I think it’s safe to say Spring has arrived. I spent two hours the other Saturday morning at Rooksbury and watched a very large water vole stuff his or her face with a mixture of greenery from both the river and the bank. It was great to observe this little creature after all the visits with out seeing one. There are even more latrines and droppings along the river banks a sure sign that the breeding season is rapidly approaching. With luck over the next week or so the sightings of this adorable creature will increase dramatically. The kingfisher was back at his local hunting ground by the Stew ponds and I also spotted it further down stream after a tip off from a local photographer. I must say he had some stunning shots of him! Something I’ve not mentioned before are a pair of great crested grebes, I’m not sure how long they have been at Rooksbury, but they seem very at home in the main lake.

Last Sunday a group of volunteers, along with Jim from TVBC and Sarah and Cat from the wildlife trust, built and installed an otter holt along the stretch of river between the two bridges by the car park. We were fortunate to have the best day of the year so far, and under clear sunny skies, the group dug a flat bottomed hole about 6’ x 3’ x 2’ with two channels running down to the river. To say it was hard work was an understatement but by lunch time the hole was ready for the construction of the holt. A series of breeze blocks were placed in the newly excavated hole to form walls and to make 6 interconnecting chambers. A 5 meter flexible tube was placed in each channel to allow access to and from the river, to stop the wind blowing straight into the holt a sharp bend was put in each tube. Six paving slabs were laid over the breeze blocks to provide a roof and finally the soil that was dug out of the hole was shoveled over the paving slabs and over the tubing to hide the construction work. While we worked a water vole across the river kept a beady eye on us as it ate more water plants. Once finished the otter holt was almost invisible with the two entrances hidden in the reeds and a pile of dead branches laid over the top disturbed soil.

So why do we need to build otter holts? Simple, our river banks are too well kept. The otters require either log piles or large root systems to create their holts. Unfortunately many fallen trees and branches are being cut up and removed and in many places trees with the wrong root systems are planted. So with out the correct habitat the otters won’t hang around. Further up stream there is another holt built by the wildlife trust some weeks ago and already there are signs that an otter has used it, so with luck the otters will soon find there new home. Another plus point of having otters on the river is that they will help to keep any mink at bay.

James Cooke

Rooksbury has been fairly quiet over the past few weeks, although with the recent warmer weather lets hope that there will be a burst of activity in the forth coming weeks. The number of water vole droppings along the river bank between the two bridges either side of the car park has increased dramatically and it is just a matter of time to see how many water voles are present along this short stretch. There is talk of a mink roaming near the mill site and this maybe the reason that I have seen no droppings near the bridge or along the banks there. TVBC will, I understand, be setting the mink rafts with traps in the near future and we can be free of at least one more of this non-native species.
Unfortunately someone has broken and removed the sluice gate at the end of the larger lake at Rooksbury causing the water level in the lake to drop by nearly a meter. Hopefully the sudden force of water let go by the removal will not have washed away or damaged too much habitat down stream. It may also mean that any spawned eggs in the lake near to the sluice will have been washed away and others in now shallow water may have been damaged. Only the next few months will reveal what damage has been done.

Last Sunday, 22 Feb, I spent a very enjoyable day carrying out habitat management along the banks of the River Anton Lakes. The aim of the day, organised by the TVBC and HWT, was to cut back and fell some of the trees which over hang the river letting more light fall on the banks. This will allow the natural growth of bank side vegetation which in turn will provide food and shelter for all sorts of insects and mammals including hopefully the water vole. After a quick refresher on how to cut down trees safely we were let loose along the bank. It was amazing what a difference only removing a few branches made, and by lunch time one part of the bank near the source of the river was bathed in sun light. We laid some cut branches along the side of the river channel to encourage silt build up and vegetation growth. Much of the river channel is too wide, so by doing this we are narrowing the channel which improves the transport of silt, which in turn creates clearer water. With the rest of the wood, we created habitat piles on the banks, creating valuable habitats for small mammals, and hopefully otters! The removal of several fallen branches from the centre of the river on Sunday soon had the water running freely and revealing the white chalk bed once more.
By the end of the day work had been carried out on both river banks covering a distance of a few hundred yards and the increase in light over the banks was significantly higher.

James Cooke