I know, my blogs are like buses. I just happen to have a couple of days at home catching up on STUFF.
And so, after a poor breeding season last year, a disastrous winter decline and a minor oil spill to boot, Ratty is making a comeback at the mid Kent site. So much so and due to popular demand, we have decided to restart the water vole photo days/workshops. I will also email the very patient people who contacted me earlier in the summer asking about this only to get the stock: "soon, really soon, maybe next month" replies.
We'll ease into the photography as I haven't been able to spend as much time there as usual . Normally I do some intensive photography there myself to get a picture (sorry) of what's happening and where the most productive spots are and to get the voles up by the house a bit more habituated. I hope to get into some of this over the next few days. Just standing by the house drinking tea and listening to Richard expound his views on the current state of world affairs (lots of material at the moment) helps with this. These are probably the most culturally aware water voles in the UK.
For those of you who have photographed here before and know the site, there are currently two juvenile (getting quite bold now) and one adult (v.shy at the moment) in the area beside the house. There are voles in the ponds (lots of sign) and there is a good spot there for photos. There are good feeding signs and a latrine in the mid section where Wildwood did a lot of habitat work in the winter and there are voles down near the bridge. The two latter spots would require some time and effort to get photos but could be worth it. As before, by the house will be easier. The ponds a bit more difficult due the voles there never seeing people so they are much more shy. However with patience and a bit of canny fieldcraft this spot could be very productive as the habitat is really good now.
Last year on these photo days participants produced very high quality images, some of which are now held by leading nature photo libraries and also did very well in competitions including one by Sue North that reached the final round of the BBC CountryFile competition.
OK, anyone interested let me know.
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