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