!

[nei-ning]

I went for a walk today with mom. We headed to big cemetery near by (takes about 30-40min to walk there (in one direction)). At one point, by the side of the road, was longer part where was gently running water at the bottom of the ditch.

I instantly spotted this bigger brown fur-looking thing in the water, going down with the water. It was keeping up with our walking speed easily, finally going in this small tunnel which goes under the driveway.

Before this happened, I told mom that there’s some kind of “water lemming” swimming. She didn’t know what it was either. So, when we got back, I did some googling. I found out it was vesimyyrä / Arvicola Amphibius / Water Vole!

I have never seen one! :D So seeing it was truly something! I now need to check is there online page to it, saying what could be it’s spiritual message :3

[valdarksouls]

water vole

[esoteric-brustle]

[lisabrueckner]

Ann Tout RE - Water Vole

wood engraving

[juliehowlin]

Water Voles

Water voles in Britain have been recorded eating 227 different species of plant. These include reeds, grasses, rushes, sedges, roots, rhizomes, bulbs and tree bark. They have been spotted as high as 2.5 metres up a tree.

10 facts about water voles:

[daseinphoto]

Water vole and Kingfisher RSPB Rye Meads

[hellsitegenetics]

As a current Ph.D. student earning a degree in marine biology and genetics, I love this blog. Thanks for being so real and so funny. I love seeing all the different organisms you churn out from random GATTACAs.

String identified: A a ct .. tt ag a g a g a gtc, t g. Ta g a a . g a t t ga c t a GATTACA.

Closest match: Arvicola amphibius genome assembly, chromosome: 14 Common name: European water vole

[flamingtoads]