I’ve had several more visits to Rooksbury over the past few weeks with several good spots. No water vole sightings yet, but I’ve found more droppings between the two bridges either side of the entrance to the carpark. As well as droppings there seem to be a number of burrow entrances, so it is looking promising that there might be at least two water voles along that stretch. The newest sighting is in an area where there are a lot of branches in the river. I only noticed the droppings because there was a wet spot on an other wise dry section of branch and it looked like something had climbed out of the river and sat for a moment letting its wet fur drip over the branch. Sure enough about two foot along the branch were the droppings. Also on that stretch of the river I saw a stealthy water rail making his way along the bank, my second sighting of this striking bird at Rooksbury.

There are plenty of garden/park birds around at the moment including thrushes, robins, great, blue and long tail tits, chaffinch, bullfinch goldfinch, goldcrests and wrens. As much as I like the wrens I am constantly disappointed, when from the corner of my eye, I see a small brown object flitting between the reeds. Is it a water vole? No, it’s another rascally wren! Other birds of note include the kingfisher. I spotted him the other day, or rather I didn’t. I had found a nice quite area and I was watching two grey squirrels chasing each other, leaping happily between branches. I decided to look at the opposite bank in more detail and as I scanned the bank with my binoculars my view was blocked by a tree no more than 20 feet away on my side of the river and in it sat the kingfisher. How long he had been there I don’t know. Needless to say, as usual with me and kingfishers by the time I got my camera ready he was gone.

There are also a number of grey wagtails down by the rivers edge as well. These little grey and yellow birds, (but not as much yellow as yellow wagtails), fly from fallen branch to fallen branch flicking their tails constantly when they’re not in flight.

My “What’s this of the Day”, came when I spotted a blob of green jelly last weekend. I wasn’t sure what it was but I’m told it may be caddis fly eggs. I’ll keep an eye out for more around the stew ponds. Watch this space!

To prove there are water voles at Rooksbury here is a picture of a latrine and also a water vole taken at the end of last year.

James Cooke

Log Pile Otter Holt

Yesterday, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trusts Northern Team had a fun day out (team building) at Rooksbury Mill LNR building a log pile otter holt.
The European Otter Lutra lutra has seen a decline in recent years due to loss of habitat, pollution of water courses which has lead to low fish stocks, and mortality such as road deaths. Otter's are largely nocturnal, and spend the day in lying up sites close to the water. They normally use large tree roots, areas of dense scrub and piles of wooded debris. Unfortunately much of this habitat has been destroyed. An Otter can have a territory of up to 40km of waterway, and within this, up to 20 lying up sites. Building artificial holts, it is an effective way of recreating this habitat. Studies have shown that log pile holts are well used.

The aim is to provide a number of interconnecting chambers that are dark and waterproof. There are three layers to the holt:

Stage 1: Large logs (1m long, 30-40cm diameter) are laid to form large chambers of about 1meter square. There should be one or two entrances on the water's edge.



Stage 2: Lay straight poles (3m long, 3-10cm diameter) across the logs and chambers to form the roof. Poles are kept compact to keep out the light.

Stage 3: Pile brash on top of structure. The idea is to make the holt as dark and dry as possible. Make sure the branches are laid flat and packed down.

Some Leylandii had already been cut at Rooksbury Mill, so we used it on top of the holt to provide an extra waterproof layer. Leylandii can have its uses!

We were very lucky with the weather, and all enjoyed the day out. I just hope the otters appreciate our efforts!